Okay, NaNo isn’t going so well for me. My story stalled out. And I'm debating how to fix it.
In other news, I just spent an entire week on my duff,
thanks to my cat, and I still didn’t manage to do things that I could have done
while sitting there, like write or even crafts, and I have some friends who are
expecting. I’ve been trying to knit a baby blanket and one whole week of no knitting
isn’t helping just as much as one whole week of no writing.
As for why I was laid up, well, see, Patches, my dang cat,
likes to run through and around my feet while I’m trying to walk. Folks, I can’t
see my feet! Not when I’m standing, ergo, I can’t see Patches when he does
that. I tripped over him and injured the ligament in my knee.
Since then, instead of trying to miss him (which is how I injured my knee) I step on him. Hopefully, eventually, he’ll learn to steer clear of my moving feet. Though so far, I’ve stepped on him several times and he’s still scampering around my feet.
Now to the problems with my story.
I think I’ve started in the wrong place. Then again, I’m not sure what I should do after a certain point in the story that is in my head, but not on my computer screen yet, which is the major problem, what happens next?
At this rate my story will fall into my pile of my “started but not finished” stories. I already have too many of those. Some could get somewhere, if I would just work on them, others stalled out because it just wasn’t working,
This one could work if I could figure out how to finagle it. Or at least I think it will work.
Then again, most of my stories that fizzled out unfinished,
did so because it was starting to sound like a soap opera to me. And that isn’t
a good thing in my opinion. I consider it sounding like a soap opera when it becomes
too contrived or forced, or far-fetched.
You know, like a soap opera.
Can you tell I don’t watch those things?
I used to, many eons ago, until I realized their storylines were contrived, forced, or so way out there they were ridiculous. And I really want to avoid that with my writing. Such writing is a copout. It’s lazy.
Writing should be fresh and exciting.
Right now, I need help with that.
And I need to start with where I start this story.
I want to start it at the inciting moment, but the “Save the Cat” method says to start with their normal life before the inciting moment. Dang, I don’t want to start there!
Maybe that’s my problem, I do not want to start before they meet, I want to start where they get thrown together!
Maybe that’s my problem. I had said I was going to try the “Save the Cat” method, but I generally start at the inciting moment rather than introduce the main characters in their normal life before going into the inciting moment.
Off the top of my head I can think of like two stories I have where I show the “normal” life of my main characters before I have them meet or the inciting moment. Most of my stories start at the inciting moment. I mean really, start where the action is!
As far as I’m concerned anything before the inciting moment is backstory, very rarely do I consider any part before that point as a necessary detail of the story. I make all that backstory.
So maybe my problem right now is that the method I wanted to try and use this time around wants me to do something I don’t want to do.
I think I should start again, and begin with the inciting moment.
I’ve had good luck that.
Konnie’s favorite opening line is one I wrote (yeah, I haven’t finished that story; it kind of went off the rails – as in too long) but it starts at the inciting moment. She was talking about her favorite opening line to someone at the writer’s conference we attended. When she mentioned my story, I had to point out it wasn’t even finished yet, let alone published.
Most people pick an opening line from something published, but no, Konnie had to pick one of my stories!
Anyway, I’m going to try writing from the inciting moment forward, and see how that goes for me.
Happy writing everyone!
PS. Happy birthday next week, Ben.
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