The week before last, I sat down to develop an idea that I’ve had in my idea journal for quite a while. I got curious as to how long ago I’d gotten the idea. I don’t really date stuff in my journal, so I had to infer based on the surrounding ideas that got written and therefore dated by Word.
I first got the idea around 2008. So what took me so long?
Revisiting the idea for Codename: Party in my story journal, it was a situation, with a non-specific main character, a couple side characters that were only names, and the moment that ended the story. It was like looking at a photo, static, none of the characters moving. I never worked on the story because there were other story ideas that already had a bit of movement to them, that were more interesting from inception. But it sat in the journal and the back of my mind, refusing to fully leave.
Then, a couple weeks ago, it was like the picture started moving. The larger context for the story came to me, something that gave the party in the story meaning and importance. Once I had that piece of the puzzle in place, the main character clarified into a real person, not the non-specific Main Character that fit the necessity of the situation. As he started to move around on his own, he found the walls of the story and the pressures that the story exercises on him.
I developed the story using the same developmental steps that I had for “A Guide to the Good Candy in the Neighborhood.” That’s not to say that it will be the same story, but it might have similar beats to it. I say “might” because, as I’ve started writing the story, it’s already started to deviate from my outline. I’m trying to give the story space to move as it wants to, and it’s actually moved in a slightly different direction. It’s still heading toward the same end as before, that moment that stuck with me for almost two decades, waiting to find its story. But it’s taking a more circuitous route to get there.
I’ve been patient with myself and the story so far. Some stories are just waiting for their right moment.
