When I first began writing these novels (that I now jokingly call the Neverending Saga, though it will end) as a teenager, and then revised and rewrote them several more times, there were always admittedly several problematic plot points. Each revision, I’d let something go or write my way into a better unfolding and resolving of whichever one wouldn’t leave me alone.
One thing has remained steadfast. There have always been secrets in my characters’ lives, and I won’t let all of them go. The secrets and how they drive the characters are essential in learning who they are, how they change, and what can never change.
I wrote myself into a corner with one of those secrets. I was willing to leave that corner as it was. Or maybe not. The secret has nagged at me while I’ve been writing (s-l-o-w-l-y), organizing/cataloguing my journals, and updating 2019-to-present additions to my doll collection, while also living (an admittedly abbreviated, compared to everything before 2020) life.
I was working on a post that I didn’t publish before going to bed. My brain wouldn’t be quiet. Then I remembered this Emily Dickinson poem. I realized that twice, my character was suggesting where I might find an answer.
Tell all the Truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind —
All I needed was for the character to put that first line in my busy brain–“tell all the truth, but tell it slant”–and I think I know what secret hides in the dusty corner. I’m…shocked. And intrigued.