Storytelling

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 As I enter the last section of my current novel in progress, I begin to consider the ending. All things end, or at least come to a conclusion of sorts, satisfying, hopefully. There may be the promise, or hint, that the story has not ended definitively, that it may continue as a sequel. So, this novel, The Honour in Dying Young, will be a complete and finished work. 

This complex stage in story making requires the tying of loose ends, from plot to protagonist, and the conflicts along the way, while maintaining the tension and propulsive fuse of the story. One must look at the work in its entirety, something writers must deal with all the time without losing the cohesive structure of the story they want to tell.

Who and what decides? In my case, I leave that to the characters. My protagonist, Grant Barrie, must decide. I simply will ask him what he wants to do. What should happen next? Even what could happen? Nothing in my novels is nailed down. Yes, I have something in mind that guides me. But it is the characters who have the last word. I am compelled to listen.

Every so often there are surprises. Something appears, a character that I had never considered suddenly arrives in a scene. The story shifts. I follow it. The surprises, the unexpected, are the sweet moments of writing when you realize that the story is writing itself, or the creative Universe is informing me. The muse. I have written about this before. Some paragraphs clearly had input other than me.

But who really knows how a novel is written? It is surely more than an idea. It is a creation, a fascinating, thrilling endeavor. I am so grateful for whatever skills I have, but more importantly, I am thankful for the help that is always there when I need it.

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