At least I
believe I’m in the middle. According to experts, a story has a beginning,
middle and end. Since I haven’t finished the novel, I’m estimating that I’m in
the middle. This is the part of the story when the dramatic arc is supposed to
rise to a crisis point, then dip a bit in terms of action, then rise again to
the climax and recede to the denouement. (Love that word; just fancy and French
for ending or resolution).
Visualize
Mt. Rainier from the Puyallup Valley. I’m climbing up the left side of the
mountain and when I reach the top, there is a double scallop on the way down.
My problem?
I feel I’ve plateaued on the left side of the mountain. I gained traction in Part 1 of the story which is my dad,
Webb’s wild and crazy youth. Now that I’m in Part 2 – His Women, the
women are more sedate and the pace of the story has slowed instead of escalated.
It’s more about the characters than about action.
To get a
better run at the mountain, my tendency has been to retreat to more familiar
territory in chapters previously written. I review and revise, hoping that will
give me inertia to keep moving toward new territory.
I asked my
husband for ideas. His sage advice, certainly not unexpected from Scott was,
“Add sex and violence.” Thanks, Honey Haverly. He may have something there, but
I’m not sure it fits with who ‘His Women’ were.
Dena, Webb’s
mother is 51 years old in this portion of the story. Blanche, Webb’s sister is
almost 21 and riding with him to Dorothy’s funeral; and of course there’s
Dorothy who is lying in a coffin at the end of the journey.
My mountain
is certainly worth climbing, even though the challenge seems daunting. The
answer I’m told - by those who know – Keep going. I’ll give that a try.
No comments:
Post a Comment