This Time Travel Stuff is Hard!

Writing is hard. Any writer will tell you that. We intentionally make it harder (also known as 'challenging') on ourselves to see what we're really made of. I did that with Spirit Hackers in the ways of creating a full outline and structure before writing. I also ditched MS Word and Apple's Pages for a still relatively-unknown app called Scrivener. With Loopback, I've done it again by working on a plot involving time travel. This is a subject that can get you in trouble easily if you don't dot your T's and cross your I's.

The odds of hitting a paradox are high and plot-holes aren't just issues that can be patched. They can completely derail the entire book. Add in the fact that I'm inventing technology as I go and this is a perfect storm of screwing up that I'm trying to avoid.

I've taken organization to the next level and created a dedicated document in my Scrivener binder for all technology I'm inventing and also the time travel rules I'm laying down. By having a reference that's never more than a click away (and if I jump into split-screen view, it's not even that!) I can keep my head on straight when referencing something down the line in chapter 20 that I invented in chapter 2. So far, it's working great for me.

Finally, my word count is progressing with Loopback clocking in at 13,754 words. My current goal is to write about 3k a week to keep my original promise of having this book done by the middle of the year.

So what keeps you organized with your writing? How do you challenge yourself in new projects? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.