Solving a Puzzle
It's Saturday again and the weather is beautiful. I've been to town today to get some stuff and vitamin D. Now it's time for another weekly update.
I finished reading The Last Wish (a The Witcher novel) just last night, and am now falling in the 'what am I going to read now' hole. I've still got a number of to-reads, so I probably won't be bored.
More importantly, I think I finished the plot of my short story. I'd love to tell you all about it, I'd love to shout all my (in my eyes) brilliant ideas out into the void that is the internet, but I'll keep myself in check and won't.|
I do want to talk about plotting. I've come to think that plotting is like solving a puzzle. You have the idea, the inspiration - that's your start. The novel, short story or epic series (or anything in between) is your end result. The period in between is asking questions, coming up with good answers, creating places and characters. Often you answer a few questions, new ones come up and somewhere along the road you'll discover that two points contradict one another. Then you'll have to 'erase' a part of what you've done and start all over again. And sometimes (much rarer in my experience) the answer you find somehow clicks. All the pieces of the puzzle, all the questions you've asked yourself about your story suddenly join together in a beautiful whole, which gives your idea the direction you so desperately needed for it to become a story.
So yes, I solved the puzzle of my short story - only a few stray pieces remain to be fit, a few details remain to be filled out.
I can start writing it now, and I don't think I'll be able to wait a few days till April. :)
How's plotting for other people? I'm curious to know.
Have a nice weekend, and a splendid week!
~Likaiar
