Beginnings are always slow for me, because I'm feeling my way into the unknown (which can also be exciting, so they aren't a total downer). Endings are slow, too--I have to move very carefully to properly connect up all the flopping, fraying plot wires so that everything goes boom in just the right way. The pyrotechnics must be spectacular but they must also be precise.
But middles--I love middles. I know a lot of writers complain about the middle--how to keep it from sagging, how to keep the story momentum going.
That's not a problem for me. In the long middle section of a novel, conflicts and complications multiply faster than tribbles. The plot wanders into dangerous and unexplored territory. Surprises abound. And I revel in it. I am an unsupervised child running helter-skelter with scissors, gone wild with markers and glue and construction paper. There's a great deal of glee involved, and no consequences. I don't have to resolve anything, just make it all worse and what could be more fun?
But then I arrive at the beginning of the ending, where I have to grow up and be responsible, and wipe up the glue and find ways to color match all those fluttering bits of paper.
Which leads me to the most satisfying moment of all--when I discover that they fit together very well indeed, and my childlike abandon had a deeper purpose after all. (Well, it's either that, or I'm just really good at inventing patterns out of chaos.)
How about you? What's your favorite part to write?
Friday, May 11, 2007
Beginnings, middles, and endings
Posted by Beth at 3:04 PM
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4 comments:
The middle is where I absolutely DIE! I have to leave myself notes like "kill off secondary character X here to inspire hero's revenge" or some such, then skip ahead to a scene that is vivid in my mind.
Then I have to hope that I'll be able to fix the middle part without creating a need to change much of the rest!
Well, I write slowly enough that I kind of work all that out as I go. And WIP has several POV characters, multiple storylines, and lots of sub-plots. They all relate to one another, but at the same time, they give me lots of room to explore and experiment with conflicts and complications. I don't worry about how I'm going to resolve anything, which frees me up to get creative and push boundaries. Most fun. :)
Beth, I love middles because so much unexpected stuff pops up. It's like a fun house where things pop out from the walls and drop down from ceilings while you are trying to navigate your way up the shifting stairs.
It's where I go to bed at night thinking about a problem and wake up with a wonderful new character who not only solves the dilemna, but also becomes a unique and integral part of the story. Then, of course, I have to wonder how it is all going to resolve itself in a timely manner. My wizard then winks at me, wiggles his fingers and whisks me down another path before I can despair of ever finishing.
Julie,
You sound just like me. And I love having new characters pop up--sometimes they turn out to be crucial to the story, and yet I never could have invented them in advance. I have to get the story fires burning good and hot before surprises start rising out of the smoke. [g]
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