Spackling and Sanding Helps the Topcoat Go on Fast and Smooth

I'm still working on my outline for the newest manuscript. At this point, I've got the general plot and characters down (though, frustratingly, I can't find the right name for my main character).

Exercises I've found very helpful:

-- Character bios. I've always found these corny, but telling the story of a character's life is actually really helpful. Also, a great warm-up.

-- Synopsis run-downs. I got stuck coming up with my act three, and it seemed that telling the story to someone-- or even writing it down for myself-- helped crystalize it.

Telling it like a bedtime story allows interesting twists or patterns or character traits emerge, for one. For another, that kind of storytelling makes it easy to leave out the boring bits and add to the fun ones. For me: verbal storytelling has been good to clarify the concept, or to give a very nutshell description, and written storytelling has great for summarizing the entire plot.

Now, I've got a forty-point "beat-sheet"/outline. Each "beat" is equivilant to 2-2.5K. That's part of my method for slowing down-- I don't want to micro-manage every word, because that leads to summation, bordom, and a WAYYY too fast pace. But I also don't want to go hiking without a trail.

Now, I want to make sure the supporting character's journeys mirror each other the way the lead characters' do. Then, I'll try to polish and strengthen each "Act" of the story, beat by beat (forty beats is too many for little hallow-headed me to tackle all at once). Finally, I'll make sure the balance and pacing feels right. Then-- by this weekend, if all goes right-- I'll start the rough draft!

(Interesting) side-note: I've reverted to three-act structure. When my storytelling got more naturalistic, and I knew enough about the characters/plot to go with the flow, the story broke into a "beginning," "middle," and "end."