Summer Musings

It’s been a bit since I’ve posted. But now I’m back.

I have been working steadily on Book Four of the L.A.ser Boy series. I’ve tried out a number of ideas, options, plot twists and character arcs over the past couple of months. Some of them have, well, stunk. I wrote them, let them sit for a day then reread them then got rid of them.

At the end of the rough draft for Book Three I typed the usual series teaser. It says something like “come back for the stunning conclusion to the saga.” I have to admit that somewhere along the line of writing Book Four (as of today 6/24/19 I am 50K into a project 100K book so half-ish done), the pressure of finishing the series well, of being true to all the characters (Zo, Zenda, Valloria and the rest of the United Protectors, Ms. Black and her partners, Dr. Severance, Dr. Loguston, etc.) got to me a bit. I tried to put everything into one chapter then two then three and – surprise – it wasn’t working. You can’t hit a knockout with every paragraph. You have to earn the big moments, build to them. I wasn’t building. I was cramming.

When I stepped back the story started to reveal itself to me. I’ve found when I get stuck that taking two or three days off (having the excuse of traveling helps) the story elements are clearer to me when I get back to writing. This time I saw the order the different, narrative segments needed to follow. Part of my challenge with this series is writing the individual pieces of the plot then later combining them, pacing them, alternating them into a good, readable, interesting, suspenseful flow. With so many characters in different settings at different times that process is quite a feat of juggling. Of course, I have no one to blame but myself.

Why can’t I write a book with two characters sitting in a room talking?

Because that would bore me to death, that’s why. Give me a mystery, a fight scene, a new technology, a strange sequence of events. Those are what hold my attention as a writer. Those elements set the space for the character of the characters to come forth. Anyone can sit in a room and talk. Not everyone can save the universe.

Anyway, just this morning I wrote a scene with four characters and at the end of it, the whole rest of the book opened up to me.

I’ll write about that scene next week.