Welcome back to day two of the Write at Sea workshop on board Carnival Cruises Fun Ship Paradise.
After a night of revelry followed by endless tossing and turning as I ruminated on the new beginning of my story, I arrive at the Break into Fiction workshop ready for the next step- What happens after the first twist point.
My new start is rife with conflict. My subplot and secondary plot that I was flirting with weeks ago will fold in beautifully. But now I’m stuck on the details, or rather the tests. I need obstacles, things for my couple to do, and more importantly, create events that will lead them up to the next twist point.
Dianna’s favorite suggestions is “kill somebody.” Great, but I can’t kill off
everybody. So I’m staring at the wall again. The ticking time bomb that is my brain has been activated
Think, think, think, think, think- BOOM!
I’ve fractured off again.
This is when a second person comes in really handy. As I start to rattle off where I’ve got the story going, Mary is plucking the threads out of my jumbled sentences and narrowing my focus. Now the secondary storyline has more importance than earlier. Fantastic! Thank you subconscious. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my subconscious?
At the end of the day I am mentally drained, but I now have a strong, fully plotted story that is fit for my shape shifter and his mate. The process was painful, but you know the saying, “If it was easy, everyone could do it.”
My next step now? Take the templates and go through the first story in the series. Do I see more internal bloodshed and frustrated tears? Yes. So why do it?
Because I don’t want to be a writer. I want to be a published author. And that requires more that just putting words on paper.
I think that your last revelation of wanting to be a published author and not just a writer was worth the price of the ticket. It is probably the toughest lesson of all that you learned that weekend. Best of Luck!