I make Thanksgiving dinner for my husband’s family every year.  Well, except the year I was in the hospital delivering my son.  They let me off the hook that year.  Usually the total guest list stretches to between 12-15 people.  I make a huge meal: turkey, stuffing, and all the trimmings.  Preparing the sheer mass of food can be a daunting process.  But, I manage and before I know it we all tuck in.  Then, in a sickeningly short period of time (consider it takes me days to get the food there in the first place), we all sit there, full, sleepy, and happy specimens of gluttony.

When I start preparations for Thanksgiving dinner, I generally feel like I’ll never get it all finished in time.  Let’s face it, Thanksgiving, though ridiculously yummy, is a high-maintenance, high-preparation, and high-stress meal.  Well, unless you’re parked on the couch watching football as my culinarily-deficient husband, then it’s not so bad.

But, for me, it’s a huge undertaking. 

As is the process of writing my novel.

I approached writing my novel similar to the way I approach Thanksgiving dinner.  I wrote lists and I tried to visualize accomplishing all the tasks necessary to finishing.

I’ve encountered similar obstacles as I do while making Thanksgiving dinner.   I swing viciously between annoyance that it is taking so long to get finished and giddiness that it’s almost done.  At times, I doubt that I’ll ever get it done and then I buckle down and attempt new and more efficient techniques.

This entire roller coaster has made me appreciate the value of micro-thinking.  If I stand back and stare at where I am in the course of my WIP, I start to get overwhelmed by whatever emotion has been riding so close to the surface.  Whether that’s doubt, elation, or plain old confusion, looking at the writing of a novel from a macro perspective can be daunting, the same way looking at preparing a huge meal for 12-15 can be daunting.

But, if I break down the huge task into smaller tasks, it becomes more doable.  In my novel, I have tried to focus on the goal of each scene separately and let the huge task of WRITING THE NOVEL take care of itself.

I’ve accomplished Thanksgiving each year by breaking it into smaller tasks.  Who says it can’t work for my story?

And I hope that at the completion of this process I feel pride and satisfaction that dwarfs the pride and satisfaction of a successful dinner party.

How do you keep the huge task of writing from overwhelming you?  Do you (even you panters) focus on scene goals?  Ever thrown a huge dinner party?  Got any tips for me?  (Hey, I’m a pirate; it’s in my nature to use you as a resource.)