Newsletter November 2024 - I'm Back, Baby!

Hi everyone,

The air outside is getting cooler, and...nevermind, I want to get right to the writing update. Last month, I was stuck in the challenging part of the story where I had set everything up, and I knew where I needed to get all the characters in order for the big climax to happen. The trouble was that I didn't have any fleshed out ideas of how I would get them there. I also had a lot of plot ideas that I had set up in the earlier chapters that now opened some doors and closed a lot of others, in terms of what they might do. That all resulted in me being stuck.

My youngest child has long hair, and generally it looks fine, like it should be easy to run a comb or brush through it. When I would try to comb it out, the downward pressure from the comb would reveal knots that were hard to spot when loose. The comb would tighten those knots more and more as I pulled, making it harder and harder to make progress, until I couldn't push the comb any more without causing pain. That's what was happening with my story.

I spent a lot of time in November rereading my notes and earlier chapters. Then I wrote new notes and tweaked my plans for the moments leading up to the climax. Eventually, I came up with a new plan that fit in with what I had already written and was also an exciting build up that made sense for the story. As I untangled the plot, my writing began to flow again, and I'm back to a point where I have a good idea what I need to do each time I write, and the words are coming more easily.

I'm now smack dab in the middle of writing the big climactic moment, and it feels wonderful! I had envisioned this scene early on, so it's great to finally compose it.

In other writing news, I joined an online group that mixes bits of a writing community and a writing conference. It was started by David Gwyn, the host of the Thriller 101 podcast, which I've mentioned before, and it's focused on mystery & thriller novels. The people there speak my language, and the content is relevant. So far so good. I've met a bunch of great folks, and when the time comes to get feedback on my early draft, I'll be able to find people who are at a similar stage as me in their writing career, and who know the details of what makes a great thriller. If you're interested, check it out: Thriller 101 Storyteller's Society.

For added funsies, I dressed up as a noir detective for Halloween. Then I decided to turn a picture of me into a fake book cover advertising the fact that I'm looking for an agent. (Psssst, tell your friends!)

Now, time to get back to writing.

Best,
Todd