The Railroad as Metaphor

Confession: I find myself turning everything that happens to me into a narrative in my head.

Reading:

• "L. DeBard and Aliette: A Love Story," by Lauren Groff
  
• The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton
  

Writing:

• "Ferian Fetlock Catches a Cold" - Outline 95%
  

Revising:

• "The Revenant"
• "Cora and the Sea" - Third draft 50%

First, for Ferian Fetlock fans, fear not! (I like alliteration.) I took a nice long Ramble tonight, and figured out a way around my last remaining stumbling block. (The coachman! Of course! Why didn't I think about it before?) I left the outline at 95% because there are still a few loose ends to tie up, timing and the like, but I don't anticipate much of a problem (fingers crossed, there).

After listening to a bit of Neko Case (the same album I listened to when I finished the first Ferian in Greenport, back in early July--see this post for a reminder), I took a nice long logical look at my story.

1. I know where I'm starting from.
2. I know where the ending is.

It's the middle bit that's tricky.

I think that's the case in all stories. When you think of a story, you either think of how it starts, or what happens. In fact, I challenge anyone to start a story in the middle effectively. Oh sure, there's the whole in medias res thing where you start in the middle of the action. But that just makes the middle of the chronology the beginning of the narrative, and the beginning of the chronology the middle of the narrative. If that's confusing, it's probably because I just walked seven miles.

Essentially, the process of plotting a story, for me, is the process of making the middle of the story from either end. It reminds me of the Transcontinental Railroad, which was built from west to east and east to west at the same time, and they just hoped it lined up in the middle. The nice thing about writing is that it's much, much easier to go back and redo parts of it than it would be for a railroad.

I currently plan to spend part of this weekend back in Greenport, working on the actual writing of the story. I doubt I'll finish, which will mean yet another month where my story of the month is finished the month after, but so long as it's finished, I'm not going to worry. And since this episode in Ferian's career comprises two stories/chapters, I might have my entry for September finished early.

Huh... I just notice that the next 24 hour short story contest is September 27th, which means I might (gasp) be ahead of the game going into October. Of course, I'd better finish the current Ferian arc before counting those chickens.

Publication Status:

• Submitted: 5
  
• Accepted: 1
• Rejected: 1
• Pending: 3