Where am I in this story? That’s a question I’ve had to ask myself constantly because there are so many things going on; subplots that have to be wrapped up at some point, character arcs that can’t be allowed to flatten out, and a main plot that needs to keep building and building. So, as I arrived at chapter forty two and asked myself that question, I didn’t come up with a quick answer. The story had become a puzzle, a very fragmented one as far as some of the pieces went, and I knew I needed to start fitting things together or I’d end up with a very uneven and unsatisfying ending. To work through that I had to go all the way to the end of the story. I knew I’d have to take stock of which of my various loose pieces I’d be able oo be fit together in a way that would not only be plausible, but would make the readers look back and say, “Oh…I get it now!” I think that’s crucial to good story telling. There were number of areas where I thought I might be able to make that happen, but one in particular caught my attention…Chahrity. Who would she be and what would be happening with her at the end of the book? I knew those answers, and I’d already introduced the characters and events to make it happen–for the most part. What I needed to do was start pulling those things together in a way that ‘forced’ things to unfold down the path I needed them to take. The plan I came up with also continued to build the tension within the main plot too, so I was really looking forward to writing the chapter. Now we need to see if it turned out to be worth reading.
I actually let out a sigh after reading the chapter…a sigh of relief. The writing of the past few chapters hasn’t been all that good. This one wasn’t perfect, but I did feel it was interesting, even gripping at times. So, as far as the prose goes…polish verses rewrite; meaning I’m a happy camper. Now, how did the “deeper weave” part go? You’ll have to take my word for it, but the events we just read will eventually place Chahrity–and others, in the exact place and state I need them to be come the final chapters. I’m sure of this because I’ve already got those scenes written in my head. This leads me to an important aspect of how I write–I’m not sure if it’s the same for other fiction writers, but I suspect in most cases that it is. I have to know the final scenes of a story before it’s ever a real story, and “yes”, I do mean scenes–plural, not just the last “happily ever after” part. At the end of most stories you usually find a series of scenes that follow one after another, all of them pulling the myriad of loose ends together and wrapping them up in a few nice and hopefully tidy bundles. Those are the scenes that I need to have established in my mind before I can really start writing a story. They’re like a strong magnet pulling my imagination forward in the right direction, as well as repelling the ideas that don’t harmonize well with what has already happened and still needs to happen. Well, that’s enough pontifying for one post. Thanks as always for bearing with me.
Today is another wonderful day that the Lord has made, enjoy it,
Mike
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