The Freedom in Writing Fiction

I believe freedom can be experienced in any creative endeavor. That goes for painting, composing music, dancing, throwing pots, cooking… and in figuring out how to fix something, how to repurpose something, or inventing something that makes a task easier. Over the last few months I’ve struggled with a nonfiction project. Last week, I decided to set that aside and pick up a fiction story.

Having worked on The Syndicate, Book 3 in the Waldman Investigations series this week, I discovered the freedom in changing the beginning of the story. I originally wrote that the female main character, an investigative reporter for the local newspaper, witnessed the leader of one gang shooting the leader of an organized crime family so they could take over. I continued with the MC meeting her editor at a bar and handing over the pictures she’d gotten of the event. It might be good that her brother is a police detective, but when I researched the procedure for a witness’s responsibility, I decided to change what she saw. I’ve learned the lesson of not forcing a project (or character or event or story) into something it wasn’t meant to be.

Since this was on the first couple of pages, it makes it easy to straighten the plot threads now instead of trying to twist the events to make the story line work. What still seems to come easy is the backstory of the characters. The one belonging to her editor will be used later in the story.

The freedom to change the beginning of the story opens the curtain for whatever comes next. As a linear discovery writer, I start at the beginning of a story and write until the end. Characters sometimes surprise me. Twists and reveals that happen in the plot add excitement as I write quickly to capture the action and dialogue. Creating without the restraints of the blog book reminds me of how enjoyable writing can be. It’s still work, and sometimes it’s hard work, but there’s so much to be noticed in the process. I’m grateful for realizing a tweak at the start of Eve and Chase’s story enables the flow of what comes after.