#ROW80 Update – 16 October

Hello, and welcome to a Round of Words in 80 Days – the writing challenge that knows you have a life. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you can find more information at the website.

I shared my goals post last week but due to various things, never actually shared it anywhere. So here’s a link.

So how did I go on this first week?

The plan: 

Brainstorm Beauty and the Beast retelling from beginning to end.

Result: 

Ehhh… Yeah, kinda. Actually, I got myself all angsty about this and so there were a couple of days where I didn’t write at all.

I can actually see myself making the same mistakes I’ve made before. I have discovered that I work best when I have a small cast of characters and not too many scenes. With Operation: Sugarplum, my breakthrough was realising I could ignore a whole section of the original story and still have a recognisable retelling of The Nutcracker.

I think that’s what I need to do with Beauty and the Beast. A “beast” of some kind who asks a question every night and is told no, possibly invisible servants… enough to give the gist, and then put my own spin on it.

This morning I started outlining to see where that takes me, rather than trying to figure everything out in a brainstorming session. The change of tack was good, and I feel better about it now.

Coming week’s goals: 

• Outline the Beauty and the Beast retelling.
• Expand the outline for the Sleeping Beauty story (fill in additional scenes , add more detail)

The Sleeping Beauty story outline has not even been typed up yet, so I’m sure it will evolve as I get it onto the computer.

Also, if you’re doing NaNoWriMo, come be my buddy!

See you next week!