Even with the help of Aristotle, Joseph Campbell, and Christopher Vogler (and years of experience), it is still an anxious time when a writer reaches a turning point in a novel.
I am writing a piece of historical fiction. This novel has four parts and I've just finished the first part, which is built around a particularly well-known piece of history. I've begun the second part, which is largely supposition and invention on my part. That transition is scary.
If the reader was loving Part 1, and suddenly the story pivots, that is a danger point. I might lose her or him. Also, Part 3 is based upon history that nearly everyone knows, so wherever I go with Part 2, I know I have to somehow come in for a landing and sync up with Part 3.
The novel may sound as if it is completely planned out, but it is not. I have only the loosest of outlines and I am trying to write as organically as possible. I am limited, of course, by history.
In my opinion, the fear comes from fondness. I really like how Part 1 has come out. It is complex. For me, with the toolbox I bring to the work, it was a stretch of my ability and I like it. That's a good feeling. It is also the source of the fear. What if I screw it all up with Part 2?
I know some of you think to yourselves, "Just fix it in the revision." I'm not a draft the whole thing and then revise kind of author. A small revision in Chapter 2 might necessitate the complete rework of Chapters 3 to 35, so I don't work that way. I write and revise as I go. If I do go back and revise a book-length work, I never like version 2.0 as much as 1.0. That's just me.
So...anxiety. Wish me luck.
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