Trying to finish all those loose ends

I've read quite a bit about novel-writing technique, plot structure, character development, etc. in my journey to this point. What I haven't come across is a way to keep my mind IN my story when I'm only working on it a few hours a week. Honestly, I typically only write new stuff on Sunday afternoons/evenings, and each Sunday I spend a couple hours just trying to get back into the zone. I reread what I wrote in recent weeks and try to figure out what will happen next. (I've long since thrown out my outline.)
This weekend to the rescue. Today, I went to a "Writer's Retreat" at the Fatima Center in Dalton, where I did nothing but read all 220+ pages of my manuscript consecutively. My goal was to get my head in the story and figure out how it will end. I jotted notes about plot or character seeds I planted along the way, and then I took each character and planned the changes I wanted to see in each of them at the story's conclusion. The final scenes of the plot line became obvious. I wrote down the scene ideas before they vaporized.
I hope to get them in writing - starting right after church tomorrow. I don't want to lose the story again.

Ideas and taking risks

If you're like me, you've thought of something while you're taking a shower, an item for your to-do list, or some brilliant and unforgettable scene you want to write down. Then before your feet hit the bathmat the idea has gone down the drain (bad joke, I know). Check out this product.
Seriously, I knew the need for this existed. Why didn't I actually make this and market it? Probably because I'm not a big risk taker. And I haven't got a clue how to take an idea and make it a reality.
Or do I?
The Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction was just announced. It goes to Matt Phelan for The Storm in the Barn, and it marks a first for the award because the book is a Graphic Novel. It might have been rejected as just a comic book, not a piece of literature. But kudos to Mr. Phelan and to the award committee for their open minds and the courage it took to take that risk.
So here I sit with only a couple dozen pages left to write in my novel. Will Sophie take a big risk as I finish her story? Have I succeeded in taking my book idea and making it a reality?

Christmas vacation- time to write!

I leave the house at 7:30 am for work, 6 am on gym days, so by 6:30 or 7 pm when I sit down to write, I'm pretty tired out. For me, that's the hardest part of writing a book- fatigue of my body and my mind.
I am lucky enough to have a job that gives me some time off scattered through the year, and I do get about 10 days off for the Christmas/New Years holidays. I was able to use a few days of that vacation to actually plan the rest of my book and get some new writing done. I sat down and reread the last 75 pages or so of my book (I actually liked most of it) and that helped put me back in the mindset I needed to flesh out the rest of the story. I jotted down about ten scenes that need to take place before Sophie's story is finished and then I put them in a logical order. I wrote a first draft of three of them during vacation.
Now that I have the end in sight and basically plotted out, I can (hopefully) finish my first draft in the next few weeks. Wish me luck!

Pacing myself

Typically, when I read at my Writers Critique Group, I've written about 20 or 30 pages ahead of the pages I share. The pages I present to the group are a little polished and I know the plot line of what's going to happen next.
This past Thursday was different. I've done very little new writing in the last couple of months and I admit to being unfocused and unable to come up with anything new, so when I read to the Group, I read up to and including the last pages I've written. The pages felt raw and unfinished; I felt lost in my own plot.
One of the group members asked me if a certain scene foreshadowed the story's conclusion. I have no idea, because I haven't written anything past that scene. I was asked why Sophie's character didn't have a better understanding of what was happening around her yet. Again, I don't know why, and I'm not sure I'll leave her in the dark quite as long as I have in this first draft. I just know that I need to write the whole book and then get a better idea of how to pace it once I've got it finished.

Christmas books

I just picked up two Christmas picture books for my teen Sunday School class to read to the church's younger kids. One is called Joseph's Christmas Story and it rhymes its way through the familiar story, but from Joseph's point of view. I've heard the story of Jesus' birth told from every perspective imaginable, most often from Mary or the shepherds but also from the barn animals, the angels, and even the star over Bethlehem. This is the only story I've seen that tells Joseph's side of the story.
The other picture book is called The Tale of Three Trees, and it is the retelling of a traditional folktale. The three trees each have dreams, one to become a treasure chest, another to sail the seas, and the third to be the tallest tree in the world. In classic picture book fashion, their dreams come true but not in the way they originally thought. It's a fabulous tale, full of Christian symbolism and meaning and perfect for either Easter or Christmas reading.