I spent yesterday afternoon in a long brainstorming session about the next chapters in Book 2. The book starts really well (in my humble opinion) but I’d begun to feel a little, dare I say it, Driftless. Exactly where and when should clues be discovered for this book’s main mystery? I have a clear vision for the climax of the book and a good beginning but had become worried about the details in the middle.

Hours later, I realized the scene I wrote the day before isn’t going to happen. I feel a loss for the good writing that’s in it. The action is inventive and the dialogue is punchy and fun. Charlotte and her best friend Ivy made a big discovery… except it’s the wrong discovery or at least at the wrong time. It needs to come out later and in a different way.

Being willing to accept this feels like a big deal and a moment of growth. Writing feels right to me when it feels like describing and inhabiting something that really happened rather than feeling like an invention, if that makes any sense. But to write what “really” happened means having a very firm grip on the story. I’m not a writer who can wander well I guess.

Yesterday I got a firmer grip on the overarching story for the series. The key was a shift forward in time a bit because the past has to be revealed in the present day. I’m not writing historical fiction. I needed to figure out who or what could reveal the true past of Casten’s Horn to Charlotte and in a dramatic fashion. That’s about all I can say without spoilers but the bottom line is I feel really good today.

Happy writing to those who do it, and embrace the nagging feelings that make you stop and take a day to really think. The eraser can be as powerful as the lead.