I'm deep into the writing of the book--and I'm facing the biggest frickin' traffic intersection in my life. I assume a writer, when they begin a project, begins with a relatively clear image on how the journey goes forward.
So for the next dozen or so pages, maybe even four or five chapters into the tome, the going is relatively fast. Sure, there are some bumps and bruises along the way. But that's to be expected.
I mean . . . come on. You're writing a damn novel. It may not be rocket science. But to those who are not rocket scientists, it's pretty damn close.
But then . . . oh boy.
Somewhere deep in the novel (for me roughly around the 100 page mark) you realize you're trapped in the that nebulous aura of vagary called The Middle Book. That means you've created so many characters and launched them in so many different trajectories, you find yourself in a maze of possibilities you no longer can control. You become lost in an ocean of possibilities.
Some pundit (that is, some person who almost knows what they're talking about) once described writing a novel is much like playing a chess game. There's the Opening Game. Followed by The Middle Game. And naturally, The End Game bringing the conclusion to the epic battle.
In chess there is a point system that one can tally up points for each opposite chess piece you can remove from the board. Of course, in the opening of the game, the score starts out 0/0 until one or the other player takes a chess piece. And then the points begin to pile up as the game goes along.
But then an interesting phenomenon happens. There is an initial flurry of pieces being taken off the board by each player. The Middle Game arrives .And along with it, the curious realization comes along that, no matter what piece you take off the board from your opponent, the points awarded will be equal in worth. So which piece do you go after next?
The same is true in writing a novel. So many characters are in play. So many plot lines suddenly open up, you realize you can find yourself traveling down a path you never thought possible. But it becomes even more curious. That unexpected plot line, in turn, can come spiraling into a dead end, and off you go down a different path altogether.
So the question is, what do you do next?
Answer?
Either stay on the new course you've taken and follow it to the bitter end. Or, and this is what I think happens for most novelists, you do nothing. You let the characters in the novel take over and just follow where they want to go.
In the end, if you don't like where you wound up with, you can always go back and tear out sections and rewrite those sections which which veered you veered off into never-neverland.On the other hand, deciding to go along with your characters as they chart out their own paths might create a better book. And ultimately, that's what you want isn't it?
