I’m about a day away from a finished draft of A FALCONER’S VOICE, which puts me about a week late on my deadline. Though I think they were just being funny, giving me the Ides of March as the cut-off date. Thankfully, no experienced editor is going to give an author a real deadline. Thus, I have received two weeks of grace. Which is great, because the second book just took an unexpected turn. I love when that happens. It certainly did with MV, at the end.
There are moments when you’re trying to craft a scene or an event, and the characters simply say no. More than that, they surprise you, veering off into their own tangents, their own plots and dreams. And there is an unexpected chemistry when you mix characters who have never met before. You may think you know what their behavior will be, but even-odds you’re wrong.
And, let me tell you, it’s a joy being wrong. Those characters have better ideas than I do. My real craft is to let them tell me where they’re heading, while I trail along behind them with my pen.
That sounds artsier than I intended, but it’s all true. There are events in MV that I never saw coming. The Kirkus review even nods to them, like they were all my idea. Which I know, intellectually, that they were. But the novel has a life of its own. I suppose it’s like the famous Michelangelo quote: "I saw the angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free." That’s about the size of it. I write until the story can tell itself.
As long as I’m quoting the great man, let me add a couple more, that are rather on-point:
"The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has."
And – "The more the marble wastes, the more the statue grows."
There. Enough pretention. Back to work, so that I can finish the sequel, and get started on the third one.
– DB
