Fishing for a story

What is creativity? The ancient Greeks believed that artists channeled their music, dance, poetry etc. from the gods. Sometimes it feels that way. Sometimes it feels more like going fishing in an empty pool.

I don’t know the process that musicians, dancers and poets go through to do their work. I do know that writing a novel, at least in the beginning, can be a struggle. Facing that blank first page is daunting.

As I picture the vacant computer screen after I’ve optimistically typed “Chapter One” it makes me think of a magician’s crystal ball. At first it’s opaque, an empty lump of glass. If it’s an eye into another world, the eye has a cataract.

I’ve discovered that if you stare into that blank space long enough you begin to see clouds and eventually the clouds part—perhaps just a bit. But that’s enough blue sky to get started.

In other words, sitting in front of that blank computer sceen until something happens, at least for me, is a vital part ofthe process of beginning a novel.

So I’ve been doing that as I work on my next Oliver Redcastle historical mystery. Oliver’s situation as he seeks to make a new life with his daughter, Chloe, and lover, Marietta Dumont, is taking shape. I know who some of the important characters in my story are going to be. And I’m getting insight into what makes them tick and the problems Oliver is going to face as he develops relationships with them.

This is exciting. The story is beginning to take shape. But there’s still a lot that’s murky. How do these characters and their conflict inter-relate? Who’s going to get killed, and why? What role will Oliver be playing in all this? And what about the mercurial Marietta. Will she stick around, or will she run off—as she’s done so often before?

It probably sounds crazy, but right now I’m as eager to see how the story will develop as I hope my future readers will be. Writing is an adventure.