I’ve heard it said before that conceiving ideas for a novel is a matter of storing up ideas until you achieve a critical mass. Some of the ideas, no matter how disparate and unconnected they were initially, will suddenly start sticking together rather than bouncing off one another. The larger the mass gets the more other particles of story start to stick to it, until one day…
Click!
Suddenly those ideas form the nucleus of a story–a story you find yourself really, really excited about. This could get dangerous if you’re still writing something else, as you could find yourself no longer caring about the novel you’re working on. Yes, this is the situation I currently find myself in. This could have been fatal to the novel I’m currently writing on–the one I’ve been struggling with over a year and a half already, having tossed out the first draft half way through and started over. Such an epiphany would normally have been the death knell.
Except I’ve evidently become more open minded in my old age–at least about stories. This critical mass of story is so dynamic that it occurs to me that I could very easily fit my novel into it. Yes, it would mean tossing out some foundational principles, but those principles have played a surprisingly tiny role in the overall story thus far. What changes I’d have to make could easily be introduced in a later edit.
The most exciting aspect of this new concept is that it’s a story I’d want to read. The most frightening aspect is that it pushes my originally-envisioned collection of related stories toward a grand, unified epic. I don’t want to write an epic. I’m not even sure I like reading them yet. But this story…I want to read it.
So I guess I’d better start preparing to write it, because no one else will.
If YOU don’t care about the story that you are writing, it is likely a good sign that no one else will either … especially as your lack of enthusiasm will likely show through in the story itself.
Go for it!
Do a Sanderson and write 5 at once
Bill: Normally I’m interested in what I’m currently working on, but lately I’ve been in a bit of a funk to where anything sounds more interesting. In general I’m never as excited about a novel while I’m writing it as I am getting ready to start writing it.
Terhi: Even if I get a contract for $125,000 and our marriage starts to fall apart while I’m doing book tours? 😉
Dan: I could probably do that if I could also do a Sanderson and have five times as much time to write as I currently do. 🙂 Of course he’s also currently neglecting the next books in two separate series I’m waiting for, so clearly he’s not keeping everyone happy with that approach.
I’ll let you know as soon as I find out how the book ends. 🙂
$125,000. You’d do that for a mere two years of work?
Inside joke, Bill. Terhi was telling last night me about a novel she’s been reading in which the main character does just that.
“… was telling last night me …” Are you a different you today?
He’s a day older. 😉
and deeper in debt?
Fortunately not.
I was wondering why she would leave AFTER the money finally starts to come in.