Pieces of the Puzzle

I have to dedicate this post to my friend, Alex. He achieved the zen we all strive for when we are working on our stories. We all know this moment, when all the elements of the bigger picture start to make sense and fall into place. It is similar to having your back scratched in just the right spot and your insides turn to mush.

Writing a novel, or even a short story for that matter, is akin to completing a jigsaw puzzle. You take a cast of characters, set them on a stage, add glowing description and torture them with copious amounts of conflict, ending with a coherent resolution. Scratch the puzzle analogy. Writing a novel is like baking a cake. The right amount of various ingredients and you have a beautiful and satisfying end product. Too much of one thing and not enough of another results in a culinary disaster.

Knowing how much of each component is the tricky part. Too much description and not enough conflict and your story is boring. Same for not enough action and pages of dialog. If you find the right balance of all the elements, your tale will jump of the page. This concept is one I am still working on.

My first writing efforts were comprised of wordy paragraphs filled with exposition. How proud I was of those pieces. Right up until the moment a good writing friend critiqued them. She taught me the value of white spaces in a piece and varying the lengths of paragraphs to control the pacing. Years after I began my writing journey, I am still learning and trying to grow as a writer. My big blocks of text are a thing of the past, I wish I could say the same for my telling instead of showing.

Back to the original thought behind this rambling post, nothing is quite as satisfying for a writer as when the writing goes well and everything works. Writers, hang on to those moments and remember them for the times when things aren't going as well and you are about to throw in the towel. To bad it is impossible to bottle feelings, because the accomplished feeling of a job well done is one I wish I could savor over and over.