Mini-Eureka!

I have been struggling for the past six months with narrowing down the content for the book I am writing about the Hope Chapel arts ministry. You should see my Book folder — six outline and to-do files; Curio documents with six, seven, eight "idea spaces" for each of nine proposed chapters; a folder of Arts Council meeting minutes; plus assorted sidetrack files that seem important but don't fit anywhere specific yet.

So last night I attended the monthly meeting of the Writers' League of Texas, where the topic for panel discussion was "first drafts." Much good info about process (including a recommendation for April Kihlstrom's Book in a Week workshop). And a reiteration of the advice tht's been smacking me in the face for the past few months — it's all about the story! I first came across this notion in regard to nonfiction several years ago in Frederick Buechner's Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale. Last night's tips about storyboarding even nonfiction works got me and my friend Jane talking about how to translate the fiction writer's method to a nonfiction book that I so want to be compelling.

Back to my Book folder with fresh eyes, I am rethinking genre — do I want to tell this story as an action-adventure or a fairy tale or a romantic comedy? How might my content fit into a three-act structure? Who are my characters, what do they struggle with, how have they grown at the end of the story?

And, of course, the other best advice, from panelist David Clambrone who has written both technical books (as I have) and fiction — start where your interest is, write that part first, and then see where it leads you. That hackneyed "follow your heart" thing again; my initial reaction is "I am already doing what I want to do. Talk to the hand." But I am hearing it anew today as a reminder to keep honing my interest further and further whenever I get bogged down.