July Camp '22: Falling on thin ice

It’s time to finally fix FALLING ON THIN ICE.

Backstory
The original idea for this story dates back to 2014 and I wrote the first draft in 2015. Back then, it was called LIZ + ZAC. This cast of characters is one of my all-time favorites and I could honestly write a whole series about them at this point because they’ve been living in my head this entire time. I queried L+Z to agents in 2018 and was disappointed overall.

2020, as we all remember, was a true dumpster-fire year. One of the few things that went well for me was that it was a year of plot bunnies. I got a brainwave about completely revamping L+Z. The characters were relatively the same but the story would be 100% different. I tried to NaNo a revamp in 2020. I fiddled with it again in fall of 2021 and returned during NaNo 2021.

I have yet to actually complete a new draft.

There are a lot of things I really like about it, but I think I’m still trying to figure out what story I’m really trying to tell. I think because Liz and friends have been in my head so long at this point, there’s so much I could do, and I have to zero in and make it an actual story.

The plan
I’ve had the book STORY GENIUS sitting on my TBR pile this entire year. From what I’ve skimmed so far and from what I know about the method, I think it could work well with my little pantser brain and help me figure out what this story actually *is*.

My plan is to read Story Genius in July and do the prompts and exercises for Liz and friends and figure out WHAT THIS BOOK IS ACTUALLY ABOUT.

I’m not going to worry about the actual re-writing in July. Maybe I’ll do some re-writing, maybe I won’t. But where I last left this book off, I was at 52k and fam I still don’t have a cohesive pitch for it. By the end of July, not only will I have a cohesive pitch, but I will have enough direction that if I haven’t already started re-writing, I’ll be prepared to do so!

The goal
** Read ~3 chapters of Story Genius each week and try all of the corresponding action steps/prompts.

**Be able to write a clear pitch for FALLING ON THIN ICE

**Have enough direction to be able to actually fix and finish this draft so other people (Icy & Mea) can finally read it


An old aesthetic for it...


Vibes:
a tweet I saw recently that perfectly describes what I want I think I want to do - "stubborn, burned by love ice queen heroines finding their happily ever afters with partners who worship the ground they walk on and who slowly breakdown their walls"

also: elite figure skating, secrets, "it could've been a rom com but then...", Call it What You Want by T Swift

BUT FIRST I HAVE TO FINISH BUNNY ROM COM AND I THINK I CAN BEFORE JULY.

This sounds so cool! I hope you find what you're looking for in the end. Good luck!

Best of luck @Carlito! I love your dedication!

Is Bunny RomCom done?? Lol NO.
But guess what - I'm STILL going to plan Falling on Thin Ice this month AND I'm ACTUALLY FOR REAL THIS TIME going to finish Bunny RomCom.

Day 1
We're starting with Falling on Thin Ice!
I've already read the first two chapters of Story Genius which were introductory chapters. I read chapter 3 (The What If) and did four prompts...
1. what was my first pinprick for this story
2. why do I care
3. what is my point
4. what is my what if

So far so good! I actually found the prompts really helpful and through my journaling I have discovered what could be the theme of Falling on Thin Ice. Promising start for Story Genius Camp PlanMo


(crawling in a pad tomorrow with Bunny Rom Com!)

Day 2
I worked on Bunny Rom Com. I finished reading through what I've written so far and getting rid of [these] throughout the book which are usually things I don't feel like naming yet. Shout out to the moral support in the WFP yesterday while I filled in [spider facts] lol.

I didn't finish the scene I've been working on for foreverrr, but I did make some progress and progress is progress!

Day 3
Back to Story Genius and figuring out Falling on Thin Ice!
After reviewing what I wrote for the last set of prompts, I read chapter 4 (whose life will you utterly upend?) I intended on doing the one journal prompt about who Liz is before the book starts, but then I didn't.

Day 4
A good writing day for Bunny rom com! I finally broke through the scene that was taking me far too long to finish, wrote another scene, and FINALLY SURPASSED 50k ON THIS BOOK.

2062 words total today

Might stick with Bunny rom com for a few days now that I have some momentum!

Yes yes yessssss to L&Z! I will never not get excited by you working on them (although Bunny Rom Com also looks fab) <3

Day 5
Icy was excited that I mentioned a SECRET BOOK so I had to tell her about it and then I got distracted.

Day 6
The intention was there. The follow through was not ✌🏻

Day 7
Back to bunny rom com! I almost finished the scene I was working on and I'm close to being done with this act. My goal will be to have started the final act by the end of the weekend.

1248 words today!

If I have a strong writing day tomorrow and Saturday then I'll return to Story Genius Camp PlanMo on Sunday.

Day 8
Procrastinated until 10:50pm ✌🏻✌🏻
Wrote 44 words. Incredible. Blessed.

Day 9
Yay Saturday! Today was my 2nd crawl your way to victory word crawl day. I decided to write ~1000 words at a time in the WFP with breaks between to clean my house and stretch my legs.

About mid-way through that first 1000 I was like hmm. i wonder if i can write 4000 words today. it's been awhile since i've done that.....

And then I wrote 3718. Not quite the 4000 goal, but I haven't written this much in a while and I'm proud!

ALSO WE ARE OFFICIALLY INTO THE LAST ACT OF BUNNY ROM COM. HOME STRETCH!!

Back to Story Genius Camp PlanMo and falling on thin ice tomorrow <3

Day 10

We're back to the original Story Genius Camp PlanMo today!

I finished the prompt from chapter 4 that I started about who Liz is before the start of the story. I also started reading chapter 5 and did one prompt about what Liz wants before the story starts. (I intended to finish all the prompts from chapter 5 and 6, but I was too tired).

Once again, I found the prompts helpful! Lol specifically with the one about what Liz wants as I was reading the chapter I was like it's a romance novel, liz wants love. duh. but then as I read the chapter, the author was literally like this want can't be something general like they want love. it has to be something specific and tangible and I was like ....ope.

I've always said I know Liz well, and I do! She's been in my head since 2014. I know her voice and personality super well, but I honestly have never put a lot of thought into some of these prompts or thought deeply about what she wants beyond the surface level (which is definitely part of the reason why revamp attempt 1 and revamp attempt 2 didn't work out lol)

Day 11

Now that I'm finally in the final act of the bunny rom com I feel really motivated to FINISH. After I finish the scene I'm on, I probably only need seven to finish? (which is entirely based on how many scenes were in the other acts and not on any real plan...)

I also did some math and figured out that ~2300 words a day from now until Sunday will probably get me to the end of this book.

THAT was motivating, so I made some rough plans for what I think those seven scenes need to be and LET'S GO FINISH LINE.

570 words
(lol made that 2300 word goal and then noped out so quickly)

Day 12

1620 words!

in hindsight, that 2300 word a day goal to finish by sunday might've been ambitious but bunny rom com is almost to 58k and we're still close to the end <3