Write the Story You Want to Write

It occurs to me that this novel, like all my others, will never be a commercial success. This one will be even less of a success, if that's even possible. I've decided I don't care. I like it.

I've broken the time-honored storytelling rules. There is no "one big thing" that happens that hurls the story forward. There are a lot of medium-sized things. My main character isn't laser focused on defeating the obstacle standing in her way. She's got a bunch of obstacles; some of them human, others situational. Truth be told, she doesn't know what she wants. The real obstacle is herself.

I haven't yet broken the story into chapters, because it was never my intention to write a novel. Novellas don't have chapters, at least novellas that aren't insane, but I realize at some point, since this has turned into a novel, there will be a need to lines of demarcation. How I'll accomplish that, I have no idea. Because the story just keeps on going. 

The goal of ending a chapter is to encourage the reader to keep reading by making the end as exciting as the beginning. 
 

Exciting? Nah. This story isn't that. No (hypothetical) reader is going to be left breathless, unable to fall asleep for fear of missing out. If you've ever taken a long road trip, you're not anticipating that your next stop will set the world on fire. "Oh, here's a rest stop. I hope the bathrooms are clean." My novel is a long road trip. Yes, some stops are more interesting than others. There are encounters with new people; some are unique and interesting, others are assholes. 

But it all needs to be leading somewhere, right? Ehh. Sure, at some point the trip needs to end; not that I necessarily want it to. I like writing it. As far as I'm concerned, it could go on forever. 

With my previous books, I enjoyed writing pieces of the story; in fact, there were pieces I really enjoyed. I also hated writing other parts. Only the most confident or delusional writer sits back after every writing session, entwines his fingers behind his head and sighs, "That was great!" I'm more likely to grit my teeth, disappointed in myself. Writing is half fun, half torture. This story, though, has rarely been torture. I did travel down a couple of wrong paths, but I corrected course and kept moving. Now, every new scene, even if I think it'll be a dud, works out. 

I know that I'm going to like the finished tale. I might even read it once it's been published. I've never read any of my books ~ too painful. But it's the type of story I like. I don't read espionage novels, and I don't read cutesy romance or stories featuring knights or aliens, or heaven forbid, girl bosses.

This one's for me.