Showing posts with label John Martyn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Martyn. Show all posts

Friday, 25 May 2012

Denouement surprises

I love writing because of the surprises it gives you. I am coming out of marking hell and have been thinking about my rewrites. It was all rather complicated and daunting and if I am honest I was quite worried about it. I have spoken to various people about my concerns who were all very supportive. Yesterday, I then decided to send an email to 'the editor' asking if we could have a chat. I was hoping that by talking to her I would be able to get things straight in my head. It was fully of woolly ideas and blank moments.

And then a strange thing happened. I was reading something else and suddenly a question came into my head. One of those 'what if?' questions. And that was it. The answer to the 'what if' was my denouement. Having been stuck and floored by the whole process by sending that email and admitting I had a problem to others I seemed to have given my brain permission to sort it out. It told me exactly where my story was heading and what would happen to all the characters.

I know I am lucky and this sounds very easy but actually it hasn't been. There has been a lot of worry and non-writing time. Admittedly, not helped by the marking, which as I mentioned before seems to suck the words out of you.  It was not writer's block as I still had ideas and was constantly thinking things through. I just had a problem  knowing in my head how my story was going to pan out. Even now I don't know the fine details but I have a basic structure. I can fill in the detail as I go along.

This is not the first time this has happened to me but I tend to forget in the meantime that I need to trust my brain. It will come up with the answer, normally when I least expect it and when I have actually stopped thinking for a moment and am distracted. Another good reason to have a notebook nearby. There should be a caveat here, you cannot force that moment, it just happens.  I suppose what this post, and my witterings, are about is suggesting that you give your brain a chance. It will come up with the answers.Have faith in it. All that thinking you do with lead to the answers....hopefully.

For me, this time, the inspiration was a certain surprise as it is taking the book in a direction I had not expected. Am off to write....