Writing with Little Arms

Don't you hate it when you realize one of your main plot themes makes no sense at all? I know I do.

It isn't the first time it's happened to me, certainly. And I'm sure it won't be the last.

I realized the issue though. I find myself handling great complex ideas and main plot points with Tyrannosaurus Rex arms. In other words, I've been undeniably lazy. I don't unwrap the idea to its full potential. I don't flesh out the details. I simply plunk an amazing theme into the middle of my novel, and hope the readers don't ask too many questions about it. I give them the stock "parent" answer when they ask, "But why?". Ehem, because I said so, don't you know.

The "because I said so" seems like such a simple answer. But readers don't buy it for long. It's true, I'm actually afraid to delve fully into an idea. I'm worried I'll come across more problems to solve and more inconsistencies to adjust. And, frankly, oftentimes I feel I don't want to work that hard. Laziness, indeed. It's easier to slip a beautiful unopened flowerbud into my story, and then that messy stuff known as pollen won't spoil anything.  

But I don't want my readers asking, "What's the point?" I want to put my whole effort into making this novel the best it can be. And so, I intend to return (yes, for the fifth time) to my beginning chapters and make each idea bigger and bolder. I want the book to spring to life. I want the story to be so realistic and true to life that it completely engulfs my readers.

Novel update: I'm widening my road map, and acquiring a giraffe neck to compensate for my T-Rex arms as I traverse these last 54 days til deadline.