Real Life Interferes Sometimes

I had Chapter One in the bag and a pretty good chunk of Chapter Two under my belt when a couple of things happened. One, Christmas hit and I found myself drawn away from my book for a while. And two: My first case of writer's block.

I had an action sequence planned and I hadn't changed my mind about that. But what I hadn't planned on was for the antagonist to be involved. This was a case of a character showing up when I wasn't expecting it. A case of where different plotlines presented an unplanned convergence. 

I realized it was a great problem to have as it only served to improve the dramatic structure of the book. I don't think I give much away when I say the hero and the antagonist have a bit of a showdown at the end of the book. Here was an opportunity to provide a bit of symmetry  and foreshadowing. It was a chance to set up a few things that could have a payoff later.

So I stalled out for a couple of weeks as I figured out how to best approach the action so that the two main characters held all of the focus. And, by the way, action sequences can be tricky. You have to do all the fight choreography. In the movies, that's all left up to the stunt team, the screenwriter only has to say "there's a fight". It's a little tougher on a novelist.

My work schedule for January also conspired to keep me away from the book. We were up against a deadline to deliver our documentary about Christ's Resurrection.  Within three weeks in January I had to direct two different nights of pick-up shooting, provide an edit assist on a couple of different segments of the show, produce the show's opening sequence, oversee some computer animations we had farmed out and design the look and navigation of the final DVD.

I didn't do any actual writing during this time, but the story problem was always on my mind. If I had an hour with my laptop, maybe at lunch or just before bed, I would review what I had and then stare at the screen trying to imagine what would happen next. The problem was choreographing the action to focus on a character I didn't know was going to be there.

One oft-repeated piece of advice I always hear from writers is to "keep writing". I knew I needed the discipline to get something done everyday. But I'm not a full-time writer. I had a deadline to meet and a family at home. So I got pulled away for a bit, and that's a pitfall I fell into.

I did manage to get past that action sequence during the last week of January. I also spent time reviewing what I had, doing some proofing and tweaking some scenes. I finally began making real progress again in the middle of February. 

As I spent time reviewing, I discovered I had been guilty of some other pitfalls.

Next: I didn't actually get to it this time, but I really will look at the importance of dialogue and action over long descriptive passages.