So I got to Chapter 19 and everything went off the wire. I mean…yeah…ok. Let me start from the semi-beginning because I know so many folks are reading this that you forget a few things.
Part, the First: Rather than start this new writing kick by doing something small, like a short story, I decided to shoot big. I am working through one of my novels, trying to see if I can make it work–or at least trying to see if it’s even possible to make it work.
Part, the Second: I’ve been working at a pretty fair pace, and overall I’m happy. My micro-writing needed quite a bit of work, which was concerning, but what the heck. The story moved pretty well, and if I have one area I’m focusing on it is trying to be much more clear about the strength of my main character’s persona. I think he sometimes disappears.
But overall, I’ve been able to work with my story and make things sing much better than they had been. Overall, I was thinking this was a pretty good story.
And then I got to chapter 19, and suddenly there was no flow. Dialog was redundant. My characters proceeded through a series of discussions that were beyond tepid for nearly twenty pages. I wasn’t really sure what happened, but I’ve worked on it for nearly two full days. Then this morning, I think I get it. This is a critical point of the story for the MC. It’s a place he’s making decisions. And, to be blunt, my writing shows signs of being afraid to lay it out there. My main character is hesitating, and so was I.
Armed with this thought I’m going back to it again.
What do I have to lose, eh?