I think I've broken through this murk I've been whining about. If you've been reading this blog for any length of time you may remember The Surprise Character that came at the end of Chapter 2. I wrote about how much fun that was, and it usually is. But now I believe, that in this case, she (the surprise character) was the very thing that tripped me up.
In rewriting Chapter 2 for the third time, when I came to the surprise character I heard the click and I changed the gender of the character. That was it. I think. I hope.
I know I didn't wake up depressed this morning. And even though I hadn't slept well I was able to fix Chapter 3.
I still don't know who did it, but that feels okay now.
Someone named Bullfighter left me an interesting comment on my Feb. 8th post. I thought what he had to say was worth thinking about. I keep saying he because Bullfighter referred to his girlfriend but that doesn't mean B. is a man. Still, I think he is. Who knows how much his comments had to do with me listening for the click. Although I don't think I'm afraid to get to the end, the idea intrigued me.
So for the moment I feel pretty good. I still have quite a bit to solve, other than who did it, but I have more confidence about moving forward.
We'll see. Won't we?
Listen for the Click is the title of a novel by Jon L. Breen.
BTW, I wish people who comment would leave an email address or some way to write back, because I often want to reply and can't find a way.
2 comments:
Love your comments on The Surprise Character and playing with it helped you break through the ice. When I started the draft of computer-crime mystery novel, the hero (a 20-something dot-com burn out) had this female hacker friend. As I worked through the outline, the female hacker character became more interesting than the main character. I was satisfied with the plot but the telling of the story seemed pedantic.
A week or so later I heard the click... and now the female character was the heroine of the book and the whole story is now told through her eyes. Suddenly new possibilities opened up and the thing began to sizzle on the page.
Yeah, gotta trust your instincts and twiddle until everything comes into focus.
dunsany@gmail.com
He is a She. Bullfighter is a petite, long haired, middle aged lesbian detective of the soul (better known as a psychotherapist), whose partner gently issued a correction regarding her publishing status: the first book is due out in summer and is therefore technically not yet published; she was also kind enough to fix the email link on my blog so it is now working.
Two gender switches. Those closets are tricky, huh, never know what will come tumbling out. I like the idea of Listen for the Click, it's a good description of what I do in therapy too...well, what ever the reason for the trigger, I'm glad your feeling more on track with the project!
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