The story is complete. I finished the rough draft and was surprised that I followed my outline as well as I did. I deviated a few places but for the most part the story is just like I drew it up. All of the characters made their appearance and performed their tasks now I get to add some depth to each one in the next draft. The imagery is sparse and will need some growth to paint a better picture in the reader’s mind. Imagery is always tough for me. I see the story in my head but putting that image in the reader’s only using words is always a challenge. Some believe that Tolkien did it best. I believe he overdid it best. Reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit was almost mind numbing in the details. This story won’t have that problem.

I have experimented with my writing process over the past few years and have settled into a style I’m comfortable with. The last two stories I have written I begin with a run on sentence outline telling the story from beginning to end. Then I write the skeleton which accomplished everything in the outline but without much detail. It gets you from point a to point b without stopping to take pictures and visit the historical monuments. If this stage of the story were a road trip it would be bathroom breaks and gas stops only. The next step I get the characters talking more. Their dialog fills in the missing backstories and adds some emotion. At this point I usually read the draft and think “How Boring” and begin to go through and add more conflict and action. I try to give the road trip some twist and turns. Then finally the road trip gets on a tour bus and the imagery gets written. The characters get to look out the windows and marvel at the scenery.