It’s amazing to me, now that I’ve admitted I’m committing novel, how far I’ve fallen into storyland. I went to yoga this morning and when my thoughts drifted away from being in the here and now of practice, I dove right back into the novel. The first stretching exercise the teacher talked about curving our back down and wrapping a cape around us — all I could think about were wings, folding in and folding out.
Last night I was having difficulty landing the ending of the scene I was writing. I realized this morning that I’d pulled back. Yes, it’s another complication for the main character. But it also makes his life more difficult, and that’s always good. I have to stay fearless while I’m writing him, trust that he’ll get out of it. Not a clue how yet, but he will.
I have always loved Janni’s letters to her characters. Here’s mine:
Dear secondary character who just showed up out of the blue:
Yes, you’re cute. And smart.
You also realize you’re about to step into a world of hurt, right?
Run now.
Me