If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always had.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Errrrrgggghhhhh!!!!

Can't *bang* nail *bang* down *bang* this *bang* plot! Slimy little bugger!

So I have this young pregnant Army widow. I was sure the story was about how she works through her grief during her pregnancy to make a new life for herself and her children (she also has a toddler). I knew the doctor who tried to save her husband after he was wounded would figure heavily into the picture, but it turns out he has issues, too. He's a widower, you see, and never fully dealt with his loss. So the story is as much about the doctor as it is about the widow, and it keeps getting cooler, but it's so convoluted right now! I want to write one chapter after another, and it's so not working out that way. I broke out Holly's Plot Clinic this afternoon, but I didn't get to work as long as I would have liked. For some reason, my family wanted dinner. I think I'll be heading upstairs soon to take another run at it.

Are you wondering yet where this idea came from? I was in the grocery store one day--over a year ago--and as I was leaving, a rather cute guy left from the next aisle. Being as graceful as I am, I didn't see him and almost bounced off his shopping cart. My first thought was, "Glad I'm not pregnant!" and the scene where the widow does the same thing with the doctor popped into my head.

And they say that writing is an art, not a mental illness. Thank goodness for that!

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1Comments:

Blogger Valerie Comer said...

Hugs on figuring out what the core of the story is. I'm doing Mar's revision workshop right now and struggling to find the heart of a novel I already wrote! I don't know if it changed after I started writing it or if the idea morphed so fast I couldn't keep tabs. At any rate, it's challenging. But vital, I think.

BTW, you might want to read Nancy Kress' book Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint. I've been going back through it and she really addresses which character tells the story YOU want to tell. Maybe your library has it?

7:50 PM  

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