Progress report

I've been getting some work done on the novel since my last post. Finished a section in the chapter I've been stuck on, started another. I've had a couple flashes of inspiration that have helped me get back on track. 

Most of it deals with the big picture, the series as a whole. I know in general terms where I'm going with the story, the goals the SOD has to accomplish. The flow of events, the order things happen in, has been evolving in my brain, and I've been keeping notes on my phone. I should probably back them up on my computer so I don't lose them.

I've also had a couple thoughts on the section of the book I'm working on now. I realized that I introduced a direct antagonist (as opposed to the shady pulling strings behind the scenes villain I haven't even shown yet), put a little pressure on the SOD, and then dropped the ball. In later revisions I'll try to ramp up the threat they pose, but for now I realized that they are perfectly positioned to get the plot moving again.

I find myself falling back on techniques I've used as a Game Master running RPGs. If the party seems to be flagging, throw some danger at them, force them to respond. Or, as Raymond Chandler put it, "When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand." Or to reword it in terms that fit my particular genre, "When in doubt, have enemy ships come out of hyperspace."

It's still slow going right now, but I'm pushing to get more done. I don't want 2017 to go by without having a first draft completed. I know what has to happen, now I just have to make it happen.

-E. Maxfield Moen