Making Big Decisions

Welcome back to Taylor Talks!

I don't mean to brag, but I accomplished something amazing today! I feel like I finally made a decision on my novel that completely changed the game for me, in the best way possible.

Alright, so in the grand scheme of the entire novel, this wasn't the biggest decision ever, but this was really big for the way the novel is going to end. Basically, I decided to change the order of two chapters. That's it. So simple, right? I switched chapters nine and ten (fun inside fact for those of you who plan on reading the book when it finally comes out!), and suddenly everything made so much more sense.

Chapter nine has been finished for a while now. I think I finished it before I got my job at Disney. I also started working on chapter ten that same day, but have only accomplished around two pages of writing in the past two months. I knew what I needed to happen in that chapter, but it just didn't feel right. It felt like something was missing; there wasn't enough content, and it felt like there was no reason for this chapter to really be included in the book. There wasn't enough substance for it to make an impact on the reader.

Well in the middle of my mom having a conversation with my sister (I literally had nothing to do with this... my mom was talking, and my sister was listening, and none of this had to do with my book), I suddenly realized that I had to switch the two chapters. It just hit me out of nowhere! And it was an absolutely brilliant idea, if I do say so myself.

Not to give a lot away, but a piece of the story seemed to be wrapped up too soon, and by switching those two chapters around, I could add to that particular plot line. It just brings more to the story; there is more depth to certain characters and to this particular plot line with the chapters switched, because the story can continue for a little longer.

I've done a lot of research on writing and authors, and I've heard about authors making drastic changes late in the game. Major content gets deleted, or there's suddenly another character added... crazy things happen that somehow tie everything together and make the book better. I always wondered how people could do that. I would never be able to do something like that, I thought, because I'm a control freak and I need to have everything planned out ahead of time. I literally have an entire outline of what is happening in each chapter, what each character looks like, how everyone is connected, and how important each plot line is.... and I did all of this right after figuring out my book's title, way back before I wrote anything. That was over two years ago. And yet here I was tonight, taking the entire contents of chapter nine and pushing it back after chapter ten. It made perfect sense.

I wrote two more paragraphs and started filling in pieces that I previously didn't know what to do with. I still have a ton of work to do on the new chapter nine, because I had no idea what I was doing with it before switching things around, but I have a clear plan in my head now. I know exactly what I want to do, how I want to embellish this plot line, and how I want to improve the development of the characters. I'm so excited to keep going... and now, of course, I won't be able to work on it until Friday when I'm off of work! Doesn't that figure? But I have a million little notes to myself so I won't forget where I'm going with this, because I have a good feeling that I'm on the right track now.

Before I go, I thought I would share a little something special I made tonight (huh, it was a pretty good night for me!)... My mom made bacon, which was amazing, and I made pancakes for everyone for dinner. My little sisters are allergic to dairy, so I can't use regular pancake mix when I make pancakes for them. So my idea didn't work out perfectly, because I've never actually made their pancakes before (my dad usually makes those), but I think it still turned out pretty well overall. I made "A" and "B" pancakes, for Twin A and Twin B, respectively. I also made heart pancakes (though Twin B pointed out that hers looked more like a "V") and I tried to make Minnie Mouse pancakes for them. Those got a little messed up because the batter was too runny, but you can kind of tell what they are. My little sisters loved them, and they actually ate their whole meal with no fuss! I was thrilled! Sometimes the little things in life can make a pretty big impact.

Thank you so much for your continued support! I look forward to sharing more stories about my experience with foster care, and hopefully hearing from readers who have questions or similar stories to share. I'm always willing to answer questions and hear about other experiences! Please don't forget to like and share my Facebook author page as well!

I’d greatly appreciate it if you would share this blog with friends and family through your favorite social media sites. If you’re sharing on Twitter, don’t forget to tag me (@TayTayK02) and use the hashtag #TaylorTalks.

Thanks!
Taylor

---

Previous Post

Next Post