The Joy Of Getting Lost

If you’ve been reading my posts for any length of time, you’ll know I’m a card-carrying plotter. I don’t use them all the time, and vary my process with each story, but I’ve got a stack of worksheets for every occasion.

I’m halfway through the flash fiction class and finding I just don’t have time to fill out a worksheet for each story. With deadlines every other day, all I can manage is to fill out those main signposts (hook, characters, conflict, climax, resolution) – just enough to give me a basic road map.

The cool thing is this class has helped me loosen the reins a bit. Sure, plotting out an entire story or book can save you time from wandering off on tangents that have nothing to do with your plot in any way, shape or form.

But for flash fiction, giving myself that extra room to explore has actually been really freeing.

With the last story I had to turn in, I didn’t know how I wanted it to end. Instead of sitting there stuck, wasting time, stressing myself out, I just went with what I’d plotted so far. The clock was ticking, I had to get my story in, so I wrote. I let the story unfold, tweaking things along the way. And as I did, the ending came to me. Or should I say my characters lived out their story and gave me the ending that worked best.

I know, this probably seems like old news to those of you who are more pantser than plotter, who start out every story with just a basic idea and let the story unfold as it may. But this is a revelation to me, and a perfect way to approach flash fiction, at least for me. 

This is good news! This is what I wanted, going into this course. To learn something new. To hone my skills and uncover new ones. 

Sometimes an uncharted course (or at least one with just  a flashlight to guide the way) can take you exactly where you need to go.