Writing and Such

I am now at 65,000 words and all’s well. The weekend is also here, so I will have plenty of time to write away. I am at a crucial turning point where the main character begins her journey of self-discovery. I have also thought of two or three possible endings, but I am not sure which I am going to use. One is tangible and the other is very spiritual. The spiritual ending will involve a twist that will inevitably shock readers. When I told my friend and colleague about it, I got the result I wanted. So, I just may use it.

I was reading a literary agent’s blog today and it reminded me of the blog that I wrote yesterday. She was discussing the rules of writing. Should writers ask agents for guidelines? I was actually startled that anyone would! It made me think of my students present and past who would ask how many sentences one should include in a paragraph. My standard answer became “fifty,” which nipped that in the bud. I can’t imagine that putting any parameters on creativity would work that well; however, we are all aware that punctuation actually makes our writing readable or not. Oh yes, and organization, flow, voice, language, syntax, diction and all of those wonderful things that we learn in school.

The reason this reminded me of the blog that I wrote yesterday is because I don’t think I could have written what I have with someone telling me that I should follow a set formula or that I should make my book into a mystery because mystery sells. So glad that no one asked me to add vampires or sorcerers! I venture to say … that just wouldn’t be me. A story has to come from your heart, it can’t be forced. Oh dear, what am I going to write about next?