Discovery

Lawyers call it "discovery."
Writers call it "pre-writing."
Editors call it "junk."
It's what every writer knows before the story begins.  The big mistake?  To think "discovery" is important enough to jump start a story.  It's not.  Don't get me wrong.  Discovery is important. Just not in the way I used to think...

In regards to the law, discovery refers to the pre-trial phase of a lawsuit where lawyers explore evidence which might be relevant to their case.  Might be relevant.  In storytelling, it's everything the author knows which might be relevant to the story.  It's the fact that Brick's mother named him so because she wanted him to be strong and mighty, but that she sometimes felt like he was dragging her to the bottom of a very deep ocean.  It's what the author knows but the reader doesn't need to read for the story to move.  It's what I'm guilty of including too much of in my stories.  Guilty.  There, I said it.

Discovery is fun to write.  And necessary.  As a teacher, it's what I often was handed as a "final draft."  Hmph.  Try telling kids their discovery isn't the end.  Of course it's the end!  It's the end of a beginning, that's all.  Writers... all of us, short and tall, young and old, cranky and cheery (oxymoron... who knows a cheery writer in the middle of a draft?) believe our discovery is vitally important.  So, teachers, editors, inner-editors please don't tell us writers that it doesn't matter if Mrs. C had hammertoes as a young dancer.  It does matter... but maybe not to this story.  Maybe that's ANOTHER STORY.

But writers... and I'm speaking to myself here... don't get stuck in discovery.  Move on to making your case for your story.  Because the story is the star.  Hook a reader, reel them in, give them a little line, then reel them in again!  Make them go on an adventure, even if it isn't an exotic location.  Don't give the reader a chance to think, "I'll get back to this later..." because later may never come.  Make the reader wish they had more time to read or listen!  Make the reader need to know what happens next, what decision the characters make, what their next move will be, and surprise them but don't jerk the hook from their mouth with a twist that comes from nowhere.  Like Robert McKee says, give them what they expect, but not in a way they expected it.  Golly, I think that is such a smart way to explain a good ending.  I strive for that... the perfect ending.  But that's another post for another day.

So, go on.  Discover.  Write the notebooks full of stories and character descriptions and weird bits of dialogue.  But don't be afraid to move on from discovery.  You might like what you find there.

Happy writing,
Rachel