One of the things I realized recently (and this is just “one” because days are full of grasping episodes of dumb-ass things I know yet don’t pay attention to) is that the reason I’ve been struggling with my novel is simple: I don’t have an end. I have a point “A” and a bunch of points “B”, “C” and “D” but point “THE END” eludes me.
When I started working on the story (you can read the beginning here) I did have an end in mind. In fact, I had the entire story developed. But then something happened along the way. One of my characters, namely Edna, took me down unchartered territory as she took reign of the story and started dictating the events through her reactions.
So task number one on this mission to finish a first draft before the end of this summer is to re-evaluate the plot. And that’s where I’m at: back at square one.
How do I feel? Excited! Edna has evolved from an imaginary character – a blob of playdough that originated in my imagination, only to resurrect into a REAL person, dwelling in the sharpest corners of my mind.
Now about last night’s “happy hour” at my mom’s.
Her first words when I told her about my mission were, “but that will make you a boring girl.”
And when I told Greg, he said, “okay then I won’t drink either.” (And if you know Greg, that’s about as realistic as, well, a sparkly unicorn pulling Santa’s sleigh.)
As everyone sat at my mother’s last night with drink in hand (and by everyone I mean mom, Greg and I), I was perfectly content with my bottle of Evian water. Never mind that it spells “naive” backwards. I felt great. I was able to listen to the conversation and work out the plot of my novel with another, silent part of my brain. (If there’s one thing I do well, it’s multi-task.)
And a big, fat thank-you to all my supporters! Your words of encouragement here, on Facebook and on Twitter put a gi-normous smile on my face and step in my determination. (And they say there’s no value in virtual relationships. HMPH!)
Edna thanks you as well. From the bottom of her vampiric heart.
Oh and as a PS. The other thing I’m giving up is Spider Solitaire (again).
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