Laurie J. Marks

A Gift from the Universe

I started writing the first draft of my WIP five weeks ago and have written over 30,000 words.  I’m writing more or less 25 hours a week, including a week of plot development and ten days of typing.  (I compose by hand, then type each chapter when its finished.)  I calculate that on the days I’m drafting new text, I’m producing about 1,500 words a day.  Even given my cavalier attitude towards first drafts—explained here–I am writing quickly.

This ease and speed of writing is a gift of the Universe, but not an inexplicable gift.  When in each chapter the protagonist has an unavoidable problem that she urgently must solve, and which the author has a rough idea of how to solve it, you get forward momentum.  And in these 30,000 words, the protagonist is being whacked by one catastrophe after another: she discovered a dangerous mystery, was deprived of a precious privilege, experienced the violent deaths of various loved ones, lost her source of income, survived a calamitous shelter failure, was forced to take numerous terrifying actions, acquired unwanted dependents, gained the attention of an amoral and powerful enemy, and narrowly escaped death [pause to count] three times. 

My early decision to pin her in place, unable to flee intolerable conditions, has proven an tireless engine for both plot and character.  It is feasible that she is tough, inventive, persistent,and deliberate, because in her context, people who lack these characteristics soon perish.  Also, since her world routinely and randomly dumps adversity on everyone, I can easily invent new disasters whenever I want or need to do so. 

Writing Problems

However, while real life might only be composed of solving one problem after another, a plot usually has a trajectory that is controlled by a purpose or goal that, unlike real life, won’t be yanked away by bad luck (unless it’s a horror novel). In the plot of my WIP, the protagonist is heading towards something she doesn’t expect.  In other words, where she thinks she’s heading, and where I know she’s heading, are different from each other. 

As an additional complication, a secondary plot overlays the primary plot, sometimes running in the background and sometimes jumping to the foreground.  I can’t discuss this secondary plot; but I also don’t want to give you the false impression that this is a simplistic fantasy adventure novel of the “kill the dragon and gain the treasure” variety.  Despite all the dodging of external danger, the important story is internal.  The dangers have forced a change on the protagonist.  Before, she was surviving and making a living.  Now, she’s angry and seeking vengeance.  Because she has changed, the plot trajectory has changed. 

Writer’s problems

The prospect of writing this next phase of the book doesn’t fill me with joy, and I’m not sure why.  However, I’ve learned to heed and respect my intuition.  Also, I have to take care to maintain my motivation to continuing writing.  I don’t have a publication contract, and won’t earn much from the book if I do find a publisher.  I have no external motivators to keep my wheels turning. Therefore, the pleasure of writing is all I have, and if I intend to keep writing I must sustain that pleasure.  I must figure out why I’m feeling less than enthusiastic.

I can articulate two concerns over the direction of the story.  One concern is that in the next bit there won’t be any urgent danger, and instead it depends more on the protagonist’s brainwork.  Writing about it sounds pretty dull; it might be dull reading as well; and so far I don’t have any ideas regarding how to make it exciting.  The other concern is that the protagonist has managed to do some real damage to her enemy, the antagonist, which has sucked the urgency out of the plot.  Fun as it was to write that chapter, I need to modify it somehow, or change my thinking so it’s not as devastating a blow as it seems. Or maybe I need to do something else. I’m just not sure.

If Only I Had Some Magic!

I’m not looking forward the work of figuring out how to solve my plot problem.  However, I have a process to follow. I know that whenever I encounter a plot problem, the first place to look for a solution is in the chapters before the problem.  So I’ll do two things in the next few days: I’ll type the chapter I just finished, then I’ll re-read all 30,000 words.  Meanwhile, I’ll hand off the problem to the dark part of my brain, and try not to think about it at all.  (I can’t really describe this process–it’s an act of will, of letting go of the task and letting it be another person’s problem; except the other person is the other me, a hard-working and helpful but silent stranger.) This is a strategy I’ve used my entire life, and I’m not unique–it works for a lot of people.  For example, when my wonderful wife, Deb, was learning carpentry, one day she really struggled to learn how to use a turning lathe.  She went to bed frustrated, then overnight (as she put it) “I got it in my hands,” and had become good at it.

Our brains evolved to solve problems.  In the words of that great philosopher Paul McCartney (I’ve been practicing “Let it Be” on my ukulele this week), “There will be an answer, let it be.” 

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