In the past in this series I've talked about probably everything under the sun when it comes to things I consider pertinent to writing. From the insecurities that can beset the novice author to the excitement of actually finishing a final draft, it must seem like I've exhausted all potential topics.
I know that some of these posts have bordered on navel-gazing, some of you have commented on the state of my belly button lint, and some may consider today's in that category. But as it's a key element in my creative process, and perhaps for others as well, I'll just have to risk incurring some people's scorn again. Remember it's your choice to read this, so you can stop now if you don't want to take the risk of having to read me baring my artistic soul.
The idea for The Paths Life Takes, the working title for my series, came from an historical event. But aside from the premise, everything else was off the top of my head. Unlike other writers who work from an actual occurrence, I decided to either take the easier, or harder, route depending on how you look at it, of not doing any research on the circumstances, but completely invented everything from scratch. Social customs, values, religions and modes of dress all came off the top of my head. In my wisdom I figured this would be a time-saving device, as I wouldn't have to worry about anything like historical accuracy. Unfortunately, what it did mean was that I had to make damn sure that I was consistent with what I had created.
If I spontaneously had a woman behave in a certain way that I found perfectly normal according to my lights, I would than have to figure out how that could be justified within the confines of her society. Sometimes this meant modifying her actions, sometimes changing the rules of society, and on other occasions just having her be someone who allowances were made for because of her situation. But those were just logistical problems that were easily dealt with by doing checks for continuity, and doing a few rewrites.
What was more difficult was the means I used for creation period. While on the surface it sounds easy, the application can be difficult. I write each chapter in the way I use to improvise a scene in theatre. I have a situation, characters, and information that I need to communicate to the audience. But instead of only having to worry about what my individual character is going to be doing like I did when acting, I have to be aware of the motivations and desires of any and all folk taking part in the chapter.
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