I Actually Worked on My Book Today

I've had the idea for my book for about 5 years now. It's based around the idea of going to see live music, joining that tribe, events and instances that a multitude of people have gathered together through their own experiences as part of this tribe and the coming together of the twisted story lines of a few characters in the Colorado music scene in this contemporary era.

I've been doing research/ writing over these past 5 years and I realize now that I have what I need to write the book. Stacks of journals written at shows and festivals and house parties that scream of the unbelievable adventures, happenings, and serendipity that make you wonder from time to time if life really is real. Can you even decipher a real event from a fictional one? Is anything possible? Just about, it would seem.

I was really getting cranking on it for a while until suddenly one day I hit a fork in the road and didn't know which direction to take to continue the story. In fact I don't really have a story line at all. I have a beginning and an ending and the mash of events in the middle and I just don't know how it'll all work out. I've been working on whether I should just keep following the pathways of my brain even though I can't see where exactly it will go next or if I need to sit down and plan it out. I've sat at this crossroad for about a month now.

In fact I was so stuck that I signed up for a story plotting class with the hops that it would get me out of the mud. But to my grief the class was canceled because I was the only one to sign up! I'm going to take that as a push from life to just go with the flow for now. Just write and see where the road takes me. Hopefully I'll surprise myself. 1000 words later and I feel pretty good about that the newest events and characters who've popped up in the story.

Any advice for a newbie writer trying to get that first draft finished? I'm on page 25 with about 15 or more journals full of research and experiences that can be used as inspiring turns in the story. Mixing fact and fiction, and a little dabble into what it means to wake up.