I Am Not a Squirrel

Not Me!

I’m not a squirrel, although this time of year I feel distinct sympathy for those hard-working little rodents.  The cactus pears are harvested and processed.  The basil is picked, frozen, and ready to become pesto.  Next up is thinning some bulbs and moving a few plants to containers to see if I can winter them over.

And, in between, I’m working through several potential story ideas.  I’m not actually writing any of them yet, but researching and experimenting is part of writing.

This raises the question of when one should stop thinking and start writing.  To this I’ll add, “When should one stop writing and adding on, and just write a conclusion?”

Good questions, and I’m not sure I know the answers.  I had two good friends who left unfinished books when they died.  In both cases, these were not works under contract or anything like that.  They were “heart” works that the authors loved and loved working on.

These books were never finished.  That makes me sad, because I’ll never get to read them.  On the other hand, the writers received continued stimulation and pleasure from what writing and revising and re-revising they did.

With this in mind, I’ll hazard a couple of answers.  Researching and thinking should stop when they become counterproductive to the potential story.  When these become diving down the research rabbit hole only because it’s fun and cool, and the reason has been lost, then start writing.  You’ll find out quickly enough if the precise model of hat worn by a character is important or not.  Remember, you can go back later and research the most popular style of men’s hats in 1922 Boston when you’re in the revising and polishing mode. 

As for when to stop…  Stop when the story arc you started with is done.  If this story arc raised new questions, that’s fine.  That’s another story.

My Through Wolf’s Eyes began with the question “How would a young woman raised by wolves handle encountering humans and being tossed into the middle of competition to be named heir to a kingdom?”  This raised a lot more questions, but when that question and the consequences immediately related to it were resolved then the book was complete.

Obviously, Firekeeper and I had a lot more trails we could run, but that was the end of that particular story.

Is it wrong to not finish a story?  Well, Leonardo da Vinci rarely finished anything and is still regarded as a genius.  I think there’s a value in taking pleasure in the creative process.  That’s what I’m doing now, with plants and with beads and with the game I run and, yes, with the stories that I tell.