Springing to Life

Spring is finally here in New Hampshire. The trees are all in bloom, flowers are popping all over the place, and my allergies are in full swing. Seeds are dropping to the ground to begin a new life cycle. This spring has inspired me to dig out the seeds of ideas I’ve been mulling over for months about a new novel and finally try to make it work. 

You see, I tried to write the first draft during Nano last November. I was doing well, ideas were flowing, but I couldn’t quite figure out what the story was about. Sure, I wanted to write an eco-mystery with a jaguar and a couple of kids from different cultures navigating friendship. But that wasn’t enough to sink my teeth into. I could only get so far. I tried brainstorming and charting and figuring out different plot points that would make this novel exciting. But no matter how many exciting ideas I thought of, I still didn’t have the point of my story. And I definitely didn’t have the motivation to just write until I figured it out. 

I got to thinking about how I wrote Shipshape and why the draft seemed to just happen. And then it hit me. I know too much now. I’ve been reading craft books, analyzing other novels, working with a writing group, and paying attention to the intricacies of the professional writing world. I was paralyzed by knowing just enough to realize I was completely out of my depth. 

I have to be totally honest. When I wrote Shipshape, I didn’t read any craft books or study any novels. I had an idea with a lot of emotion behind it, and so I just wrote. I pulled all of my experience as a reader and teacher into my writing, and I used intuition of story to guide me. That’s what I did through each draft too. If something wasn’t working, I would sort of feel out the story to see if it sounded right. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I felt very strongly that I had a story to tell, and that these particular characters were the ones to tell it. 

So here I am now, reading all these books that are having me boil down my ideas into one line, and I can’t do it. Or when I do manage to write a sentence, it’s missing the actual story I want to tell. It’s all falling a bit flat.

My wonderful writing group is reading a craft book called Story Genius by Lisa Cron. She uses brain science to take the reader through a series of prompts and exercises to develop the story before the story and really dig in to who the protagonist is. How could it be? A story isn’t driven by exciting plot points? What I have learned so far is that like any human, a character makes decisions based on experiences and how they view the world. If you don’t know what your character believes or what they have been through, you as the author won’t know how they will react to the amazing plot points you have designed. My mind has been blown. No wonder I wasn’t getting anywhere with my story. I had no idea who my main character is. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been unpacking her life, learning about her past to be able to inform her future.

I’m actually excited to write again as I get to know Lottie. I’m looking forward to introducing you to her.