In the spirit of WIPW - I am almost through the first revision stage of the next project I want to query. Querytime for that project is far, far down the writing road. Still, I only have about four chapters left to edit and then I'm done with this phase of editing. Woo-hoo!
Now, to my next question: What if . . .
I'm currently reading Mary Higgins Clark's latest Just Take My Heart. Very early on, surprisingly (so he writes with a big grin on his face) someone is murdered. No. A murder in a Mary Higgins Clark novel!!! Say it isn't so!! What's the world coming to??? Sorry, I'm in one of those moods this morning. Here's my question: what if the character lived, but was in a coma?
Next question: how often do you wonder what would have happened in your novel, if you changed some minor event?
In my current WIP, there's a huge, major, life altering secret that a few of the characters now. The revelation of this secret would have far reaching ramifications for one family. The main character is protecting the secret at great cost to him. Other characters begin to suspect the secret, but I never reveal the full secret to those characters. Now, what if I did?
Well, it would change the ending of the story. It's one thing to think you (sorry LitGirl01) know a secret, and another thing to really KNOW the secret. Why? Because, sometimes, it is easier to live in the Land of Denial than the real world. The full truth, no matter the reasons behind what created the secret in the first time, would devastate a family and rip it apart. Knowing but not KNOWING the secret keeps the family intact . . . well, at least in the end of the current WIP.
The events in MHC latest just got (sorry) me to thinking about how a minor change in any novel could create a dramatically different ending. Thoughts . . .
S
Okay, that's it for today. I need more coffee and then must run off to a meeting. Joy of joys!! Did I mention I left seven straight days of rain, only to find it raining in MA! Give me some sunshine, people.
4 comments:
Huh? There is a scret I don't know but I think I do? Or I'm in denial? LOL
Hey, be nice!! : ) You know that feeling when you actually think you figured out something - like who did it in a Mary Higgins Clark novel - and then you get to the big reveal and you were totally wrong? That was the point I was - and obviously failed to do - make. She - MHK - gets me almost every time. I always think I 'know' who did it, and then BAM - Emeril style - she pulls a fast one on me. Even though I thought I 'knew', I really didn't 'know'. That's what I meant about the secret - the characters are not 100% positive that they know the big secret. : )
I always guess! :-D
That was just downright ugly. : )
I think I've figured it out in this book. I've definitely narrowed it down to two people. I'll let you know if I'm right.
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