Of Dark Places, Irrevocable Decisions, and Transubstantiation…

The pull to reach the summit of action in a novel, or story requires the writer to look within.

More than that we must reach down into those dark places where fears, and hidden joys lurk.

It is here when connecting with those aspects of life that frighten us that we uncover the yearnings and desires that motivate and drive our protagonists and supporting cast.

Recognizing the hopes and wishes our characters hold reveals the choices they will eventually meet at the climax, a point in the novel that demands they commit the most irrevocable of all their decisions, an action that finalizes the journey, and evidences transformation has taken place.

Writing the climactic part of a novel, involves crafting the scene during which the central character makes the ultimate decision between the worst of all possibilities, or chooses from the sweetest of opportunities.

The writer in bringing the words of this scene to paper, or computer screen undergoes a process of transubstantiation. The words of the story we write, the actions of the characters carried out in the world we have created, the laws of their universe, move us both as writer and individual further along the path of our soul’s evolution.

The Eucharist-like process of climax, that occurs prior to denouement and resolution, in each story, or novel we craft, commemorates the death our protagonist has undergone during the ultimate crisis.

Like the Biblical Passion the scene of crisis must stir the hearts and minds of us as writers so that it might affect those of our readers.

The major characters of our stories offer the opportunity to incarnate, and lose ourselves in the world of the story. The process of writing those stories allows us find pieces of lives lost to memory and time.

We make good on this through opportunity through the hours and energies, physical, spiritual and emotional that we invest in our writing. Sacrifices made at the altars of our crafting our stories pay dividends in lifetimes to come.

It is at this point of crafting any novel, particularly in writing the rough draft, that the writer often feels the tug to let go, and give up.

What part of writing a novel challenges your patience?

Where do you feel the greatest elation when crafting a novel?

What part during the writing holds the most sadness or anxiety?

What part of the process of crafting a novel do find most boring?