After writing 31 A4 pages of planning for my new passion, Venture Crew (including a contents page - how else could I sort through all those notes?), I finally sat down to write some actual story. About 900 words in, I had second thoughts.
'Should the main character be such a jerk? Surely not.' Delete, keep, delete, keep. Start over.
'Oh god, what is this? It's not making any sense!' Delete, delete, delete.
Then I thought perhaps I should come at it from another angle. Maybe it wasn't working because I was approaching it all wrong. It was about 11pm at this point and I normally go to sleep at 9.45pm. My eyes were already closing on their own accord. I switched off my laptop and went to bed.
I didn't stop thinking about my story though. As I settled under my duvet, I pictured what the first chapter should look like. Not in words though, but as if it actually happened and I was there. What would strike me first about the main character? At what point would the plot meet the characters? How much prescience should be there?
I fell asleep not really knowing the answers.
When I woke up, I knew what I had to do. I knew EXACTLY why the first chapter had been meeting me with such resistance. I hadn't started it at the right point, or with the right amount of focus on the main character. I had to rewind a little, entering slightly earlier in the narrative and watched the words flow like liquid fire.
My fingers danced over the keyboard with an effortless will, and I was so caught up in writing the first chapter that I forgot to congratulate myself. So I'll do it now. Congratulations, Terri! I'm now frolicking through chapter three, and hopefully the rest of the story will be just as straight forward to write. Although I sort of don't want it to be. How will I learn if I don't have to overcome any difficulties?
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