Letting creativity take over

I just had an epiphany.

Providence does not suck!

OK.. it still might. But not for the reason I was thinking.

Let me clarify that I immensely enjoyed writing the first 75% of Providence and when I reread it after a few months away, I loved it so much I started finishing it immediately.

But then I hit this bump. The same one that made me stop writing the first time. It was unconscious, really, because I just knew something was "off," but I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

And I finally figured it out.

See, I started writing this book for NaNoWriMo 2010, and I did so with a very limited idea of the book I wanted to write. This debate (the "plotters" vs. "pantsers") is a completely different story and will be saved for another time, as will the whole validity of the NaNo experience (suffice it to say, I am participating for my 3rd year this year, so my stance = Yay NaNo!). Anyhow. Initially, this was my premise:

When Quinn, a writer, heads South for sea-side inspiration for her next novel, she encounters a small town where strange things occur. In the town of Providence, Florida, Quinn meets Joss, a potential love interest who also happens to have the supernatural ability to control a person's future with his words. The problem is, Joss doesn't know he's doing it. He accidentally sets Quinn's fate into motion, and they must race against the clock to reverse the horrible events Joss' words set into motion.

Sounds pretty awesome, right? Even now, as I write that (off the top of my head), I'm thinking that would be a pretty interesting book to read! However, that's not the book I wrote. This is more like what I wrote (well, "am writing" since it's not 100% done yet):

When Quinn discovers her fiance cheating on her, she packs up her life and heads South, hoping to find inspiration to start over - not only with her life, but with her disastrous second novel. She stops in the small town of Providence, Florida, where everyone knows everyone else's business and the natives conveniently ignore the siren song that keeps Quinn up at night. Quinn instantly makes a few friends, including Ellie, who can control technology, and her twin sister Amelia, who uses her ability to become invisible to fuel the local gossip market. Then there's Joss, an abrasive but attractive recent newcomer himself, who doesn't realize he has the power to control people's futures with his words. Joss acknowledges that the compulsion he felt to move to Providence means he probably has a latent ability too, but he's not too concerned with figuring out what it may be. Meanwhile, he's sealing fates left and right and no one is the wiser.

But this is the least of the townspeople's problems, because something is making the natives - most noticeably Amelia - lose control over their abilities. When Quinn's meager assets freeze and she decides to scrap her horrible sophomore novel and start over with only three weeks left before she loses her contract, she's desperate for any help she can get. Which is exactly what her ex-fiance, Damien, wanted. And his appearance in Providence coincides with Amelia's inability to control herself.

Meanwhile, Joss' ability to manipulate the future is of no concern to anyone, and they take their time figuring out that he can do it in the first place. Quinn and her new friends try to figure out why their powers keep fritzing while Quinn debates between staying in Providence, penniless, or going back home with a man who claims to be sorry for his sins. The only looming deadline is the one set by Quinn's editor, and the only person who seems to be in much danger is Damien, the "bad guy."

You'll notice the novel I actually wrote took up more space, because when I started the novel, my ideas were very vague. Therein laid the problem. And when I realized Joss was becoming Mr. Rebound instead of Mr. Fate Sealer, I got scared. The novel wasn't going in the direction I wanted it to, at all. It was more casual, a lot less dark, and not at all creepy and fantasy-y. I sucked.

But alas, I don't suck! I simply didn't write the novel I set out to write. And I realized, just now, that that's OK. The novel I'm writing has its flaws, and will require at least one round of in-depth revision to work them out. But... I just have to adjust my mindset. Really, in the end, that's what this is about.

I think I was so set in Joss' ability and the dangers it could cause that I lost the bigger picture - the possibilities of a town full of supernatural people. Why are they supernatural? Don't know. Why are they drawn to Providence, or don't bother to leave their quaint haven? Don't care. Can Joss' power cause a lot of damage before he gets it under control? You betcha - but Damien's can cause even more. And that's the direction I'm going to take these last few chapters in. Joss' ability, and Quinn's emerging one, are still open to play with in the sequel. Which means that I may play around with my first idea more in the second book, because I've given myself room to do that.

The lesson I learned here was that ideas in creative writing need freedom to explore and to change and morph as they please. Backing them into a corner created by vague ideas of what the story SHOULD be about doesn't give your characters the room to fully develop. Could I have written the original version of Providence I set out to write on 11/1/09? Sure. Would it have been as good as the version I'm writing now - 'cause I do really like it. Probably not. It may have been good - hell, it may have been great. But it wouldn't have lived up to its potential. And now that I'm realizing that I haven't written a sucky book, my book just took on a life of its own, I think I can finish it and feel satisfied. And then start prepping for Providence 2... but leaving plenty of room for my ideas to change as I go!