You know when you're telling a friend about a movie you just saw and their eyes are glazing over, but you just can't stop yourself because you loved this movie so much and you want to tell them the story? You don't want to leave out any of the important details, but they look like they're about to pass out, so you hurry through it, giving a much longer version than a movie trailer, but condense it just enough to stay within the limit of average human civility?
I sometimes think I might be unique, as I do about this type of experience, but usually I am not, so I'm betting most people have done just what I've described above. This week's aha! about novel writing is that what you must do in order to understand the complete arc of the story you're writing is to summarize it in the same way you'd summarize that fantastic movie you've just seen. Only unlike retelling the plot of your favorite movie, this time it's exciting, it has your friend begging for the next twist in the plot, and salivating, waiting to hear how it ends.
It has to be that exciting, or it will never sell. And it can be. The reason it will be much more exciting is that it is your story, not someone else's. And you must be excited yourself, or the story will never make it in the big bad world of publishing. The story has to be really good. It has to be told in a unique voice, it has to start off strong, continue to grip the reader, and end with a twist. But it will be if it is the story that needs to be told that only you can tell. It will take off like wildfire if it is the right story. And whether or not it is the right story, is something only you, the storyteller can decide.
For the past couple of weeks, I've been trying to use a well proven type of plot structure to make choices about my story. It just has not been working and I've been getting very frustrated. Every writer's process is different and what I realize this week is I have to create the arc of the story first, then test it against successful plot structuring. It is much easier to mold and knead an existing story than it is to mold and knead thin air as I've been attempting to do. Storytelling should be fun. It's time to have some fun, then check it out to see if it has all the elements needed to sell it.
More later.
