Beginnings, Endings and the In Between!

   This has been a week of all over agains...the first of the lasts or lasts of firsts! Here are a few firsts.

First time I've made play dough in a forever.  

First sign of geese flying back to their summer home.

First spotting of Mr and Mrs Mallard looking for a nesting spot.

First laundry hung out on the line-April 18th! - 74 degrees, a first for sure!

I had another first. One that I didn't take a picture of. It's that manuscript that's been giving me the headache. The one that's had me stuck in muck for a few weeks.  It's right in the middle of things!

The other night, I started from the beginning. I sat and read every word-out loud. (I had a pen in hand too and scratched and added along the way) TaDa! A new "beginning" for the troublesome chapter just started to flowwwwwww. Then it was time for zumba. I'd been sitting alone in the lobby of the school while my friends suffered through core exercises. Wanted to see if I minded sitting out. I'll tell the truth....my core isn't going to be conditioned anytime soon, but my middle grade manuscript has finally gotten back on track!

   

And then this came across my inbox from the lovely Alison K Hertz. It reinforces everything I needed- outline. In defense of myself, I do have a rough outline, but this is a  look at the whole picture, even if it's only a few hundred words.

http://www.facebook.com/l/QAQEpiPHKAQECAxqliZBqC2Tixchkx4Iy5jwY016mH5tKCw/alisonhertz.blogspot.ca/2012/03/outlining-planning-before-you-write.html

I'm back on track. I may not have my chapters ready to present to my girls again this week, but I'm out of the rut, over that stone wall. I'm in the middle with a new beginning for the old chapter. Yeehaw!!!!!

As far as the end is concerned-not there yet! I think I know where I'm going. At least know where I think I'm headed. For now I'm happy with beginnings and middles and a new outline for a picture book I've been thinking about.

Have a great week.