For the Good of the Story

So the other day, I had a flash of inspiration which caused this tweet.

That moment when you have a really good idea and you realize it means rewriting a more of your novel than originally thought. @NicLitAgent
— M. Andrew Patterson (@M_A_Patterson) February 15, 2014

But my brain wasn't done. No it had better ideas to come.

Some people get chills when they figure out awesome for their plot Me? I cry. I'm gonna tear your hearts out on this one. @NicLitAgent
— M. Andrew Patterson (@M_A_Patterson) February 19, 2014

And before long I was drafting an email to my CP, Bonnie, and doing my best not to ball. I even borrowed a Kleenex from my boss because I was talking to her about something else when it hit me. Seriously, some people get chills, I want to cry.

And I wasn't crying because I was planning on doing horrible things to my main character, it was because I was going to horrible things to my main character and knew it would make the story better, darker, stronger.

Seriously, I plan on ripping your hearts out with this one. It's what I should have done from the beginning, but I wasn't ready. I was scared by what I was writing and instinctively pulled back. A good friend of mine constantly reminded me of that when she read the first couple drafts.

She would say, "Andrew. You know you can do more than this. You pulled back. I can tell."

And I would hang my head in shame and shuffle off and rewrite the scene. Still, I pulled my punches even then. But now I won't. I can't. I've already drawn up how I want to change things. New scenes will be written, old ones will be modified or deleted. All in the name of what is good for the story.

The lesson as it were? Don't hold back. Don't be scared of pushing the envelope and letting your story sing. It'll be better for it.

Writing Goals:

1. Continue revising HJ based on feedback. Chapters 1-3 are revised and off to my CP
2. Blog weekly. Doing this.
3. Visit at least 1 #writemotivation blog a week. Hit 2+ this week. :D
4. Cheer on my #writemotivation buddies on twitter. Have been. Lots of awesome goal butt-kicking going on there. People are doing awesome.
5. Continue working on the helpful links section of the Writemotivation website (currently hidden). Found some awesome links to add.

Grad School Goals:

1. Read my grad school textbooks (need to catch up). Sort of. Slacked off a bit.
2. Work on my reflection journal (for grad school). Haven't done any more, but I have to write a fake newspaper article for class that is part of a group project.

'Till next time.