Inspiring TV Characters and Plodding Dullness

Welcome to another week. I continue to write a little bit of the novel every day. I'm averaging around 380 words per day and have not missed a day since the 3rd.

The plot ahead continues to be a bit of a mirage. I can't seem to pin it down, and I'm a little paranoid about mapping a plot. I've already mapped about 4 story lines for this novel. Each has felt flat and overbearing and has caused me to do an overhaul each time. This is probably why Roz Morris in her book, Nail Your Novel, recommends doing the story planning first. It's so easy to get part way into the story and then need to change it. Or get through it and realize that you didn't get to the key points that you had intended at the start. Or, as I found with both NaNovels that I reached 50k words, you end up with a whole bunch of words and a silly, inconsistent story.

I am eager however to get a completed rough draft that is worth editing. It's so easy for me to push aside a draft (partial or 'complete') and say it's beyond help. But this current writing pace is slow, and I don't know what is ahead. I read romance novels and watch TV, and the plots are so neat and mysterious and often unpredictable, and I just wonder how those authors pieced it all together. Did they start with the end and work backwards? I probably should be doing the same, and yet my ideas feel too simple and not interesting enough to carry a novel.

However, Orphan Black, despite the jealousy it inspires in me, is doing what I had hoped with the character, Paul. It is helping me to realize the characteristics of my favorite heroes in romances. Apparently, I prefer the military heroes that only have a soft spot for their Ms. Right. Apparently, the hero in Moon Racer (by Constance O'Banyon) has stayed with me for a while. Maybe even 10 years?

In light of this discovery, I'm hoping to make Victor more tough and hopefully not be too gentle on both him and Isabella. I have that tendency. I really should unravel their worlds. Maybe a brainstorming map would be appropriate for this plotting effort so that I can track the chains of what-ifs ...