Maybe the Problems we bump into Make the Plot.

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I had a great writing day yesterday, helped largely by knowing where I am going now that I’ve sorted out the Who-Goes-First dilemma I faced earlier this week – Things now are landing nicely, even the spacing between the two catalysts seem to be sorting itself out to the extent that I wonder why I thought I had a problem in the first place.

It’s all perception, of course. When you are looking at a knot, a knot is what you see. I remember facing much larger problems with my first book, with Sevi constantly throwing a spanner in the works, yet looking back, I cannot remember what any specific problem was (except the big one, that I couldn’t get her to fight without killing everybody).

At the time of any issue, with no clear answer immediately to hand, each problem seems insurmountable and therefore ginormous, but once a solution presents itself, the whole concern evaporates and it seems there was only ever one clear path to take.

Naturally enough, this doesn’t help any when you’re sitting there facing a writing dilemma of your own. Yes, true, once you get through the effort and the mental work to sort out that fix you are in, the whole notion of a “problem” lifts and is gone, but at the time it’s still just a tangled mess you see. I can’t really help you with that one, except to say, keep going and it will be worth it.

To my way of thinking, if you’ve got problems because of the twists and turns you’ve put into your story, at least it means you’ve got twists and turns! You’re offering something good and, anyway, no one wants a bland story or they might as well have stayed at home.

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