I like to plot the stories I’m writing. I know that isn’t everyone’s style, but it’s the way I typically work. I say typically because my current work in progress was not plotted. At least, not fully plotted. I had a pretty clear vision of the story line, but I hadn’t worked out all the details.
So, I’m busy writing the story, taking it in the direction I wanted it to go, and then last night I realized that somewhere along the line the story got away from me. When I say that I mean, I’m not quite clear where it will go next.
I’m not exactly sure how I feel about it either.
I had a brief ‘Now what?’ moment last night when I was about to start writing. Things weren’t where they should be in the story. I sat and stared at the screen trying to decide what to do next. One of my choices was to abandon the work, but I remembered how excited my son is to read it and threw out that option. That meant move forward.
The problem was, the next logical step shouldn’t be happening for another 2,000 words. Still, I buckled down and wrote the next 1,000 words and stepped away from the keyboard, confused about where to go next.
Maybe that’s a good thing. I think I need to be less predictable in my writing. Things still need to make sense, but I would love it if the sense was a bit twisted.
Since last night, I’ve come up with some ideas of how to go forward. I believe the way the book ends still works but how I bring the story to a close has become a bit of a mystery. Who will live and who will die? Who will be changed and who won’t?
It’s a bit of a scary place to be; I like to know where things are going. I sure can’t say that about this story. Still, I know people want to read it so I owe it to them to finish it. Let’s see how it turns out.
