Choices

Some things about my novel keep changing, some have remained the same from the beginning. I don't want to say which, because I want you to read the novel when it's done and because of this thing called "talking out your story". That means when you talk about the story so much that when you come to write it, all the energy of the thing has dissipated in the telling and none is left for the writing. I learned about the danger of talking out your story from a writer of Western novels at a writer's conference in Wenatchee Washington around 2005. I went to the seminar because nothing else sounded interesting for that session. I do not remember the title of his seminar, what it was supposed to be about, or even his name. It was just one of those serendipitous moments when you hear just the right thing, perhaps something you'll carry in your back pocket and pull out occasionally for years afterwards. Being warned not to talk out my story has served me very well and I will be forever grateful to that unassuming, tall, weathered man wearing cowboy boots and jeans who has many published Westerns to his name, giving novice writers advice because he could, and just because he wanted to.

Now to the point. What I see at this point is that writing a novel is like walking down a path. Every few feet there's a fork in the path and you must choose which direction to go. You can backtrack somewhat if you make the wrong choice, but since there are so many choices, most of the time you just have to choose quickly and keep moving. I was once told it would be good for me to have to make a lot of difficult choices fast. I did not like this advice, as at the time I was afraid of making the wrong choice, so much so that I was often paralyzed by having to make a decision. I think the universe might want me to learn a lesson about decision making, because here I am pursuing this passion that involves constant decision making. Everything from what will be the theme of the story down to which words to put together in what configuration to give the reader the most pleasure and possibly insight.

More later.