A Writer's Notebook, Day Nineteen

Still working on the story.  It comes a bit at a time, but I feel good about what comes.  Some of the detail work is quite important at this moment in the story, and that can be a bit slow, but I cannot discount feeling positive about the story at this point. 

I am rethinking some of the ideas from yesterday.  I like that notion, but I think it is likely to be a problem in this particular narrative.  The issue is that the story has a hidden knowledge element, a twist of a sort, and that wouldn't work inside the context of such a narrator, I don't think.  The narrator would have to be aware of the facts about the sister's death, and as such not telling the reader is withholding in a way that feels like cheating, if the narrator is so aware.  Perhaps that can be dealt with through a subversion, or even an acknowledgement of some sort.  It is possible that a statement early on could include a comment that this information is irrelevant to the story, with a stipulation that the information important to the story will come out when it is supposed to, or even a suggestion that the character's reveal themselves in some sense.  It might best be done in subtext, actually...  But the point I am making is that I could do it if I own that early enough and make it part of the story in some way.  I don't know, though.  In part, I need to see what the ending does and how I feel about the thing when it is done.  The narrative idea is one that I will certainly keep in my mind, though, as I do like it quite a bit, and it may be that it will work here, if I play it in the right way, but that may not be needed at all, or, if the story works well enough, a complete detriment.

It is a matter of trusting the process.  I do enjoy having an enthusiasm for what will happen in the edit, and it is also encouraging to be so certain of getting through to the end.  Still, I feel that focusing upon that editorial process, while inspiring in a way, is also keeping me from finishing the work as it is and may well need to be. 

What is most important, I say again, is keeping up with the work and getting to the end of this story.  At that point, I can see what will work best in revision.  I may go with this idea, I may not.  In either case, though, considering the question now is premature, and shifts my focus from what is actually on the page.

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