Left-Brain Push-ups

It's that time again!

November is right around the corner, and part of my lack of blog updates lately has been because I've thrown myself full force into the outlining process as prep for NanoWriMo. It's been an interesting learning experience. I've never done an outline before. I mean, I remember doing them in middle and high school English class, but that's about it. Once I wasn't required to do them, I never did. I never had any problems with this before. I always much preferred to jump in and write, get messy, and then clean it up later. For a ten page paper, a short story, or poem, this method works great and served me well through four years of college. It took me four years of NanoWriMo, however, to realize that this same strategy wouldn't work for writing a novel. Don't get me wrong, a first-draft, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants method is lots of fun (at least for me) and there is a place for it. It helps me work though problems, figure out important plot points, and get to know my characters in a way that is liberating, without my inner editor or critic running the shots. At the end of the month though, I would look back at my 50,000 + words with a deep despair, as the thought of trying to edit was overwhelming. It felt like trying to turn a finger painting into a Michelangelo. I finally realized that if I wanted to actually COMPLETE a novel, and not just a first draft, I would need to put a more serious plan in place. With the help of some good books that helped to dispel some misconceptions and also give me a guide to work from, I decided that this year, I would finally do an outline.

There's a reason that outlining doesn't come naturally to me, I am primarily a right brain thinker. The right side is usually associated with creativity, abstraction, and emotion, while the left brain deals in more logical, sequential, and linear thought. Though I've always known that I favored my right side, I recently took a test that confirmed it down to the percentage. Not only that, it broke down all of the specific functions and highlighted my strengths and weaknesses.

The more I get to know myself, the more I am able to figure out the things that are blocking me, which gives me a road map to the solution. Though some people tend to favor a certain side of their brain, there are actually things you can do to strengthen your less functioning parts. The brain is like a muscle, and the more you exercise, the more those synapses fall into place.

So I've been doing left brain push-ups. Making and checking off lists, organizing notes (color-coding helps for right brained people since color is processed in the right hemisphere), and turning off my automatic spell-check--I actually have to manually go back to a misspelled word and write it out again, try and figure out the real spelling without getting a list of options or an automatic change...try it, it's tougher than it sounds! (unless of course you are a spelling champ...you lucky left brainers!)

My husband started running last week. He was never a runner, but in just a little over a week he's running at least 2 miles every night! I don't know if my progress has been that extraordinary, but it sure seemed like running a mile at first. The more I do it though, the easier it gets, the more miles I can go.  Now, with less than two weeks to go before the official start of Nanowrimo, I am actually..dare I say it...enjoying the outlining process and am looking forward to reaping the rewards of my hard work in November.