Imagine the above image is your story. The number of triangles represent the number of possible solutions for a problem in the story.

Now imagine that you have to search through every triangle to find the precise one that fixes that aspect of your story.

That’s what writing feels like. At least to me. Most (almost all) of the time.

Because while at first I might think, “Okay, I see all the possible angles that need to be explored. I can pace myself.” The reality is, many times the angle that needs to be addressed is the angle I don’t see right away (or… for a good long while). It might very well be the angle I need to use is the one I didn’t even realize was there.

Because while it’s pretty likely I saw all these triangles:

I might not have immediately noticed this one:

This is part of the reason writing can be so difficult and stressful, because it’s difficult to gauge how “close” you are to finishing a story, how long it’s going to take to fix a problem, and how that fix will ultimately affect the rest of the story.

I think this is also why it’s so important to know your story inside and out, so you truly understand all the nuances — not only of the characters and plots, but of the pacing, the structure, and the affects each one has on all the others.

Because the reality is, while the above images are pretty well organized, most stories (at least the ones I’ve written) feel a lot more like this:

And good luck if the angle I need to explore is this one:

Post by Ann Marie Williams © 2022