Twists and Turns
I love reading great mysteries and thrillers, plots twisting and turning, leading me in all kinds of different directions.
Those twists and turns have taken hold of my current manuscript, and my characters are going places I never planned for them in the outline. My characters are staying true to form, which is great, but they're leading me to new destinations.
My characters stop in both Washington and Albany in this novel. They were supposed to blow in and out in a couple of hours. Now they're spending two days in Washington and the climax of the book happens in Albany. Go figure.
Both cities are rich in history and political tradition, and it's fun doing the research for those chapters. It also helps that I can navigate parts of Washington like a native (well, since there are few real Washington natives, I can navigate it like somebody who has lived there for years) and I've been to Albany plenty of times and still have family there. It's a little over an hour from Fly Creek.
I'm really pleased with these new twists, because I hadn't planned for them at all. Now they're central to the book. Both the plot and the writing are stronger because of them.
I had a writing session today where my fingers just sort of danced over the keyboard while the story wrote itself. It's been a while since time stopped like that. It made me remember why I love writing so much.
In other news, it's June (where the hell did May go?) and that means school is almost over. The kids get to spend Grandchildren's Week with my parents, and the Saint and I get to spend part of that week on vacation.
It's the first time we've ever repeated a vacation destination. Then I'm back to work for a few days before the Saint and I take the kids to Gettysburg and Hershey for a little history and a lot of fun. Have I mentioned that my kids are history buffs like me?
I thought I'd be done with my first draft shortly after we return from vacation. Won't happen. I'll be close, but whatever. I'll be having fun with the Saint and the kids, and everything else will fall into place.
Thanks for stopping by while I've been away from the blog.
Adam
Those twists and turns have taken hold of my current manuscript, and my characters are going places I never planned for them in the outline. My characters are staying true to form, which is great, but they're leading me to new destinations.
My characters stop in both Washington and Albany in this novel. They were supposed to blow in and out in a couple of hours. Now they're spending two days in Washington and the climax of the book happens in Albany. Go figure.
Both cities are rich in history and political tradition, and it's fun doing the research for those chapters. It also helps that I can navigate parts of Washington like a native (well, since there are few real Washington natives, I can navigate it like somebody who has lived there for years) and I've been to Albany plenty of times and still have family there. It's a little over an hour from Fly Creek.
I'm really pleased with these new twists, because I hadn't planned for them at all. Now they're central to the book. Both the plot and the writing are stronger because of them.
I had a writing session today where my fingers just sort of danced over the keyboard while the story wrote itself. It's been a while since time stopped like that. It made me remember why I love writing so much.
In other news, it's June (where the hell did May go?) and that means school is almost over. The kids get to spend Grandchildren's Week with my parents, and the Saint and I get to spend part of that week on vacation.
It's the first time we've ever repeated a vacation destination. Then I'm back to work for a few days before the Saint and I take the kids to Gettysburg and Hershey for a little history and a lot of fun. Have I mentioned that my kids are history buffs like me?
I thought I'd be done with my first draft shortly after we return from vacation. Won't happen. I'll be close, but whatever. I'll be having fun with the Saint and the kids, and everything else will fall into place.
Thanks for stopping by while I've been away from the blog.
Adam
Labels: The Manuscript
posted by Adam Hurtubise at 10:20 PM
5 Comments:
This sounds great, Adam! We're off for a couple of week starting next Saturday. I could use a few days of my fingers tripping over keys. I'd love to the mss off to the readers before I leave.
Glad to hear about the progress and that fun times are planned.
The great thing about the fun times is that they're on the calendar and we can't wait.
The great thing about the mss is that all the deadlines are self-imposed.
Have fun with your trip, M.G.
Adam
Sounds like the mss is rounding third and racing towards that Pete Rose-like collision at the plate. I love it when you just find that "zone" and the story flys on autopilot. I also like getting away too.
Seems like everyone is going away next week. Next weekend I leave for a literary boot camp in Virginia. No phone, no TV, just workshops, writing and critiques--my sick kind of vacation.
History buff? No kidding! Tell us more!
Congrats on the great writing episodes! I am jealous, I must confess. Revisions are nowhere near as fun as first drafts. :)
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