To build up high you’ve got to have a sound base.
There are several ways to say this sentence;
To be stable you’ve got to be anchored.
One does not simply reach up without being grounded first.
You can see this principle everywhere. Architecture, Yoga, and even Cooking, and it basically says that if you reach too high without a stable foundation the structure will fall down.
That was my mistake doing projects most of my life, and this is why they always died. One by one, they didn’t have a sound enough grip, and once I didn’t have the motivation to keep them moving forward, they fractured and fell.
I am very passionate about my ideas, and it is always a good reason to start, but after some time, passion fades, or so I’m afraid.
So this is exactly what I try to do differently with The Dance of Life and Death, or in short, DOLD.
I’m actually very excited and proud of the foundation I’m building for it.
Now imagine a project as a tree, the tree is growing and its roots are using the ground as an anchor.
It has several roots, and whenever the tree needs to reach higher, it grows better roots before getting taller.
For instance, a week ago, I found that I couldn’t reach high enough with my characters. I took a break from writing to reinforce the character biographies root.
Since then, 8 hours a day I studied MBTI, a personality categorizing system. With it, every character will be able to be itself to its extent. And just two days ago, using MBTI, I made two new characters I am VERY excited about.
Complete opposites who complete each other.
I can’t wait to write their journey.
I use OneNote for character biographies, worldbuilding, magic system, and scenes.
Google Keep for cool names I encounter, words I like, phrases, and concepts I thought about.
Google Tasks for projects, next tasks in them, and posts I want to write.
Google Docs is where the book is, and with it, my Beta Readers can comment to their liking.
Whatsapp for my Beta readers group, which is basically me, or Beatriz the protagonist, telling everyone what's happening.
The Beta readers help a lot, with different views and perspectives they tell me everything I can't tell myself, all that I don’t see with my own eyes.
Those are several of DOLD’s roots, for now.
I could only hope to continue creating a sound enough foundation for DOLD, and I know that with enough strong roots holding a solid ground, only my imagination is the limit.
*In the picture - a project that reached so high the ground could not handle it.
