At times, my writing process looks suspiciously like napping, and it makes me very glad I'm not sharing my house with another adult who would hassle me about it. :-)

Take today for instance. I took the kids to school, came home, did some email and computer stuff, then went upstairs to my bed and pondered my process for keeping track of plot elements in my current novel. None of my previous processes have worked, and I need one that works with the way I think... visually.

I'll be the first to admit the line between pondering my writing process and napping was very slim. I did dream for a little bit... but much more time was spent considering flowchart layout patterns, deciding what information needed to be included, and brainstorming plot points. The end result of my nap/pondering was knowing just how I wanted my plot-diagram to look, and the functions I needed in the software to have it do what I wanted.

After I got up, I went onto the web and found a program (Edge Diagrammer) that looks like it's going to work just fine, has a free 30-day trial-download, and is only $50. 

I spend the afternoon playing with the program and it looks like it's going to do just what I want, which is basically a cross between flowcharting and virtual sticky notes. I can arrange things into groups (scenes), at the same time I keep things in lines (emotional arcs), coordinate things by color and shape (heroine's stuff vs. other people's stuff), be able to put a timeline down the side to keep track of tension level and where I am in the page-count, have it large enough I can see the whole plot at once, and have the program smart enough to print the diagram off on multiple sheets so I can tape it together into a poster when I need a hard-copy. Cool!

So, tonight and tomorrow, I'll keep inputting stuff, to see if it really works as well as I think it will. It's great when I can find a tool that fits so well.

If I hadn't taken that nap, and instead forced myself to put words on paper working with an unmanageable process, I never would have found the new tool and process. So, the nap and pondering was worth it!

Never under-estimate the value of a mid-morning nap. :-)