The Light, The Tunnel and The End in Sight
Spent yesterday banging my head against the end of the chapter. I had Spence and Sadie right where I wanted them. And they wouldn't do anything. They wouldn't say anything. It's because I bragged about them talking. They just clammed up.
But today the dam broke. Today Spence said something inconsequential. And Sadie said something less consequential even than that. And I thought, blast it! Here we go again. And then, all of a sudden, he said something else, prodded her a little. And she snapped back with the first thing that came into her (my) head. And suddenly they were off. We got the scene. We bagged the chapter.
And now we've got a rough progression of the whole book. It's all there but the expansion. It all tracks. It all makes sense. Even more sense than I'd hope originally. (I have low expectations. It stands me in good stead when the characters don't behave. I just shrug and say, "That's just the way they are," and eventually they start to play nice. Usually.)
Anyway, it worked. And now all I have to do is write the last 12000 words in the next five days. Piece of cake. Not. But I should have it roughed in pretty well. Maybe very well. Who knows? I'm so relieved. I feel like I can breathe again.
But today the dam broke. Today Spence said something inconsequential. And Sadie said something less consequential even than that. And I thought, blast it! Here we go again. And then, all of a sudden, he said something else, prodded her a little. And she snapped back with the first thing that came into her (my) head. And suddenly they were off. We got the scene. We bagged the chapter.
And now we've got a rough progression of the whole book. It's all there but the expansion. It all tracks. It all makes sense. Even more sense than I'd hope originally. (I have low expectations. It stands me in good stead when the characters don't behave. I just shrug and say, "That's just the way they are," and eventually they start to play nice. Usually.)
Anyway, it worked. And now all I have to do is write the last 12000 words in the next five days. Piece of cake. Not. But I should have it roughed in pretty well. Maybe very well. Who knows? I'm so relieved. I feel like I can breathe again.
posted by Anne McAllister at 8:44 PM
3 Comments:
Congrats Anne - Spence and Sadie have really given you a rough time. I've really enjoyed reading your blog and getting to know your characters. It's almost been a relief to read that even you (highly esteemed author) have a fight on your hands from time to time!
I hope your last 12,000 words come easy for you.
Sue :-)
Hi Sue,
Spence and Sadie have really been no more trouble than any other couple of characters. I can count on the fingers of one hand (with fingers to spare) the characters who have just sprung full-bodied and with a personality to match onto the page. It just takes a long time to get to know them well enough (for me at least) to understand the potential of the story. It's usually all there -- but it's finding it and teasing it out that gets tricky (and which makes me a slow writer for the most part).
Basically, sad to say, this is pretty typical.
Thanks for the good wishes. I hope the last 12000 words come easy too! Back to work. Hope yours is going well!
Anne
Just dropping in to wish you a happy birthday... will wish you the belated greeting in person next month :o)
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