A documentation about writing the ultimate heist novel.
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I’ve gotten to the same point several times now where I believe the story is no good, it’s too bland, and I just can’t figure out how to make the plot interesting or tie together.
There’s a fix for this and the best way I can describe it is you have to ‘trust the force’.
Whenever I get one of these problems I stick in my subconscious and flag it as a ‘top priority’. It feels like you can’t write until you figure this out but that is the exact opposite thing you should do. I still force myself to write my 1,000 words in the morning and 1,000 words in the evening because you have to give your mind an outlet to purge the ideas that are incorrect.
A lot of these scenes that I write during this process end up being two of my main characters taking a walk together where one will say something like, “Ok Mac, (Mac is my main character), tell me again why we are going to steal the diamonds this way.”
Then I’ll write through some god awful scene that is Mac’s stream of consciousness. Sometimes they stop for a coffee, but mostly they talk.
Sometimes it takes one session, sometimes two or three but so far, with each problem I eventually get to a trigger point where Mac will say something that makes it all click into place.
In the next draft I’m sure 99% of these types of scenes will be completely cut but for me they’re the only way I can see to get through the muck.
The other key to this process is at night I ingest other stories, constantly feeding the well with inspiration and new ideas. I just finished Robert Rodriguez’s book, ‘Rebel Without A Crew’ and over the weekend we watched Ed Norton’s new movie, ‘Motherless Brooklyn.’
I’m also reading my favorite fantasy series, ‘The Kingkiller Chronicles’ by Patrick Rothfuss. I’m currently re-reading book two, which is the only 1,000 page book I have ever read. There was a scene two nights ago where a woman in a bar asked the main character if she could buy him a drink and then I got struck with a bolt of lightning. I realized Mac needed to appear in a bar and have a drink with Sheridan (Sheridan is the bad guy).
Keep writing and keep reading. Trust the force.
Have some thoughts? Feel free to drop a comment or hit me up: charlie@charleskunken.com
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