Story Behind the Story

I thought it might be nice to share a little of where Growing Strong came from and the, well, story behind it.

Originally I wrote the story without any chapter breaks. It had scene breaks (because I’m not crazy[image error], but the idea was more that the story was like life, an ongoing, continuous thing. That changed in editing, but I think the feeling of the story remains.

The concept was that the story was going to be vignettes of Hunter’s life, showing, sort of like a video montage, of him progressing in life and love and everything. This was in answer to pretty much every book out there that has a dramatic opening, a climax, and a resolute closing. Now, that’s not to say there are dramatic parts in the story, and there’s definitely a climax, but the rhythm of the story is more like waves, with each wave getting bigger as Hunter learns to stand up for himself and he can take on a bigger fish, so to speak.

So, I suppose, a warning about this book is that it’s going to be…mellow in a lot of parts. It’s really about the journey (although the destination is nice too). Because life is all about the journey. And growing as people because of the challenges we face.

Of course, I didn’t have all these ideas when I first sat down to write. No, the initial scene was just “a guy coming out to his friend, who doesn’t care.” I didn’t really expect it to go the direction it did, but I’m happy with the slow dance that this story became, and I hope you’ll enjoy it too!