I always forget to think of a title. Um…um…something about a puzzle?!

A story is like a puzzle --- but a puzzle with extra pieces. Extra pieces that almost look like they go with the puzzle, but they actually don’t. Writing isn’t as simple as just putting the puzzle of a story together…it is about searching through the pieces and figuring out which ones fit, and which ones don’t.

I have compared my way of writing stories to putting together a puzzle. I have read articles about how you should write an entire draft, then go back and edit…and go through several revisions like that. I’ve read lists that say you should never edit as you go. And then, of course, I have read other lists/articles that say to do what works for you, and ignore the “rules” that don’t.

For me, I cannot just write a story from start to finish. My mind simply does not work in that way; I get pieces and parts as I go, and fit them together. Ideas do not remotely come to me in order. I nearly always know how the story will end --- but oftentimes, I don’t really know how it will get there. Sometimes I have very solid ideas going into something…and other times, not so much. Sometimes the story goes exactly the way I thought it would, with very few changes…other times, my characters surprise me. Or I think of cool ideas, and go after them…and they change the course of everything.

But I was thinking about it just a moment ago…and I realized what I wrote in that first paragraph --- it isn’t just about putting together the puzzle. I also have to sift through pieces that seem to fit, but maybe don’t. Or perhaps they do fit --- but not where I intended to put them, and I have to shift things to make it all work. Does that make sense? Sometimes aspects of ideas need to change, but the ideas themselves can remain.

I figured some rather big stuff out today. Or, at least started to figure it out. Without giving anything away…something specific happens at the end of book 2. This something has to happen, and it has to happen then. It is the culmination of the rest of the story [whatever happens in it]. There is another idea I had a while back that I have been debating about even keeping. It was a big plot point back when the focus of the story was something else…but now the focus is not so much that something else, and so the idea in question became sort of…seemingly, unnecessary. BUT…today, as I looked at things…several things started clicking in my mind. Several ways to keep that idea, tweak it a bit…and bring about the end of book 2.

…Essentially, instead of that idea leading to ______, which led to _____ [the former point of the story]…now, I think, it will lead to the ending of book 2.

And that…though not what I expected…is really exciting. And not only is there a shift in that, but book 2 will now end on even more of a cliffhanger [which I hate, of course]…and I have about eight different ways it could go to choose between. I have a few I am leaning toward more than others. It is just cool to me that something that was nearly about to be thrown out…could lead to so many new ideas.

I love figuring stuff out.

And I LOVE the way book 3 will likely start. =) =)