So Many Things

I am the 4th of 7 children. Right smack dab in the middle. I never really needed to be interested in things. Most everything that was cool was what my big brothers liked. Music, TV shows, toys. I didn't really need to think about clothes either because I just got them from my big brothers. This, coupled with my personality, led me to generally just going with the flow for a lot of things.

Then one day I was a big kid and I needed new shoes. I didn't know what I wanted. I never had to think about it. I saw other kids with zipper pockets in their shoes and thought that was cool. I liked converse high tops. But I didn't really know what to look for in shoes.

This happened again as I got old enough to go house hunting for myself and my new wife. My father was in the military, and so we usually just lived in military housing. I just moved my box of stuff (I had a bit more, but I tried to keep everything that was important in one box and then a suitcase for clothes) into whatever new place I found myself. Moving every couple of years. When it came time to get my own place,  I didn't have much insight. I didn't know square footage, building type, materials, not to mention how much it would cost up front. I knew some things I liked or didn't like, but there was so much more that I had never thought of.

Finally it happened again. As a father and husband, one of the things that my wife did was the grocery shopping. I would help out every once in a while, but she was the one in charge. Then she stopped working. I mean her body stopped being able to do the things she normally did, like walking farther than one side of the room to the other, getting enough oxygen, pumping blood to everywhere she needed, that kind of stuff. Life changed, and I took on the shopping. I had always just eaten whatever, but then when it was up to me I was daunted by the sheer number of bread varieties. Which pasta sauce was the one my family would like? Which kind of fruit snacks or cereal?

I thought I knew what I wanted, but when faced with making the actual choices, I realized there was so much more than what I had expected.

Writing a book is similar. I've often planned for a book. Writing outlines, character studies, doing world building. But when I start writing I realize just how much I didn't think of. During a scene, my character would stand up and walk to the other side of the room to grab a cup. But what else was on the shelf? Was it a sticky mess that he had to pry the cup up from, was there a certain cup she wanted but it was dirty so she had to decide whether to clean it or use an inferior vessel, or was the room sterile and clean with the exact cup in the exact place? Was the cup on a counter, on a dresser, in a cupboard, suspended from goo? What does it smell like? Then, what was my character drinking? Does their culture drink water? Is water safe to drink in this technology level? Is there a more common drink, or a specialty drink that they want?

I'm happy to report that in each one of those situations I eventually figured it out. I know some of the traits I want in shoes, I have a home that fits me, and I know what kind of bread to buy. Though every pair of shoes is a new adventure.

Each time I write a story, I get a little bit better at knowing what questions to ask before hand. Going in, I know how to set a scene, I know what generally will be happening, and I know the basics of the environment and culture.

But there are still questions that don't come up until I'm actually writing. I'm getting better at knowing how to answer these questions, but they will always be with me. That's part of the fun of writing, solving new problems.

So, if you get stuck facing questions that you didn't know you'd need to answer, just keep writing. You'll get to know what to look for, and what you like. Even if you've already planned every detail, there are new details that you didn't know to look for (did you know, for instance, that bread used to be good for you).

Every new book is going to bring new questions to overcome. Face them by writing. By the end of the book, you might finally realize what your first chapter should have been. Good new is, at that point you can go back and revise. You don't even have to refinance.