Wednesday, December 01, 2004

The Comfort Level

I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what it was.  I wasn't comfortable writing this novel.  I never had that exact feeling before.  Why should I feel uncomfortable or comfortable writing a book?

I had a talk with someone about this.  I didn't tell the plot (don't you hate it when he/she tells you the plot of their book?) of my novel because I never do that. 

BTW, it's a mistake to tell the plot before you start writing, or while you're writing, because it's simple to talk it away.  Once you tell all, it's easy not to write all.

So, as I was talking about this feeling of being uncomfortable it became clear to me that it was with the new characters I'd introduced this week. These two people were new but they were the parents of Faye's client.  So their status had been set-up in chapter one.  This was what was wrong.  The people were in the wrong class.  Don't forget this is 1943.

Once I realized this I was able to sit down today and make those changes.  I put them in a different part of town, a different type of home and gave the father a different job.  Now they were right.  They were who they should be.

More surprises came out of the conversation they were all having.  But it made perfect sense.

I look forward to tomorrow's work day because now I feel comfortable.

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