Getting It Right
Dispatch #2. Let the process work.
If I’m being completely honest with myself, I would have to say that about some things, I am a patient man, but about others…?
Painting my house? No rush. Cut those edges and put the coats on evenly. Fixing the cracked exhaust manifold on my car? I can wait for the mechanic to come back from lunch. A good cup of coffee? Take your time.
The outline of my own stories? I want it now.
Some of you may know that I am working on a new project. It will be a crime story titled “Child of Cain,” a noir tale set in the mid-1930s around a burglar named Walter Burback. At the head of this article is an image I created with Midjourney that fits the theme and atmosphere of the story.
For the last few days, I have been telling myself the story, and it’s been going well — except for the plot holes I’ve been finding, or the better ideas that have bubbled to the surface, even before I get to the end of the story.
What do you do at that point? Should I just note the ideas in a separate file and plow ahead until the end? You tell me. For now, I’ve been going back and making tweaks and changes, but is that the best thing to do? I don’t know, but that’s what I’m doing. It feels right at the moment.
Getting the story right, in my opinion, is the most important part of telling the kinds of stories I’m interested in. Who is the antagonist? What drives him or her? Why is Walter involved? How involved does he want to be? What happens that forces him to get involved? What happened to get the characters to this point?
Part of this process is getting the broad strokes down, then standing back and reading what’s there. Change the outline if you find a hole, then judge it again. Keep working it and working it until it has the right shape, then start filling in the details. It’s akin to a painter sketching out his composition, then applying the paint layer by layer, stroke by stroke.
I’m maybe two-thirds of the way through the process of telling myself the story, and I hope that when I’m finished, I’ll have an outline I can work from.
This is a dangerous place for me right now. My impatience is testing my resolve. In the past, this is where I would decide the outline is good enough and start to write, only to dash upon the rocky shore of reality when I hit a plot hole or a section I hadn’t completely thought through.
Have you experienced the same thing in your own writing? That need to rush ahead, even though in the back of your mind you know it’s not really the time. For everything I want this series to be, I have to resist that urge and think carefully about the path ahead.
When I really think about what I feel at those moments of impatience, there’s a little voice whispering, “You’re wasting time. Get writing.”
But am I wasting time? I don’t think so. When I think back on all the failed stories I’ve written over the decades, they failed because I didn’t have a plan for what would happen. Not even a loose one. It turns out, after a lifetime of struggling, that I am not a Pantser. I am a Planner, and there is no time wasted as long as I am in the chair working on the plan.
That revelation means I have to master my impatience and wait for the process to work, to generate the plan which will tell me the story that I can then sit down and write for all of you. And so, I continue to sketch the broad strokes, tweak the outline, and stand back to see the emerging picture, just like a painter adding layer upon layer of color until the composition feels just right.
As I navigate this creative journey, I invite you to join me. Share your thoughts, your struggles, and your triumphs. Together, we can explore the art of storytelling, learning from each other and growing as writers. For now, I’ll keep refining “Child of Cain,” knowing that every moment spent planning is a step closer to bringing Walter Burback’s world to life. Stay tuned for more updates and behind-the-scenes glimpses into the making of this noir tale.
What are your strategies for overcoming impatience in your writing process? How do you balance the urge to write with the need to plan? Let’s discuss in the comments below.
Until next time, happy writing!
Kevin Coleman is Ottawa-based software Product Owner by day, passionate crime fiction writer by night. Exploring the nuances of a writer’s life on Medium and beyond.
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