Yesterday I finished up current changes on another chapter of The Wild, leaving only a couple of chapters to go before the end. But a quick survey of these last pages revealed something I hadn’t quite realized before–or had refused to notice. All the plot devices I used before, all the motivations, even the loose ends that get tied up in the climactic scenes–all of these have to be changed.

The characters will remain the same, as will the location and even the ultimate result, but the details of how it all happens–just about every part of that will need to change.

At first I was extremely annoyed. But then I drew up a list of all the plot elements that now need to be included and it turned out that there was a lot to work with. Next I went on a long walk. I don’t usually get ideas while walking or working in the garden and such, but sometimes it helps, and this was one of those times. Short scenes started coming to mind, events, motivations . . . I even called home a couple times to leave some ideas on the answering machine so I wouldn’t forget them. I’m feeling better about it now. I’m even starting to think I could have a much better ending this time around.

Posted on: Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at 9:48 am
Categories: The Wild, Writing.