Through the Swirling Snow
I walked home from work, the pinhead-sized snowflakes swirling around in the wind. It was nice; the air is quiet when it snows. Living with the highway yards away from my bedroom window, precipitous moments like this are welcome.
It’s the second week in January and we’re still not done chapter seventeen. However, we’ve had yet another breakthrough in the plot. It is as if there are parts to this story, seeds of ideas, that lay low in their fertile soil until it reaches towards the sun and explodes into colorful bursts when we come back to check on it.
Our latest discovery–we can only call them discoveries–has to do with real history. We’ve always expected our stories to have a layer of factual events surrounding the fantasy, but never did we expect it on this level. Rhiannon made a joke about Lowell, I thought it was a brilliant idea. I ran with it and discovered a whole history that nestled itself into our story as if it had been waiting for us.
The richness the story has taken on is incredible … in places it is so true to our lives it’s even frightening. This novel officially went from “The Novel We Always Wanted to Write” to “Something Better than We Ever Dreamed Of”. Now, it’s really just a book Rhiannon and I want to READ very much.
Rhiannon was at work last week in the midst of this breakthrough. Our chatter was incessant with the discoveries we were making. Things were coming to life. The day came to a close, she got home and had the strongest desire to keep reading the book she read that day only to realize she hadn’t even taken one with her to work–it was OUR book she wanted to keep on reading.
(Note by Rhiannon: Seriously. My part in writing the story has been the questioner. Joey comes up with the ideas and connects them all together. He hands me partially formed clay and I question and shape it. For me, it really IS reading while writing.)
In any case, chapter seventeen is now essential to the plot at a higher level and will take some medium-heavy research before we can complete it. I’ll be finishing the last scene in the chapter this afternoon, then plowing through to the end of the book.
Part of me wants this book to hurry up and be done, but these amazing discoveries and revelations we keep having are way too much fun. I have a feeling, someday, I might miss this work. I’m savoring it, now. I don’t mind the slow progress, because of the product we are churning out. I can’t wait for this secret to be out, and y’all enjoying what we’ve had a blast and a half writing!
(Lightly edited by Rhiannimated)
Tags: Writing
Joeysan's Head | Joey | 
13 January 2010 2:18 PM
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