Wide Ranging

Today’s missive ranges far afield. And I’m OK with that, really I am. If you are not OK with that, then stop right here. No sense dwelling on something if you’re not even the target audience. Best just to get on with your busy day and set wide ranging matters aside for others to ponder.

 

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OK, are they gone yet? Good. Let’s get down to business then, shall we? First off, shoes. Well, boots anyway. Mine are getting worn. But not to worry, there’s a spare pair in reserve. Both were bought at the same time, but one pair was worn daily, while the other bided their time sitting on a shelf just waiting for the moment when they would become of use. Well friends, that moment is now.

 

I leave it to you to say which pair is new and which pair is older. (This is what’s known as a “softball” question, so don’t strain yourself.)  Now the fact is, I have extolled the virtues of Red Wings before, and you can read all about it, here.  But the fact also remains that I have put a fair number of miles on my Oboz over the last 3 years. How many miles, I hear you ask? Well, an average of 20 miles/week X 150 weeks = 3,000 miles. That’s not half bad as shoe leather goes.

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Today’s hike along Chatfield Dam illustrates a larger philosophical and practical point which is well worth considering. I started out on the paved portion of the trail on top of the dam, just a mile down and a mile back. Then I extended it to include the dirt portion of the trail, another mile down and another mile back. But around about mid-hike I began feeling a need – and here you are welcome to use your imagination, dear reader – not just for #1, but also for #2. Let’s call it “a very pressing need.” Capiche?

As it turns out, there’s a Porta-Potty over on the Plum Creek end of things in Chatfield State Park, yet another mile down and yet another mile back. And that is where I ended up, thank goodness, and none the worse for wear. But the larger point is this: Although you may THINK your day’s journey will be 2 or even 4 miles, some days it’s gonna be more like 6. Or, as a wise sage once put it: “Discretion is the better part of valor.” I can’t really vouch for valor. But I can definitely say I am nothing if not discreet.

 

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OK, I promised you a wide range today, so wide ranging you shall get. I’m at a bit of a cross-roads here with my murder mystery under construction. All due respect to Robert Frost and his famous “road not taken,” but for me, the chances of going the correct way right now are closer to 33% or even to 25% than to 50%. Or, as Yogi Berra famously said, “When you come to a fork in the road… TAKE IT!”

My dilemma is as follows. Currently I’m up to Chapter 112 or so, and that means I’m at about the half-way point. Not that I’ve numbered the chapters sequentially without gaps. And if I led you to believe that before, I’m sorry. But my way forward at present might include any of the following:

Go back and add description to the plot and dialogue I’ve written so far. For some authors, writing description is as easy as falling off a log. But for me, it’s like pulling teeth. My idea of description is to jot down 13 adjectives for each noun, then go back and delete all the ones that aren’t a perfect fit. It’s like the old adage about how to carve a stone or wood sculpture: Start with a big block of granite or maple, then whittle away everything that’s not the intended subject. It’s true, but not necessarily all that helpful.

Or, I could add on more chapters to what I’ve got so far based on where The Muse takes me. One danger here would be losing focus. More characters and more plot points means you run the risk of being like Walter Mosley, introducing new tangents right up until the final page. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But I’m no Walter Mosley.

Or, I could beef up the story based on characters and plot I’ve already introduced. The fact is, I’m going to have to do this anyway, no matter which fork in the road I take. But the question becomes: Is that ALL I need to do? And more important: WHICH tines of said fork are the best ones to augment?

 

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Not that any of this is YOUR problem. Clearly, it’s MY problem. But as I say in Chapter Twenty-Five, here:

 

Because at bottom this was not about them. It was about him. And if some folks didn’t like that? Well, then they could pony up the annual registration fee for their own domain name and write their own dang blog. It’s a free country after all.

 

And in case I’ve not already sent you this chapter, my sincere apologies. But now that you mention, it illustrates yet another issue I’m wrestling with at present: Chapter #25 was an experiment in writing a protagonist’s story after their death. Is that really such a good idea? How do you even keep the tenses straight, let alone figure out who the narrator is supposed to be by this point?

My own feeling is that you’ll never know unless you try. So, here goes nothing. I can always cut it out if it doesn’t fit. Or expand it if readers happen to like the idea of dogs sniffing around heaven with a background soundtrack of  Manhattan Transfer. Hey, it makes at least as much sense as The Apocalypse of St. John.

One thing about it, though? I’ll guarantee you nothing remotely like it has ever been tried on a police procedural like Law and Order. So take THAT, Lennie Briscoe!