Christine Kelly Reads and Writes

I’m back with another odd metaphor that I hope will help make sense of what it *feels* like to write a book, and how the structure should feel to a reader. This came to me as I realized I follow a comfortable routine up until the 40k word mark, which dawned on me that I’m usually pretty chill until mid-flight, then I get restless, eager to land.

First, let’s start with the first chapter. If you want my specifics on how to write first pages, here is a blog post I wrote recently. This is more vague, a post to offer general *vibes*. But the first chapter is like take off. There is a lot of anticipation and action happening. You are unsure how this flight is going to go, will it be bumpy? Will there be babies crying (if there are, let’s support the parents ay)? Will there be a line for the bathroom? Like first pages (should be), there is a lot of curiosity when on a plane, many minutes spent getting acquainted with your seat mates, getting settled, and likely praying to Mother Mary that the plane doesn’t crash. Just me? Ok nix the last part. There is a rush during the inciting incident, meet cute or what have you in the first pages, just like the take off and initial climb then….

We get to chapter two. We’re steadying into an altitude that we’ll cruise at for the remainder of the flight. Your ears aren’t popping as much, and your neighbor may be starting to doze off. Here is where the fun happens and where the flights is made. Either this will be a good flight….or a bumpy one. Just like a story, the middle part is where the author is made, where you need to show your strengths to carry us through to landing. DO YOU SEE HOW THIS METAPHOR WORKS?!

So, let’s say the flight is bumpy, so much in fact they can’t serve drinks. Sometimes you think to reach for the vomit bag, because –lurch– that was a big drop. This is when the middle isn’t working. You’ve seen it in published books, and perhaps that lead to a DNF (I refuse to let this metaphor crash), but maybe you endure and the story doesn’t sit well with you, and maybe you never ride Delta again.

OR, your flight is an absolute delight. It’s smooth flying the entire way, your row-mates are quiet, don’t man-spread, and even smell good (did you get a look at his forearms?). You had a nice soda (or vodka), read part of your book and maybe even napped! What a glorious experience! That a wonderful writing and/or reading experience when something just hits right. And then…

They announce it’s time for departure. You’re ready for landing, the time was pleasant, but you are ready for your destination. And your ears start popping but it’s ok, because it means you’re getting close. Perhaps you’re writing a slow burn and finally they KISS! Sticking the landing is hard though. What you want to avoid is the bumpy landing leaving your passengers disastisfied even if the flight was smooth. Thus, the ending has to be earned by the characters and wrap up all the story arcs you started. That way, when they walk off the plane down the galley way, they’re thinking, “man, I’ll book United again.”