Left turn, Ralf

Okay, things were going so good, it had to be too good to be true. But more on that later.

I owe Jeanne an ginormous thank you for recommending James Scott Bell's, book Write Your Novel from the Middle. It is a quick read and loaded with stuff to think about.  His premise is simple. In the middle of your story your hero has to come to the realization that they have choices to make, and what's at stake. He has done some remarkable research, and he found that in classic movies or novels, there is such a moment right in the middle (based on page count, or running time) give or take 10%.

He contends that if your hero doesn't understand his choices, neither will you, or the audience, or  your hero. Without it your hero's battle is fought in an arena with no boundaries and there is no context to work within to get to the moment of truth. Very interesting.

Before I start talking about my current novel, I must digress.

Every now and then, something will remind me of my navy days, and when that happens I do what any good sailor would do; come up with a related sea-story. Most of these are funny because for some reason serious sea-stories, if they exist at all, are quickly forgotten.

For example, one day we fired a missile from my ship and there was a bit of a mishap.  Part of the launcher got torn away and launched along with the missile; the missile worked just fine, but the launcher part sailed in a truly graceful arc, and hit the sea about a hundred yards ahead of the ship. There was no real harm done, and I (as well as most of the crew) thought it was hilarious. The captain thought otherwise. Since I was the officer responsible for the missiles and the launcher, the captain asked me, "What have you learned from this?" I simply replied, "Launcher parts do not fly as well as missiles." Let's just say the captain adjusted by experience index up a few notches.

Over the years, Marsha, my wife, has heard many sea stories.  Marsha is also my sounding board for ideas on my current navy novel, so lately she has been getting more than the normal dosage of sea-stories. She now wants me to put all of these stories, or at least those fit for a GP audience, into a series of essays and package them as a book.  So I am. It will be good brain candy to play with in between bouts with my current novel.

Speaking of my current novel, here is what is happening. I had written the beginning, then the end, and was working toward the middle. Along the way, I grew uncomfortable about the arc of the story. Something was wrong. I had to put my writing aside because this thing called life continued to happen, and was demanding my attention. When I came back to the novel, I reviewed what I had written - I had lost track of the hero's inner struggle, and upon reflection, I wasn't sure what it was anymore. Not a good sign.

So I tried to follow the advice of James Scott Bell. I sat down to write the middle, and it was a disaster. The transformation my hero has to go through is complex with subtle shadings and colors. Now, I have been know to overt think things, so I asked myself, "Self, are you making this too complicated? It's okay for you to know all this stuff, but what is the headline you want to deliver to the reader? This is not a psycho drama. Keep it simple, stupid."

So that is where I am now; stuck in the middle of a muddle, trying to boil down the essence of my hero's struggle in one or two sentences. It's not as easy as it may seem.

Don't worry, I will get this novel done. And it will be something I am proud of.  Stay tuned.