That moment in writing the book

Date: 2008.08.03 | Category: News | Tags: writing

I hit it today. Oddly enough, it came after taking a full day off from writing. Or perhaps, not oddly at all.

It puts me in mind of an old story about a traveler and his baggage carriers. Wish I could remember the exact tale. But basically, the traveler was in a hurry and pushed on day after day after day, until one day when he arose and prepared to travel for the day, he found all his baggage carriers sitting in a circle, refusing to move. When he asked what the problem was, they told him, “We have journeyed too fast and now we are waiting for our souls to catch up with us.”

I’ve been pushing on this book steadily, minimum of 1000 words a day. It’s coming along well, the characters are unfolding, the adventure is progressing, the plot thickens, the mystery deepens, and the page count grows. All is going well.

But there is a difference between competent, workmanline construction of a book, and that tingle when the book takes off. You know that feeling you get when you’re reading a really great story and you have to put it down to go to work or school or whatever. But all day long, you know that world and that adventure is waiting for you, and you can’t wait to get back and find out what happens?

Well, when the writing switches on, that same feeling hits me. I can’t wait to get back to writing the book so I can find out what happens next. I know what the rough outline says, but that is just a skeleton. It’s when the flesh goes on (and experience has taught me that it takes a certain word count to get there) that suddenly the story sits up, puts on its hat and says, “Come on, follow me, and please do try to keep up.”

So. That hit me today. I know a key thing about Thymara that I knew but didn’t fully realize before. And knowing that tells me a very important thing about Alise.

That was the Aha! moment.

And I was very glad to have it happen.