BALLS IN THE AIR

The hardest problem in writing a novel is to keep everything going at once, to keep all the balls in the air that are vital to the story.

You have to keep the flow going, the constant waking dream, as Ron Sukenick used to call it; to keep the imaginary world consistent; to keep up the tension, through unpredictable conflict; to develop the characters as you go along; to raise the stakes, for each character, page by page and scene by scene; and to make the story build, so it gets better, chapter by chapter.

All this, and you have to write well, too.

James Joyce solved this set of hairy problems partly through vertical or associative writing, so that the reader could dive into a deep river of allusions and associations while swimming forward with the plot. Not an easy task. I think he's the only writer to have ever done it so well.

Popular novelists, like John Grisham, solve this complex problem by simplifying it, by narrowing their focus, mostly to the plot, and having a fairly shallow narrative that is easier to control.

If you are more ambitious, you have to keep all these balls in the air. You have to juggle and sing and dance while riding a bicycle. Often, you feel like you're blindfolded, as well.

Well, if it was easy, anyone could do it.

Anyway, back to work. More later.

-- Roger

© Copyright 2011, Roger R. Angle