Friday, November 22, 2013

Dungeons

I’ll never forget the day I tossed my princess character into the dungeons. The first chapter chronicling the change went really well. I thought the next few chapters following her would be easy to write. WRONG.

In order to correctly portray my character, I had to put myself in her shoes as she cowered in fear in the dungeons. As a result, I hated the dungeon scenes. I was eager to leave, just like my princess.

When I revisited the story (after NaNo), I was forced to do a partial rewrite – adding in more dungeon scenes. I hated revisiting the dark and depressing part of my story. But because I did that, the story blossomed.

I said all that to tell you to trust your writing instincts. Trust me, you have them. If the story tells you to go to a dark place (provided it fits within your concept), you need to go there. You may not know why you’re going there. You may hate every moment of your dark place, but you still need to go there. Your character will grow. Growth leads to change. And change means the end of your story is approaching.

One day when you read over your story, you may discover your favorite place to read is the same scene that you didn’t want to write. Don’t be afraid to head to the dungeons. Just remember to bring a flashlight, so you can find your way out if you get lost.

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