The Journey to a New Book - Part 3
The Curse of ‘What If…’
‘The Soldier’ is now in its final stages. I should feel satisfied. But a growing feeling of dissatisfaction had been creeping up on me for a few days. I had to work out why, so I stopped writing and sat in my garden, trying to figure it out. I got there.
I had planned this story as the end of the mini saga of the Quinn/McCarthy Miller and Maze narrative, but I realised I hadn’t thought clearly enough about the ending, not as in how it would end, but what were the events that would bring it to its inevitable conclusion. So, I asked myself - is it the right conclusion? Light dawned and I conceded that no, it was too predictable and safe. Plus, there had been a phrase wrestling its way into my head as I wrote towards the inevitable conclusion, that I had deliberately pushed away. Just three words: ‘but what if…’ which expanded into ‘what if it didn’t happen like that, but like this…?’ and ‘What if xx didn’t do that, but instead did …’ Now that I had accepted the need for change, I gave it free rein.
Once I had given it permission to take root and grow, the results I hope will be a more exciting tale, a page-turning story.
It has inevitably caused a delay, but I know I can make up the lost time with re-gained enthusiasm for the narrative.
Where will it go? For now, I really don’t know. Many writers say that a story writes itself and they follow where it leads. This is exactly where I am right now. I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks as the new ideas play themselves in and out of the narrative.
I am living in interesting times!
‘The Soldier’ is now in its final stages. I should feel satisfied. But a growing feeling of dissatisfaction had been creeping up on me for a few days. I had to work out why, so I stopped writing and sat in my garden, trying to figure it out. I got there.
I had planned this story as the end of the mini saga of the Quinn/McCarthy Miller and Maze narrative, but I realised I hadn’t thought clearly enough about the ending, not as in how it would end, but what were the events that would bring it to its inevitable conclusion. So, I asked myself - is it the right conclusion? Light dawned and I conceded that no, it was too predictable and safe. Plus, there had been a phrase wrestling its way into my head as I wrote towards the inevitable conclusion, that I had deliberately pushed away. Just three words: ‘but what if…’ which expanded into ‘what if it didn’t happen like that, but like this…?’ and ‘What if xx didn’t do that, but instead did …’ Now that I had accepted the need for change, I gave it free rein.
Once I had given it permission to take root and grow, the results I hope will be a more exciting tale, a page-turning story.
It has inevitably caused a delay, but I know I can make up the lost time with re-gained enthusiasm for the narrative.
Where will it go? For now, I really don’t know. Many writers say that a story writes itself and they follow where it leads. This is exactly where I am right now. I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks as the new ideas play themselves in and out of the narrative.
I am living in interesting times!
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