Writing the Bones

I’ve already written about this, but I couldn’t pass up that title.

As I worked on Chapter 9, the style shifted dramatically from how I’d written the previous eight chapters. Suddenly, Max was an introspective character who thought and reacted to the story as it was unfolding. That’s when I realized that, in the absence of my usual notebook work, I had only been writing the bones of the story.

This came into focus for me as I mowed the lawn today. I found myself pondering Chapter 10. My notes from nine months ago were sparse and vague. Because the story plays out by jumping back and forth in time, my notes for Chapter 10 basically said, “Echo Chapters 3 and 6, with variations.” Not very descriptive. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn’t want to just echo previous chapters. I wanted to do something new.

So I thought about what would be happening in the aftermath of Chapter 9, what I consider to be the story’s emotional core. That’s when I thought of a new direction for Chapter 10. The same end goal, but a different way to get there. This is, more or less, why I didn’t want to commit to so much notebook work prior to starting the story. I didn’t want to put in that much time and effort for another story that petered out.

But when I got this idea, I felt that it was different, like I felt that Clean Freak was different. While I have struggled against feelings of regret for not working in the notebook as had been previously demonstrated effective, I have pushed back against those feelings by intentionally keeping my notes light with the foreknowledge and intention to rewrite the story once I’m done with the first draft.

I’m actually kind of excited about my rewrite strategy. I’ve done a few jobs as a developmental editor in the past, and I really enjoyed working with other writers to dig deeper into their ideas and ask questions to develop their stories. I’m basically going to take the same approach to developing my own story.

I’m close enough that I can see the end. And the end isn’t the end, but just the next step.