aha moments
So I'm writing pretty well.
interrupted to say: imagine me knocking on wood madly, okay? and find some wood and knock on it a few times yourself. just humor my superstitious Italian self.
And I can feel Queen of Swords becoming, solidifying into a whole. If all goes well I should be finished by the end of the year. In spite of the fact that today I have to spend a half day in the kitchen with the promised cookies, and the tree has to be decorated, and presents wrapped, I am not panicky. Which you know: a good sign.
Here's one of the weird things that happen to me as a writer, the way my mind works. I have a character, a minor character who plays a pivotal role fairly early in the book. I thought, well, enough of you (because I don't like her much), but then she popped in again a few chapters back. Okay, I said to her, I can see the need. Now, be gone.
Then an other character, this one major, said: I'm going to see the woman, and I shrugged and followed him, and okay, he was right. That's what he needed to do.
Where is this story going, you're wondering. Here's the aha moment.
Yesterday I was thinking about this woman, how she keeps insinuating herself back into the story, and the first time she showed up. We meet her when another minor female character, this one really a good and likeable person, goes to the Woman I Don't Like for help.
At the time I didn't think much about it, but then yesterday: aha. The Woman I Don't Like is linked to the Woman I Do Like in a crucial way that is instrumental to the story. It's been there all along, but my subconscious hadn't bothered to inform me until this point. Yesterday, though, the door between my conscious and subconscious mind flew open with a bang, and out came this whole revelation in a flash. I tried to peek in and see what else might be waiting in there, but no luck. The gatekeeper is wily.
I freely admit it: the whole process behind writing this big, complex story is as odd and mysterious as the quantum physics.