Sunday, July 03, 2011

Keeping the Pen on the Paper

Sometimes the writing comes easily. Most of the time, in fact. With the pen in my hand, the facts and details seem to come right out of the ink. Not always the right word, but that's a discussion for another time. And then there are times when you need a particular scene, to serve a particular purpose.

Right now, I need a fight scene between my protagonists. This is late in the novel and so far we've seen how they are disconnected from each other, off in their individual struggles. But we haven't seen them really clash, not in a significant way. I need to show that they may be close to the end of their marriage than they believed when the novel began.

What, then, do they argue about? What would be so severe that it might show that maybe they shouldn't really be together? I don't want to go so far as to justify their later actions with this blow out. But it can't just be an argument about the house or money. It needs to demonstrate that Darren doubts Nicole's integrity.

I would like it to center around their son, Hunter. They both spend a surprising amount of time not thinking about the boy through the course of this thing. I'd like to show that they do take his upbringing seriously. And somehow I need to get around to the notion of his doubt of her.

Here, though, I should have faith in the writing. Over-thinking, over-planning, can debilitate. A vague notion of where I'm going and a vague objective should be all I need. Put the pen to the paper and see where it goes.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Damon,

    I'm delighted that you are working on a novel, ot that the novel is working on you. I agree, of course, that you just set pen on paper to see what you are thinking.I do this with all my writing classes, as you well know.

    Cheers,
    Renee Ruderman
    Metro State

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  2. Renee,
    So glad to hear from you. Of course, I am always writing. And I have you to thank you for a lot of it.
    As I am finishing revisions now, I am thinking ahead to writing short fiction. And I had to remind myself that it is possible to start a story with only a single idea, some small vision, without knowing what is going to happen. Really, that's the exciting part of this business.
    We will have to talk soon.

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