Here I am, trying to get back into the writing mojo while my baby/toddler takes his nap. I felt like something was missing while I was writing a scene and it wasn't just the scene itself, it was the story. It was the why. Why would my character be going through all these changes? What's the driving force? I soon realized the driving force was flat.
I'm about four chapters in at this point. I had to stop and think. Do I stop now and start a new rewrite? The answer is yes.
I texted my friend the other day and I was like I think this character needs to die earlier, do you think it'd be too much... like Disney? She was like "Girl, no. Do it."
Listen, we all have some tragedies in our young lives -- not so much like losing a parental figure/mentor, but changing schools, breaking up with friends, losing a pet can be just as tragic to a young child or teenager. As I worked through what should be the main driver for my character to want to do something, I needed to give them the why. Even if they why meant killing the character you had fun creating. Even if it meant not "saving the cat" -- sorry Snyder.
Tragedies are my forté. I don't get joy out of writing tragedies, but stories like that resonate with me and I feel others as well. There's reasons why we still gravitate to stories like Romeo and Juliet. Especially as a young teenager grappling through many issues at home or school. It's nice to have something relatable -- even it if it is fantasy.
So now I'm back to the drawing board with this WIP. I decided I should write down a quick outline of what I'd like to see happening and plan out some details. This kind of sucks as I was about 20K words in on this story, but if I really want to make this story a good enough story to become a trilogy, I need to do something that will stand out.
It's taken me so long to get this story together. As I mentioned before, I have it written out as a screenplay. I thought I had the story down pat. I'm a little disheartened to realize that it wasn't at it's best, but now I get to build it up and write the best version I can.
Y'all when this story is done, you're going to love it! I can't wait to share more details on it soon.
Thanks for reading!
-Emi