The Story

 

Everyone has a different way of describing how a novel comes to be.  The basic stages are outline, draft, edit, submit.  However, the order of those stages  is different for every author, and it seems like every author has a different way of looking at what they do.

I'm a planner, which surprises no one who knows me.  I outline, plot, create spreadsheets, make charts, and know what will happen in each scene before I write it.  Other authors make it up as they go along, letting the story unfold as it wishes.  

However, regardless of the author's method, the story always evolves into more than the sum of its parts quite quickly.  Characters become real, tragedies are written through a veil of tears, funny bits make you laugh out loud.  It's hard to explain to someone who doesn't work in fiction.  Many writers, ironically, can't find the words to describe it. 

Look no further.  I heard a great description for this strange phenomenon just last week.  I was listening to Graham Ley talk about his writing process, and he said that 'the story is alive, and it's wriggling' at this creative stage.  That makes perfect sense!  And it brings a new sense of delight to something that can be quite frustrating.  So now I will address myself to the keyboard once again, and see where the wriggles take me.