What is it All About?

   

    At the moment, I’m kinda struggling with a novel I’m working on. I have a basic idea of what’s going to happen, and I have some rather potent and memorable scenes pictured. But at the same time, I’m having to stop and rethink the whole thing because I haven’t truly figured out what the novel is about. Knowing what the book is about goes a long way toward helping me write it. And what I’m talking about isn’t the surface plot and situation.

    For instance, Spiderstalk has giant spiders, superhuman mutants, and secret societies, but what it’s really about is a man who lost nearly everything finding himself and a reason to live again. Adam has given up, and only uses his brother’s disappearance as a crutch to keep going. His fixation on rescuing Tucker is authentic, but also serves the selfish purpose of motivating him forward. It’s only when he faces the Matriarch and truly has to decide who he is, that he finally makes a defining non-selfish choice that means he can now move forward with life as a better man.

    Dead Stop has graveyard zombies surrounding a truckstop and people fighting for their lives…but what it’s really about is Deke overcoming his self-doubt and illusions of other people, Rachel overcoming her grief and finding her way back to the things that made her strong, and Marisa finding the ability to allow herself to trust and lean on somebody else.

    Even Cargill from The Ways of Khrem has a character arc, as he initially and shamelessly makes all his decisions based on his own self-interest, but as the story unfolds he begins to get in touch with the past that hardened him and uses that as motivation to act in a way to set things right. He will always be cynical, sarcastic, and opportunistic, but at the same time he is adding dimensions that allows him to act on better impulses…even if reluctantly. (This novel should be republished this fall)

    A  novel is a story of a character, and losing sight of that is the prelude to a novel in trouble. So I’m backing up and rethinking my characters. It’s a delay, and may involve going back  and rewriting from an earlier point in the novel, but that’s okay. In the end it’s about the finished product, and giving the reader a journey that’s not only exciting, but has a little substance.

    Ah well, back to work.

Getting Caught by the Inevitable

I have a neuropathy called Charcot Marie Tooth, or CMT.

I have lived with it for about ten years, as paralysis overtook my feet and lower legs. I had to learn to wear braces called AFO's which allowed me to walk on feet that had become useless. Over time, as it progressed, I first used canes to augment the braces and then graduated to a rolling walker. I usually didn't make a big deal out of it, although I often put off getting what I needed until the absolutely last moment...or probably should have had it for a while.

Unfortunately, the disease is now progressing in a way that is going to present challenges of several types as time moves forward. It has been in my hands for a while, and just like my feet, I adapted as they weakened. My wife became the jar opener of the house, and I've even had to ask my kids to help me with sticky doorknobs.

Yet, now the weakness in my hands is starting to progress into partial numbness and paralysis. The saving grace up till now has been that it takes very little strength to push the keys on a keyboard, but now my fingers are starting to completely lose their ability to move in certain directions. My index fingers will no longer move toward my thumb, making the G,H,T, and Y keys real adventures. My little fingers are losing lateral motion as well.

Needless to say, this development is going to present serious challenges to my writing career. I' probably should have looked into this sooner, but I guess it's time to start exploring options involving changing my typing style, or even looking into voice recognition software since mouseclicking is getting more difficult too. Sadly, hands are not like feet nd braces will not help them.

Right now, I hate this disease with an intensity that goes beyond words. I just remind myself that if it hadn't been for CMT, I would have never been forced to sit down and write in the first place. It offers some consolation. But now it threatens to take that career away. and if I'm going to continue I'll have to figure some things out.

I'm hoping to find a workable solution. I still have some stories to tell.