Ahhh, the middle, the ever-expanding, what-the-hell-is-happening-here middle. I am not talking about my waistline. That’s a whole other post. (How does ten pounds attach itself to you that quickly, anyway?)
Rather, I am, right now, smack in the middle of writing my new book. And while the middle is growing, the plot is not. I am, in other words, writing a whole load of (do NOT fill in the blank here) stuff I’m eventually going to delete. I should be able to just jump to the next plot point, right? Toss a transition in there and get on with it, right? I mean, I do know what’s going to happen next, I even know the sentence it will start with.
And yet I am mostly going on and on (oh, and ON) about the subtle intricacies of family relationships. Not that I don’t find that subject fascinating, and if you’ve read Catching Genius you know that it will likely be an important part of any book I write. But there’s only so much you can say, isn’t there?
Mix family relationships up with a Florida backdrop like the Everglades or Fisheating Creek and you can just toss the plot. Who needs plot?! Give me enough humidity to curl hair, a scorching sun, some mysterious body of water, and a few nutty relatives and I don’t need no stinkin’ plot. I need more Diet Coke so I can stay up and keep writing.
But, oddly, I am not panicking. (I AM panicking about those sneaky ten pounds though…) This is now the fifth book I’ve written, and I think that I’ve learned that although these words will eventually be deleted I, and I hope the story, will be the richer for having written them. They are teaching me. Teaching me about my characters, about my setting, and about my own abilities and deficiencies as a writer.
All I can do is hope that I’ve become wise enough to tell the difference.
Oh, Kristy, I feel your pain. The middle a of novel is panic time for me. What if I can’t find my way to that great new plot point I’m dying to write? What if it drags and drraaagggggs so much that I won’t be able to write that fantastic last line I’ve known since I wrote the first? And then something happens, some previously unrealized burst of inspiration comes whereby you find yourself catching genius (clever, huh?), and you get through beautifully. You’ll be fine. About those 10 pounds? Try 20 in a single year. I guess that means the chair glue is working.
Well, as someone who’s lucky enough to be almost in the middle of what you’re writing now, I guarantee you that you’ll find your way out. These folks leap off the page they’re so real (can I tell you that I woke up thinking about Ada this morning?). So, keep on writing, it totally rocks.
Oh, and those extra pounds . . . I just tell myself I’m too happy to be as skinny as I used to be.
I am right in the same place with my current project. I tell myself it is all part of the process. As is the ten pounds.
I love that last line. It’s super strong, and gives me chills.
As you’re already aware, Kristy, there’s a reason for that extra padding in the middle of your plot. How good of your characters to reveal all and then allow you to put them in their place!
Yep yep, 5 pounds a novel and 5 pounds for editing…that’s about right.
Oh, honey, I am so with you! And laughing that we are of one mind – have you noticed that lately? I think we have had at least 2 parallel posts! And of course our books are paired together on amazon …. it’s kinda neat!
OK, let’s make a deal – finish these manuscripts, get our editors to sign off on them (that’s when I’m going to really celebrate and breathe a sigh of relief) and then start working on losing some of that extra book weight.
Good luck and keep on writing!