TIMELINE TIME

I usually write my timelines before I start a new story. Not so with my current work in progress which I have tentatively titled Luck Joy Bride. This is the sixth book in my Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series. I was writing merrily away until I got in the middle of Chapter 8 and only then realized I really needed to do a timeline.

This story has been a different one to write for several reasons:

•  This story I originally wrote as secondary plot in an earlier book in the series. I had several chapters worth already written, then decided it would make the story too long and cumbersome. So, I cut out large sections of what will now be the primary plot in this book. For an earlier post about this decision, CLICK HERE.

• The first several chapters I wrote in Luck Joy Bride flowed into the computer rather smoothly. Then I ran into the portions from my writing of April last year that I had cut out of the story I was working on, Haunted by Love. I had pasted those out-takes into the appropriate spots in this manuscript. Problem is, with this now being the primary plot instead of a secondary plot, some of the focus has changed.

• The other issue I ran into is I have done a lot of research on the real historical incident on which this story is based after I wrote the earlier-mentioned scenes. I not only found newspaper clips with mention of details, but I paid a visit to the Mono County Historical Museum in Bridgeport, CA last September. I dropped over $200.00 for research books. Among them were one or two that had additional information about this incident--much of it written in a folksy retelling format, but still.....

• If that weren't enough, after I decided to write this sixth book in the series, I dropped hints by means of unexplained incidences in both Haunted by Love (only a few) and more so in Bridgeport Holiday Brides. Readers of those stories might wonder why I bothered to include them. However, once they get to this sixth book, it will all come together -- if I get the timing right.

That is why I realized right in the middle of writing Chapter 8 I need a timeline. I need to include transcripts of all the information I had before, plus transcripts of the new information I found in my research last summer and fall, plus what I already wrote in earlier books in this series. I need it in general date order, general being the operative word since both the historical records and my earlier stories are lacking in precision when it comes to dates.

Ah, yes! Resource chapters have been transcribed and the timeline is finished. Back to writing my work in progress.