Getting There

My writing saga is no doubt only interesting to me, but after a writing day, I feel compelled to detail my progress. Don't worry; it's more for me than for anyone else. Recounting what I've written helps me figure out where to go next.

In our last episode my MC was accused by law enforcement of making up her deranged stalker. It's not unreasonable. They couldn't find anyone in town with that name when they tried to serve the person with a restraining order. No one in MC's life has met the person. The deputy even asked to see "one of those candids that gals are always taking with their phones." (Yes, the guy is a jerk.) MC doesn't have any. Then he tells her to stop wasting the county's time.

I briefly toyed with the idea of MC's fiance having doubts about her story, but that would take me down a long and complicated road, and I decided it was better for her to have one ally, especially since she's going to marry him.

There was a brief attempt by a private investigator to locate the person, which was a dead end, but again, I chose not to drag this out. The story has already meandered too much. Instead, my MC thought through her past interactions with the stalker, things the person had said, how they'd always seemed to be one step ahead of happenings; and MC determined that the individual was gone ~ for good. I didn't have her explain to her fiance why she was so certain of this, nor did he ask. While her thought process was delusional, it made perfect sense to her and allowed her to move on with her life. And for me to move on with the story.

This also gave me the impetus to refocus on the motel's renovation. I haven't forgotten the story's skeleton ~ why MC ended up in this town in the first place. I'd rather neglected her reno progress. It seemed she was always in the middle of fixing up something and then something else happened that took her away. A reader would naturally wonder if she ever finished any of her projects. So now she's painted half of the building and bought a trunkful of flea market accessories and paintings for the rooms. Since she's a rabid thrifter, her day has been glorious.

That can't last.

In every prior scene of destruction, there was a trigger, but frankly I'm running out of triggers. And it seemed right to have a big eruption happen just when MC is feeling serene and optimistic. 

And this is where I left off.

My big conundrum is still hanging out there, unresolved in my mind. I know who the bad guy really is (the reader most likely does, too), but the reveal is going to be tricky. I keep blithely hoping the solution will come to me if I just keep writing, following a natural progression; but it hasn't occurred to me so far. I'm a blank.

But the good news is, I'm getting there. The quest is long, but I can faintly glimpse the horizon now.