Unexpected twists and turns
I'm still working on TAINTED FROST (feels like it'll never be finished. sigh.), and a few days ago I was working on a scene that I had plotted out in my head MONTHS ago. So I figured all I had to do was put the idea that had been simmering in my brain for a long time onto paper (or screen, really) and I'd be done. Easy-peasy.
Well, as I was writing it I suddenly experienced the spark of an idea that went against everything I'd been planning, took me completely by surprise, and raised the stakes considerably.
It was almost like an epiphany. Like, why hadn't I thought of this before? It's brilliant! Okay, maybe not brilliant, but it was a good twist. It threw me for a loop, it threw my MC for a loop, and I think it's going to make the story much more interesting.
This was the first time I had really strayed from an idea that had been decided upon a long time ago, and it felt invigorating. Sometimes we stick so closely to our outlines that we don't realize there are so many other, possibly more interesting and rewarding roads to take.
The new twist also reinvigorated my interest in the story. Not that it had been waning, per se, but when even you--the brains behind the operation--are taken by surprise, then you know your readers will be too. Hopefully. I can't actually say that with any certainty, but I am very pleased with this new direction. And I can't believe I hadn't thought of it sooner.
This is a lesson that I don't have to stick to my outlines like they're the final word etched in stone.
Well, as I was writing it I suddenly experienced the spark of an idea that went against everything I'd been planning, took me completely by surprise, and raised the stakes considerably.
It was almost like an epiphany. Like, why hadn't I thought of this before? It's brilliant! Okay, maybe not brilliant, but it was a good twist. It threw me for a loop, it threw my MC for a loop, and I think it's going to make the story much more interesting.
This was the first time I had really strayed from an idea that had been decided upon a long time ago, and it felt invigorating. Sometimes we stick so closely to our outlines that we don't realize there are so many other, possibly more interesting and rewarding roads to take.
The new twist also reinvigorated my interest in the story. Not that it had been waning, per se, but when even you--the brains behind the operation--are taken by surprise, then you know your readers will be too. Hopefully. I can't actually say that with any certainty, but I am very pleased with this new direction. And I can't believe I hadn't thought of it sooner.
This is a lesson that I don't have to stick to my outlines like they're the final word etched in stone.