Brain Jenga

Over the last few months, we’ve been deep in construction mode for book two of our trilogy. While the first story establishes a number of intersecting plot lines, the second, as with all “second acts,” is much more complicated––more of a tapestry of threads weaving together. The entire trilogy was still malleable when we were working on book one, but now that the text of the first volume is mostly locked, certain rules and realities are set in stone. Our responsibility now is to build on what we have already established and explore new and unexpected possibilities, all while setting the pieces into place for the final story.

Plotting these books feels like a super intense, high-stakes game of brain Jenga. Each individual story piece relies on the structure of the others, and if one is out of place (due to a plothole, or to a misjudged character motivation) a whole section crumbles. Then we pick up the pieces and go about carefully reassembling it all over again. And again. And again.

Thankfully because of our diligence, we haven’t had any total collapses. But there are a dizzying number of pieces in play at this point, and an essential part of the game is the constant re-evaluation of every single one. As the structure grows and expands, we discover some pieces that were once essential and load-bearing are now loose and removable. Periodically, we have to nudge the whole thing to evaluate its balance before the next piece is laid on top (usually a nerve-wracking feat.) Though the process is tedious and insanely challenging, it is also one of the most exciting stages in a way––it is when the possibilities are truly without limit.  And now that we are done with the Brain Jenga for book two, the drafting begins!