Halloween is almost upon us, and with it comes the familiar appearance
of ghosts, goblins, witches, werewolves, vampires, and other creatures of the
night. These are the things that make ordinary people shiver from fright. But
authors? Oh, we know a different kind of fear.
Authors have stared for hours into the horrifying emptiness
of a blank page. We have lost our way in tangled plots with no clear exit. We
have been haunted by characters who refuse to cooperate. And we have been tormented
by story endings that wickedly deny us a satisfying conclusion.
And then there is the most dreadful experience of all:
rereading yesterday's brilliant writing only to discover that it transformed
into complete rubbish overnight.
Forget haunted houses. Try spending six months writing a
novel, only to discover a plot hole big enough to swallow the entire cast! Now that
is frightening.
Allow me to introduce you to a
few of the horrors that lurk in the shadows of an author's life.
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There is nothing quite so intimidating as a blank page
staring back at you. The glaring whiteness. The complete emptiness. It mocks
you.
With a whirlwind of inspiration swirling in your head, you
sit down at the computer, fingers poised over the keyboard, ready to create a
masterpiece. At that very moment, every clever idea vanishes into thin air.
You type a sentence. Delete it. Type another. Delete that
one too. After an hour of intense concentration, you manage to produce two
words: Chapter One.
Congratulations. You are
officially a writer.
The Characters Who Refuse to Behave
You conceive your own unique characters. You name them. You
give them personalities, histories, ambitions, and carefully planned futures.
You are their creator—the supreme authority over their fictional universe.
Or so you think.
Somewhere around chapter seven, your obedient heroine
develops an attitude. Your villain decides he would rather be misunderstood
than be seen as entirely evil. Two characters who were never supposed to fall
in love cannot keep their eyes off each other. And the character you planned to
kill in chapter twelve? He refuses to die.
You argue. You threaten. You remind them who is in charge.
They laugh.
At some point, you surrender and
rewrite the outline.
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The Plot Hole from Transylvania
Halfway through typing the initial manuscript, a horrifying
realization strikes.
Your hero could not possibly have witnessed the murder
because he was locked in a dungeon three hundred miles away. Your heroine
somehow knows a secret that nobody ever told her. And the magical sword destroyed
in chapter four has somehow mysteriously reappeared in chapter nineteen.
You stare at the screen in disbelief.
How did this happen? Someone
must have sabotaged your manuscript while you were sleeping. Unfortunately, you
are the only suspect.
The Nightmare of Endless Revisions
Some people believe writing a book involves sitting at a
computer, typing the story from beginning to end, and then happily sending it
off to be published.
If only.
Writing the first draft is merely the beginning. Next come
the revisions. Then more revisions. Then revisions of the revisions. You
rearrange paragraphs, rewrite dialogue, eliminate unnecessary scenes, and hunt
down adjectives that have multiplied like gremlins after midnight.
Eventually, you reach the point where you have read the same
chapter so many times that the words no longer resemble English. So you declare
the manuscript finished. Done. No more.
Three days later, you open it
again because apparently writers enjoy suffering.
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The Ghost of Deleted Chapters
Every author has a graveyard. Mine is filled with discarded
scenes, abandoned conversations, beautiful descriptions that served absolutely
no purpose, and entire chapters that simply did not belong in the finished
story.
Some were removed without remorse. Others required a painful
farewell.
You spend hours crafting a scene you adore, only to realize
it contributes nothing to the plot.
"But it's so beautifully
written!" you protest.
Your inner editor folds its arms.
"But the dialogue is perfect!"
Your inner editor frowns and shakes
its head.
"But I worked on it for THREE
WHOLE DAYS!"
Your inner editor points rigidly at
the delete key.
Somewhere, a tiny violin (or perhaps an old pipe organ) begins to play.
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The Terrifying Moment You Press Publish
You survived the blank page, the rebellious characters, the monstrous
plot holes, and the seemingly endless torture of revisions. Your book is now
finished. Edited. Formatted. Ready for readers across the world. All that is
left is to press the button that makes it available for purchase.
Suddenly, your imagination becomes your worst enemy.
What if nobody likes it? What if somebody discovers a typo
on page two? What if readers hate your favorite character? What if they love
the villain more than the hero? What if your mom reads that one scene?
Your finger hovers over the SUBMIT button.
You consider changing your name to Danielle Evangelina Blackmont.
Instead, you close your eyes, summon up the courage, and click.
There. You did it.
Now comes the truly terrifying part—waiting for reviews.
The Sequel That Lurks in the Shadows
At last, your book is published. You lean back in your
chair, breathe a sigh of relief, and congratulate yourself on surviving another
literary adventure. You imagine a few peaceful weeks without deadlines, plot
complications, or imaginary people demanding your attention. Then, just as you
drift off to sleep, a new character appears in your mind:
"Hello," the creature says.
"I have a story to tell you."
You pull the covers up over your
head. "Go away."
"But it's a marvelous story."
You squeeze your eyes shut.
"Just one chapter," the creature
insists as his features start to take shape.
And somewhere in the darkness,
your next novel begins.
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Why I Keep Returning to the Haunted Writing Desk
Despite the frustrations, sleepless nights, and occasional
desire to throw a laptop out the window, I would not trade the experience of
being an author for any other vocation.
There is magic in creating new characters who never before existed.
It is a wonderful delight when their personalities become real and they begin
to interact with you. To watch their stories unfold is incredibly exciting, and
there is real satisfaction in solving every stubborn story problem that comes
along. I feel genuine joy at finally finding the right words, the right phrases,
to express my ideas.
Yes, writing is exhausting. It is maddening, unpredictable,
and occasionally frightening. But it is an adventure I willingly choose again
and again.
So this Halloween, while the rest of the world worries about
ghosts, monsters, and things that go bump in the night, I will be sitting at my
desk, bravely facing a far more frightening creature—my unfinished manuscript. And
if you happen to hear a bloodcurdling scream tear from my office, do not worry.
I probably just discovered another plot hole.
Happy Halloween, and happy reading everyone!
—Richelle E. Goodrich
A question for my readers:
Have you ever wondered
what goes on behind the scenes of your favorite stories?
