The In To Your Story
Sometimes we write a story and never, ever feel like we’re actually in it. We’re hovering on the outside of the story, poking at it. People are moving and talking but they’re just so far away!
I had this experience with my second novel, Upstream. I’d spent graduate school writing variations of a story about three girls growing up in Alaska. Every version had the same elements — three sisters, a mom in the women’s road crew The Northern Dames, a shotgun, fly fishing. I wrote it in the past tense, and first person present. I wrote it from an injured sister’s point of view and the mom’s point of view, but still. Nothing.
I couldn’t find the in to my story. How could I burrow into the narrative and the characters?
I put the story away for a few years, and wrote a totally different novel. I signed a two-book contract with Random House. I needed a second book. I had that Alaska story lying around and I went back to it with fresh eyes.
I added a character and changed the point of view to the sister holding the shotgun.
I wrote the novel in six weeks.
The false starts and near misses when writing aren’t failures or wastes of time. They’re all part of the writing. It’s about developing the story. Finding that in.
Have you found an in to your story? If not, try adding a character or changing the point of view. Shake it up a bit to see what sort of story falls out.
