As part of a skills trade, he wrote a lullabye for me.

More specifically, he wrote a lullabye for the first book in the Taven series. This is the song crooned by dragon broodmothers to unhatched eggs, hidden away in crystal caverns beneath the Terraces of Zefan.

(Note that the lyrics came from me and I am NOT a lyrics writer. The melody is ALL HIM though, and it’s perfect.)

Red Will Carry : The Dragon’s Lullabye

No related posts.

So yesterday I wrote a blog post about shelving Pony X because it was broken and I couldn’t fix it.

I had multiple friends mention that they were disappointed (in very LOVELY ways, not negative at all) to no avail. The story as it sat in my head was broken and could not be written.

Period. End of Sentence.

Unbroken

Except when you throw in a Bre, who calls me up and sasses me and gets me to pull the problem OUT of my head, talk about it … and she solves the problem.

BAM.

Just like that.

It was funny, she made a suggestion — “What if it were the terrain that kept the big caravans from getting through?” — which immediately clicked into place with all of the worldbuilding I’d done. I already had a reason the terrain would be hazardous to heavy things AND a plot point that revolved around the terrain being dangerous.

So Pony X is back on, because it’s no longer broken.

Moral

The moral of the story is thus: When you’re stuck, talk to your friends.

Rolling a problem around in your head for THAT long ain’t fixin’ in. Sometimes you need a little perspective.

Unrelated Thing

Does anyone else think of that scene in Ratatouille every time they hear the word “perspective”? I don’t think I’ll ever hear the word “perspective” without imagining it said in the voice of Anton Ego.

Mustafa: [taking Ego's order] Do you know what you’d like this evening, sir?

Anton Ego: Yes, I think I do. After reading a lot of overheated puffery about your new cook, you know what I’m craving? A little perspective. That’s it. I’d like some fresh, clear, well seasoned perspective. Can you suggest a good wine to go with that?

Mustafa: With what, sir?

Anton Ego: Perspective. Fresh out, I take it?

Mustafa: I am, uh…

Anton Ego: Very well. Since you’re all out of perspective and no one else seems to have it in this BLOODY TOWN, I’ll make you a deal. You provide the food, I’ll provide the perspective, which would go nicely with a bottle of Cheval Blanc 1947.

Related posts:

1. Choose Your Own Follow-Up
2. Abandoning a Project, or How To Tell If A Story Is Broken

Okay, so I’ve been talking about Pony Express here and on my writer’s forums for long enough to build up some excitement, both in myself and in a few good friends.

HOWEVER, it’s been started for a little while now (I started it before I got sick and now that I’m feeling better, I went back to my notes on it) and it’s not moving forward.

I can’t hide from it any longer.

It’s broken.

The Deeper Questions

It’s not TERRIBLY, HORRIBLY broken, but it fails the deeper “Why?” test.

Shallow “Why?” questions have an answer. “Why does she need to do this? Why can’t she do this instead?”

Those are all fine and dandy. From a surface-view, my story holds water.

However, once I start to ask DEEPER questions, it falls apart because the TRUE answer is “because I want it to be that way” and all of my swiftly erected plot beams cannot possibly hold the story’s weight once people start poking at it.

“Why does she make it THIS far and no farther before having a problem? What changes to make it so that she no longer has a problem? If the answers are true, why isn’t EVERYONE using this method to travel through the dangerous area? Why can she do it when a heavily armored rich caravan cannot?”

Every answer I come up with complicates things and adds unnecessary weight to the story.

The “Why” Test

“Why?” is the most important question you can ask when building a story.

If you don’t know why, or if your reasons are weak or “Just Because”, then you’ve got a problem.

What’s worse, although you CAN fix any problem after it’s been written, it’s a LOT easier to fix small problems than deep-rooted flaws. “Whens” and “Hows” and “Whos” are all relatively simply to fix during revision. “Whys” are fundamental weight-bearing questions. If you notice a broken “Why” before you start writing, I think it’s worth stopping and eyeballing it rather than plowing ahead.

Solving the Problem

Solving the problem is easy, actually. Deceptively so.

Throw out everything that’s keeping you from giving an honest, true “Why” answer.

If you have a pre-conception or assumption that is causing a problem, throw it out and ask the question again. This is all a mental exercise at this point anyway — you can add the assumption back if you need it to tell your story.

But something about the current mix of “must be trues” is keeping you from finding the solution. Throw out one or a few, and come at the problem from a new perspective.

I’m Not Fixing It … Yet

So if it’s so “easy”, why am I abandoning Pony Express for now?

Because I know in my gut that the things I’d have to throw out are the reasons I wanted to tell the story in the first place. They’re the bits that hit my Sweet Spot, that made me want to tell the story in the first place.

Additionally, I’m not under contract for this story, nor do I owe it to anyone to tell it in a specific way or time frame.

I want to finish the story. HOWEVER, right now I’m clearly not in a good emotional place to do so. I’m reluctant to hack away at my framework … and I have no compelling reason to take a hatchet to it just yet.

Given some time and space, I may come up with a different solution, or find other elements of my story to rekindle that flame of desire to write it. For now, though, I can just take all my storybuilding and put it in a folder in my Idea Box, then come back to it later, when things aren’t quite so … now.

In the Meantime

It’s HARDLY as if I don’t have a billion story ideas that I want to write. I just need to pick one and get started on it. =]

You

Have you ever noticed that a story you’re working on is broken? Did you notice early or at the end? Have you ever revised a “Why Broken” story?

Related posts:

1. A New Project Appears!
2. Broken Link Checker
3. Fire and Storm – New Short Story Up