Sticky Problems

 I've been doing quite a bit of writing and drawing lately, despite constant extreme fatigue, so I am feeling productive in spite of everything.  The new book is coming on nicely, although I am not writing at the frantic pace that I was - my 'bull at a gate' method needs to be reined in somewhat!  I've started coming up against sub-plots,which severely complicate my 'just write the bloody thing' mode, so I've been trying to organise the scenes I have either written, or have in my mind, into a meaningful order.

Hey presto! The Yellow Sticky Wall!

Each sticky has a scene written on it, and can be moved around to change the chronological order of events.  It's my version of a data flow diagram for writing purposes.

Now, yellow stickies are good because you can move them around.  They are not so good, in that they don't seem to stick for very long.  (You can see some are already peeling off in the picture.)  The result is that when I come into the study the morning after a busy plotting session, the floor is covered in an avalanche of scraps of yellow paper!  (Will Self  doesn't seem to have this problem from the photos I have seen of his study wall, which is covered in neat lines of perfectly adhered yellow slips.  I wonder how he does it?)

Eagle-eyed readers will notice that the surface to which my plot notes are adhered is actually my precious advertising board from a distant visit to Norwich by Iain Banks, one of my fave authors, kindly donated to this throbbing fan by friends working at Waterstones.  (He's Scottish - what can I say?)  You will notice that stickies are not arranged over his adorable naughty face.  That would be a sticky too far.

I bet Iain Banks doesn't have trouble getting his yellow stickies to stick...