A Writer's Notebook, Day One-Hundred-Two
Today I made the major breakthrough of the novel which I had been waiting for, though it took a quite different shape than expected. It involved adding far more poetry to the work, and I am now well over 42,000 words, setting me within a reasonable distance for completing the work. I do have a lot to add, but I know what it is, in many ways, and I think that I can do it far more easily than I would have been able to if I hadn't realized this part.
It will take a bit of work back in the book to completely connect the dots towards this ending, but it does not feel that it is not anticipated. There are a number of things in the book that point in this direction already, though it will take a bit more work to truly connect the dots. I have a great deal of faith, though, in what has been done. I also recognize places where it can be foreshadowed and worked into the fabric of the book.
I feel much better about the current project, as a result, and am optimistic about getting to my goal on time. It will still be tight, of course, but it is not unrealistic and is only a matter of my setting to work. However, the sense of what to do is quite clear and I can easily get a large amount out of what work I need to add in and what I think will be the right ending for the piece as a whole. I know where it is going, and why it is heading there, and I understand the character's real journey and growth in a way that I didn't. The yearning that was inside him is now something that I can connect with quite clearly.
I also believe that it will be important to break up and embellish the writing that is in it. The poetry may need to have some places where the character's thoughts and actions are imposed around it. That will also help to connect the piece in a way, and will show the thought process of the character in some sense. There is a great deal within what is there and adding these things to it will be a very significant part of finishing the book, but I don't know if it is necessary yet or not. I may need to do so for a lot of other reasons. For example, it may be that the character needs more paper. As well, I have an idea of what is to come in the story and see how it connects back to the current work.
There are some ways in which the story is curving and others that are heading more towards where I had expected. It does feel as if moments of the story are coalescing in a way that surprises me, as this has been a very insular book with a character who is not particularly connected to most of the world. Yet, connection has found him and brought things into focus. I don't know that it makes entire sense. Their is a way in which it is not entirely symmetrical, but it does not lack cohesion. I mean, while the poetry has themes that are outside the work he is doing, it is also clear that the story is connected to those same themes. The specific way that those themes are connected is very different than is in the story thus far.
It would make sense to connect that all more sharply, and that work may be the second draft, but the current work is entirely situated upon cultivating the final portion of the narrative in the time left. I know that can be done, and I am eager to do so in the next several days. In the ending, I can see a number of events that must occur. One is the conclusion of an ongoing episode which involves getting the character into the room next door, and I have an easier solution for that now.
As well, I have the larger picture, as to what the character will do, which I had already determined, and why. It is clear to me how things are going to come into their final shape, and I know that their is a long passage to come which will be very simple but has to be done properly. It is a passage of the character that shows them in a certain peaceful state, and I know what it will be and how to execute it. There is a great deal that I can see being communicated through the subtext of this passage, and I want to make certain that I get it right.
Basically, I am at the point where I know how to finish and can race through to the ending, I think, which is right where I should be. If I reach the final point and have more words to go, I also have plenty that I can do now that I know what is going on, and in terms of creating the interjections I know should exist around the poetry. It feels like smooth sailing, though saying that is probably not the wisest thing. I guess that we will see...
It will take a bit of work back in the book to completely connect the dots towards this ending, but it does not feel that it is not anticipated. There are a number of things in the book that point in this direction already, though it will take a bit more work to truly connect the dots. I have a great deal of faith, though, in what has been done. I also recognize places where it can be foreshadowed and worked into the fabric of the book.
I feel much better about the current project, as a result, and am optimistic about getting to my goal on time. It will still be tight, of course, but it is not unrealistic and is only a matter of my setting to work. However, the sense of what to do is quite clear and I can easily get a large amount out of what work I need to add in and what I think will be the right ending for the piece as a whole. I know where it is going, and why it is heading there, and I understand the character's real journey and growth in a way that I didn't. The yearning that was inside him is now something that I can connect with quite clearly.
I also believe that it will be important to break up and embellish the writing that is in it. The poetry may need to have some places where the character's thoughts and actions are imposed around it. That will also help to connect the piece in a way, and will show the thought process of the character in some sense. There is a great deal within what is there and adding these things to it will be a very significant part of finishing the book, but I don't know if it is necessary yet or not. I may need to do so for a lot of other reasons. For example, it may be that the character needs more paper. As well, I have an idea of what is to come in the story and see how it connects back to the current work.
There are some ways in which the story is curving and others that are heading more towards where I had expected. It does feel as if moments of the story are coalescing in a way that surprises me, as this has been a very insular book with a character who is not particularly connected to most of the world. Yet, connection has found him and brought things into focus. I don't know that it makes entire sense. Their is a way in which it is not entirely symmetrical, but it does not lack cohesion. I mean, while the poetry has themes that are outside the work he is doing, it is also clear that the story is connected to those same themes. The specific way that those themes are connected is very different than is in the story thus far.
It would make sense to connect that all more sharply, and that work may be the second draft, but the current work is entirely situated upon cultivating the final portion of the narrative in the time left. I know that can be done, and I am eager to do so in the next several days. In the ending, I can see a number of events that must occur. One is the conclusion of an ongoing episode which involves getting the character into the room next door, and I have an easier solution for that now.
As well, I have the larger picture, as to what the character will do, which I had already determined, and why. It is clear to me how things are going to come into their final shape, and I know that their is a long passage to come which will be very simple but has to be done properly. It is a passage of the character that shows them in a certain peaceful state, and I know what it will be and how to execute it. There is a great deal that I can see being communicated through the subtext of this passage, and I want to make certain that I get it right.
Basically, I am at the point where I know how to finish and can race through to the ending, I think, which is right where I should be. If I reach the final point and have more words to go, I also have plenty that I can do now that I know what is going on, and in terms of creating the interjections I know should exist around the poetry. It feels like smooth sailing, though saying that is probably not the wisest thing. I guess that we will see...
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