This story is still more of a struggle to write than my others. I have outlined, so have a general idea of where things are going, but an outline is just that. Cornelius, my main character, keeps wanting to leave his New-African roots for some wavy unsubstantial amalgamation of a human. I am letting him do it because he know himself better than i do. But his drifting is causing the problems with the story line. I have come to the conclusion I'm over thinking things, trying to force him into a preconceived structure that is not working. It's a tendency i have in other areas of my life and if not watched, leaks into my writing process. I am worrying over every line and how it works with the overall outline when it is just an outline. I should be just writing. Things generally fall into place with the re-writes.
Another issue is I am more comfortable with the short story form. That familiarity makes me write tighter when a novel needs breathing space. it was originally going to be a series of shorts of Cornelius's adventures and i guess it still is. i am telling myself just need to take my time and quit beating myself up over every line when the thing isn't even half finished. Forty pages in now, but they're forty good pages, ideas the can be shifted with most of the a dialog and story line still workable. Patience, i say shaking my head, patience.
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