The other day I was stumped on the road to the end of my work in progress, so I phoned a friend (yes like that game show where you get to call for help) to discuss where I was in my story and where I could go from there.

I often get stumped at the same place: three quarters of the way through, where I’m juggling all the threads at the same time. I fret and walk around the house, basically talking to myself. Sometimes the talk gets dark, dreary and repetitive and I become afraid I’ll never find my way to the end.

Sooner or later, I realize I need to talk it out.

My friend and I chatted as I paced the house, and realized writing a book is like that famous yellow brick road. I always end up at that spot where the sign reads, “I’d go back if I were you.”

The forest is haunted, creepy as all get out and there’s a fraidy cat inside who wants to turn tail and run. Except there’s no point going back, we know what’s on the road behind us and none of the things back there will take us where we want to go: home! We must forge ahead in spite of the dreariness of the road.:-O

On the yellow brick road the scarecrow gets the stuffing torn out of him. He needs his friends to collect all the straw and put him back together.

With writing, there’s a point in every story where all the threads you exposed at the beginning are floating free. Sooner or later, those threads need to be woven into the fabric of the story.

I need to pick up all those threads, one at a time and tie up each one. The lightest thread first, then a heavier one, then the next and the next until everything is resolved and we’re where we want to be: at a happy ending, or, home.

Now, if I could just find a way to avoid all the fretting and pacing and realize I’m headed for that haunted forest *before* I get there, I could avoid the battle with the flying monkeys. (That’s a whole other blog.):-[

I’ve recently updated my website with pictures and news. I can hardly wait to share my Blaze cover! The artwork for Possessing Morgan has begun, so I’ll show it off just as soon as I can.

One of the updates I did was to change the release date on Possessing Morgan to March 2010. I’ve already heard from a reviewer that she’s waiting anxiously for my first Blaze, so I’m excited to get feedback from people who love the line. Blaze readers rock!

I’m on Twitter now (@BonnieEdwards) and am offering a newsletter on my site as well. If you like getting newsy bits, please click on over and subscribe.

Life’s sweet, enjoy it!

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 20th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Bonnie Edwards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.