the writing life: Letting It Come.

[lagilman]

You start a story with a specific thing in mind. Along the way, some things change, are clarified, are cast aside. The specific thing remains clear, though; your driving force. Until you come to the end and discover... that wasn't the thing you needed the story to say, after all.

And that's okay. In fact, that's perfect.

My job is pretty cool, sometimes.



I'm not sure I'm going to make the midnight deadline for sending the story to crit, though.

Comments

[msagara.livejournal.com]

Sometimes you have to write the book to know what the book is about.

[lagilman]

Well, there's a fine line between "not knowing where you're going" and "improvising off a roadblock." But yeah -- sometimes the story develops a new personality even as you're writing it, and you discover things you didn't know in the process. Sometimes it infuses the telling, like herbs in oil, and sometimes it changes it completely

That's what keeps the job from going stale, no matter how many books or short stories you write: you never can be certain you know what's going to happen....

[lagilman]

oh yes. So many times I've gotten to the penultimate chapter and said "oh, duh! Of course!"

Non-writers tend to think that's a little... odd. They have no idea. *grin*