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In most ways, the process is still the same, but I have such a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes I get hung up on a detail: how can I get “X” to happen–where is the character motivation, or where is the drama to drive the scene? But an analysis: what does each character want? Whose POV can have the most impact? Who is in most conflict with each other? and I seem to be able to unerringly come up with a solution, often an elegant one that re-uses previous conflicts or characters or incidents, and that ties the whole more firmly together.

At one point, I thought: I can make this happen through coincidence or through magic, but I wanted something more organic. I was able to analyse what everyone wanted and find a character to drive the action because it was real/important to him that events be pushed that way. Felt good.

It is amazing how much I am accomplishing, using the dictation method. Sometimes the transcriptions lag behind, but I am mostly caught up now, and am laying mid-novel groundwork to set up the climax. This is working really well!

After a long ride, Don needs to rest, which is the perfect time for me to transcribe my dictated notes. I am getting a lot done on the novel, without interfering with the pleasure of a trip through Europe!

Dictated the rules of magic today to be sure I have them all. Then I put them in order of importance (what the reader needs to know first, etc), and next I’ll check to see that I have scenes that clearly show how magic works already in place so I can add scenes that fill out the rules in the order the reader needs them. The Extra Credits/Mario model.

Never thought I’d be a quilter, but that method seems to work best for dictation. I know what scenes I want in the novel and what they are supposed to accomplish, but on the bike without the outline in front of me to check, I can’t always remember the scenes in order. So I dictate a scene I know I’m going to need, and sort it out when I get onto my ipad. Will have some reorganizing to do later.