2:04 AM, Saturday, November 6, 2010
No, I'm not writing. I'm not sleeping ,either. Not sure why that is. I was blazing tired when I went to bed a number of hours ago. At any rate, I am sitting here with a drink (Oh,ok, single malt Scotch with two ice cubes, if you must know), thinking about the current NaNo project, and trying to figure out why I can't get a grip on where the story is going. Oh, I have a vague idea of the main conflict, and a sub-conflict or two, but the charaters' progression, well, now, that's a whole other thing, isn't it? And it came to me that this is the crux of the issue for me, as always. I am character driven, whether reading or writing. If I can't engage with at least one character, I just can't get into a story. I've given up on some (reportedly) really good stories, because none of the characters got to me. Heck, I've given up on one very popular series because I simply can't stand the main character, and don't give a #$%& what happens to him!
So back to NaNo: the second main character in my story was a ghost to me until now. Not a literal ghost- those don't come in till later! I just had no clue who he is or what he does or how it all connects. I know he knows my main character's father, and the father will drive a lot of the main action conflict, but I couldn't get a handle on this guy. Until tonight. I was sitting here, sipping my drink, and hoping I'd get tired enough to go back to sleep, when it hit me. I know what he does and how it relates to the story! A little web searching and I've got him far more defined. I also know how we get away with having the father in a sort of suspended animation state (research facility, you know), and how we link the paranormal, psychic aspect in. Ta-da! I feel progress on the horizon tomorrow!
Not that I endorse late night Scotch drinking as an everyday method of finding inspiration when the well runs a bit dry, but it worked for me! Here's to a nice glass of Writer's Block to get the words flowing again. Slainte!
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