When the story is a struggle

People always think it’s easy when you tell them you’re a writer. There are people who like to tell you they could never write a novel. They used to write poetry or short stories back in college, but they could never write a novel. Yet, when you tell them you want to write for a living or that your side job is being an author, they act like it’s not a “real” job. Obviously, must be the thinking, if you can do it regularly then it’s easy for you.

The best parts of being an author are when the story does come easy. It doesn’t happen all the time, but there are stories where it does. I am very lucky to have been a writer who has had more stories come easy than hard. It seems there’s always another story ready to tell its tale to me so I can write it all down.

Then there are times when either the stories don’t come or they come slowly and with great difficulty. My latest novel was one of those. Well, it was a unique one when it comes to the flow. The tale of a creepy-sounding train whistle in the middle of the night being representative of a ghost train coming back from - somewhere else. However, the nature and form of the actual novel took more than a year to gel into my brain. When it did, and I knew it was related in some way to novel The Man From Taured and would be set in my favorite fictional town of Knorr, PA.

I knew it would be a long novel. I knew it would come close to matching The Man From Taured which is my longest book. I had this feeling it would involve the entire town this time around, not just a few residents.

Right in the middle of writing this, I got the idea for a psychological thriller which became Storyland - released in 2017. The story flashed hot and fast and clicked perfectly. I tried to work on both novels at once, but then Storyland took over. I then had to do rewrites on Storyland and another book I had written while The Wraith sat there for a bit.

When everything was done, I came back to The Wraith. However, this time the story didn’t come quite as easy as it had when I started. The characters were there and I still liked hearing the tales they had to tell, but they weren’t talking to me as much as they were before. I forced it and when you force it, kids, it’s never quite as good or comfortable. I felt the ending got away from me and I finished it in a blind rush.

Then the novel sat there for another year. I worried I had forgotten to tie up a loose ende. I worried about the rushed ending. I sent it to a Beta reader for feedback, only to tell that reader to stop. Other stories like The Revisionists came and went.

Then, reluctantly, I dug up The Wraith and started editing it. To my surprise, the story held together better than I remembered. Yes, there were loose ends, but not quite as many as I thought there were. I was shocked to discover The Wraith was worth saving.

Sometimes the books come easy. Sometimes the stories flow like blood from a freshly opened wound from a straight razor. Sometimes, from start to finish, the story is there and it talks to me and never stops talking. I just have to hold on and let the ride happen.

Sometimes you have to work for it. Sometimes you have to tease the story out and cajole the characters into talking. Sometimes you have to pound the story into shape with your mental might.

That second one is The Wraith and now I am so proud this story is out there. I love that it is a brother or sister to The Man From Taured. I think it’s weird and creepy and scary. I think you’ll like it.