What am I trying to Say?

What am I trying to Say? 

As anyone knows who’s tried it, writing a novel is a long-haul journey. 

And the only thing that keeps most writers going is the thing they really want to say. The thing they are burning to share about the experience of being human, or a dog, or a God. For instance:

Being a God has its pitfalls.

A dog is always loyal to its master.

But no matter how strong this idea, that first inspired you to begin writing, it’s inevitable that somewhere along the long slog of creating characters and the scenes they inhabit, the clarity and urgency of what it was you wanted to say begins to fade. You can’t remember. You’re not sure you believe it, or that you even care anymore!

However, remembering what it is you really wanted to say – when you first began this beast, so very long ago – can be a very useful aid in getting un-stuck and re-charged.

And it can also help to create your important story milestones along the way.

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Take the final climax of your story. 

Maybe you’ve known what this will consist of right from the start. Maybe it’s the first idea you had. 

Or maybe you had no idea, and still don’t. You just know it has to be good, and you’re pulling your hair out trying to come up with something satisfyingly dramatic yet plausible. 

When considering the climax, a few simple questions to ask yourself are these: 

– What truth am I trying to prove? 

– What am I saying about my character’s choices and their consequences? 

– What do I want my hero to have learned by the end?

Whatever the lesson - be it a bitter truth or a happy recognition – the climax is where we see this proven once and for all. 

So for instance, if you want to show us that a Dog is always loyal to its master, the climax should consist of that dog’s toughest test of loyalty yet – maybe in the face of death, or perhaps despite his own master’s cruelty. The dog may have had moments in the story up to now where her loyalty has wavered, but in the end we see she will always remain true. And you prove this to the readers via the events in the final climax. 

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Similarly, if you’ve reached a sort of midpoint (see Turning for Home for more info on midpoints), and you’re struggling with what happens next, take a break to remind yourself what you are trying to say.

It’s at the midpoint the hero often gets a first glimpse of this truth to come. There’s a long way to go before he fully accepts it, but something about what he will eventually understand makes an appearance now. 

So if you’re saying that being a God has its pitfalls, God might do something big at the midpoint, that he can’t take back and that will create enemies, and in this way he (and we) start to see the potential pitfalls.

Or at the midpoint God might learn something new – for instance, that men have stopped believing in him - and this gives him a first glimpse of the pitfalls in a life that up to then he thought was pretty great. 

Or at the midpoint God gains a victory. He has dominion! He’s the Top God! But now he has to hold onto this omnipotence. And in this ensuing struggle we will come to understand what you the writer wanted to say: Being a God, ultimately, does have its pitfalls.