Now that I’m knee-deep in brainstorming for “Novel 02,” I am reminded of how the brainstorming happened for me before and during the writing of “Novel 01,” so this brainstorming process might continue well into the future, until I can write “The Story.” Over this past week, I thought extensively about the final of the four parts to “Novel 02,” so consider this preamble to be a massive spoiler warning concerning the details of the conclusion of “Novel 02.”

Spoilers?: Major [overall plot themes]

I realized over the course of the past week that “Novel 02” is a love story.

“Novel 02” starts off with Sammohini in a sort of funk because she is particularly feeling alone. For what specific reason, I don’t know, but it’s a background sensation that permeates the first of four parts in subtle ways. One instance might relate to her having had the nickname “pumpkin” and then hearing that nickname, thinking about the nickname, and feeling particularly forlorn about her ex, Jane, perhaps as part of an anniversary or some kind of event that made Sammohini feel particularly alone.

The details of this aren’t going to be too apparent in Part 1.

Part 1 will instead focus primarily on the day-to-day life of Sammohini before her healthcare event that takes place through Parts 2 and 3. The outcome of those parts lead Sammohini into the realization that she deeply cares about Jane and they probably have a phone call during Parts 2 and 3 that lead Jane to return back to Sammohini because in Part 4, Jane returns from wherever she had gone off to in order to return to Sammohini. I don’t know the fine details of where she went, for how long, and perhaps most importantly, why she left in the first place.

I had made some hints about this in “Novel 01.”

From what I remember of that, Sammohini and Jane had been acquainted politely enough to where Sammohini could call Jane about something, but they were both physically and emotionally distant from each other. An event like what happens to Sammohini during Parts 2 and 3 cause Jane to realize that any problem she had with Sammohini is minor in comparison to forgiveness and overcoming that sense of passionate distrust or hatred that might have compelled her to repel herself away in the first place. Realizing this was a powerful sensation for me over the past week, because they’d been friends basically from day one – I wrote them both at the same time, in the same short story, and they’d been friends basically ever since – so, whatever major schism occurred between them was enough to be unknowable until this past week.

That’s where some brainstorming, at 6:26pm, will help…

I’m done brainstorming Jane’s character bio, somewhat, but mostly a run-through of the “Novel 02” as I see it at 6:50pm. In order to make the brainstorming I just did work, I – as the writer – have to do more in-depth brainstorming into the nature of Jane’s relationship to Sammohini. I’ve done many years of brainstorming already into the nature of their relationship, so digging deeper will just require more time. I haven’t quite figured out many of the generic biographical or biological bits of information about Jane, but I have figured out many of the plot beats and the emotional ties that bring “Novel 02” together. This is where I imagine the writing perspectives can differ. I believe that when you have all of the fundamental details of what you’re writing – the characters, the plot, the setting, and the themes you’re going for – the writing process is just the mechanical action of setting your mind’s thinking to words that appear on a page somewhere.

This is where I can do this while working full-time.

Over the next few months, especially, I will be working my hardest to have the best possible financial situation for myself. I can’t take time off to write fiction or do much else besides work. On days like two three days ago, when there was inclement weather, sure, I used that day off to do writing and other projects, but I didn’t focus all of my time on brainstorming or writing “Novel 02.” I don’t believe that I will, unless I get to the point where I can clear off all of the major tasks that I need to do to secure finances over the course of a one-month to perhaps three-month period of time. I think, more ideally, I’d rather write “Novel 02” and other novels, after writing the novella that reintroduces myself to the fiction-writing process, in small batches. Maybe I’d write every Saturday for a few hours a day? Maybe I’d write a few days a week for a few hours, but then balance that against other hobbies I have and other obligations I might want or need to do? In this respect, the working side of myself isn’t the burden to the writing side of myself, and this is the sort of balance that is another theme in “Novel 02.”

If I learned anything from writing “Novel 01,” it’s how to avoid burnout.

Just today, I wasn’t feeling especially like doing a bunch of brainstorming or thinking about “Novel 02,” but this was the time and place for it. The formal brainstorming I did surrounding Jane might only consist of a few minutes, but, starting that biography is an important step, particularly when I draw pictures of Sammohini and Jane, before the events of “Novel 02,” asking the sorts of questions like “what color is Jane’s hair or eyes?” “Where was Jane born?” “Who were Jane’s parents?” “Is Jane’s last name Lanyard, as it’s been for years, or Lanjerd, which was an experiment in trying something new for her last name?” These are questions that don’t require immediate answers in order to continue brainstorming “Novel 02,” but I will need some of these answers in order to write that novel. I can’t write Part 4, where Sammohini meets Jane again for the first time in months, if I don’t know what color Jane’s eyes or hair are in that scene. It could be easy to make something up, but, these sorts of biological and biographical questions reveal an iceberg of thinking involved with why her eyes and hair aren’t different colors.

These are questions that I’ll continue thinking about answers for in the future.