It is always fun when diving back into an unfinished story. Now where did I leave that character? What did that mean? If you are like me then the mind will weave clues into your writing that only make sense later. Resembling a magical trail of bread crumbs spread throughout the pages. A clue with no meaning re-emerged to take over the story. It is not the first so I clung on for the ride. That is why editing waits until after the first draft is finished. Things have a habit of reappearing much later. As a writer it can feel the same as being in a tug-of-war. On one hand I think I know what is happening and then everything goes topsy-turvy. I have lost count of the times I thought, did I mean to do that?
Falling into a Scene
There is only so much planning that can go into a scene to mix all the ingredients together. Then the wait begins and the suspense builds to find out how the pieces will fall. When almost halfway through the story a formidable villain appeared. Through a sequence of events the scene lies in wait. All the pieces of the puzzle ready to fall into place. I do not like predicting an outcome so I think of multiple outcomes before a fight scene. Halfway through a series and I still let my protagonist rise and fall by the final flow of a scene. There have been a few times when characters have not wanted to live or die as per the outline. Once an outcome is written in first draft it stays. That is one line I do not cross. There will be no resurrecting of characters here.
Fall Out
This leads to the next problem, what if a character lives? For some reason villains don’t want to die, who would have thought? The best thing about going into a fight scene with many outcomes is that the danger is real. There is more at stake. If I am not sure who will win then it will not be clear until the end. Have faith in your characters and let them achieve on their own.
Chantelle Griffin 