So… upon closer contemplation of my current draft, I discovered a huge, gaping, truck-swallowing hole in my plot.
One that, like the last time, could derail the whole novel.
Can’t tell you what it is–it’s not yet time to give away all my secrets–but I can tell you it’s so obvious that you no doubt would have spotted my problem immediately. “Well, why wouldn’t Lyra just do this?” you’d shake your head, and your entire suspension of disbelief in the book would crumble.
And so would more than two and a half years of work…
But I am optimistic (ok, desperate) so I amped up my creative brainpower to see how I might be able to dig myself out of this crater I created.
I realized that all I needed was a simple counter-argument, one that, when someone asked why Lyra didn’t choose the obvious path, I could have my knowledgable characters reply with full credulity. “Because of this reason…” and both the questioning character and readers would reply, “ah, I see.”
I did it!
I think I found that one simple answer. It’s not foolproof, but the reason I came up with fits the mindset of the characters and propels the plot forward.
So for the moment, disaster averted.
I worry about the last 100 pages or so that I have to revise, but then I remember a comforting quote by the late Leonard Cohen, “there is a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.”
Potholes, cracks… it’s all the same thing. My novel won’t be perfect, but I aim for it to shine.
