Wherever you were last night, if you heard a distant sound that was part surprise, part delight, and part 'oh, that's why i love being a writer!' then that, gentle reader was me. Without warning I had that moment when what i was writing truely surprised me, that what the character said truely surprised me, what the character did truely surprised me, and where this surprise then took the story truely surprised me.
Wait, what? That's not what i planned is it? But of course if the story follows your exact plan then you're doing something wrong, you're just joining the dots aren't you, just slogging out the story, just going from A to Z.
You're not feeling it.
That moment when you suddenly find you're not as sure the story is going where you thought it was going is both the best and the scariest feeling a writer can feel. It's the moment when the story and the characters truely come alive, when something happens you truely hadn't expected. Suddenly you're not feeling as comfortable with where its going and so in turn the reader shouldn't feel comfortable either.
If you never expect it to happen in the writing of it, then the reader hopefully shouldn't expect it to happen in the reading of it.
The effect of these moments can sometimes be small, or they can take your story on a truely different course. Hence, that distant sound last night when i realised that just a few unexpected moments had completely changed what i thought the story for Volume Two of 'Modern Days' was going to be. With just a few unexpected decisions my whole idea for the next seven issues had taken on a completely different shape, and most important of all, the story was a lot better for it, better than what i'd planned.
When that distant sound of the unexpected comes knocking, listen to it, it might be scary but it's great too, and that, gentle reader is what being a writer is all about for me.
James
Wait, what? That's not what i planned is it? But of course if the story follows your exact plan then you're doing something wrong, you're just joining the dots aren't you, just slogging out the story, just going from A to Z.
You're not feeling it.
If you never expect it to happen in the writing of it, then the reader hopefully shouldn't expect it to happen in the reading of it.
The effect of these moments can sometimes be small, or they can take your story on a truely different course. Hence, that distant sound last night when i realised that just a few unexpected moments had completely changed what i thought the story for Volume Two of 'Modern Days' was going to be. With just a few unexpected decisions my whole idea for the next seven issues had taken on a completely different shape, and most important of all, the story was a lot better for it, better than what i'd planned.
When that distant sound of the unexpected comes knocking, listen to it, it might be scary but it's great too, and that, gentle reader is what being a writer is all about for me.
James
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