So the two hundred or so storylines, themes, plot drivers and ideas are now more or less tamed into three major storylines. Very pleased about that because three major threads are ideal for me. Fewer than that, and I feel like the story is too flat. More than that, the story gets muddled. When you have three story threads, it makes it easier to weave everything together. So the book now looks like this:

Which is great because this morning it looked like this:

So definitely an improvement. I had three of my writing buddies over today for an impromptu write-in, and we all got a lot done. I forsook my computer and sat on the living room floor, moving little pieces of index cards around and scribbling on different sized sheets of paper. I have to remind myself that sometimes working with pen and paper is better for me than a keyboard and mouse. Sometimes computers are just too small, and my brain needs the expanse of a living room rug.

The wolves are getting a bit impatient with all this structure and are going to start chewing on my toes if I don’t let them run free soon. So a couple more days of plot-wrangling, and then I get to go back to actually writing.