Are you any good at chess?

I'm not.  I completely suck at it.  Despite the fact that I have known how to play since I was in elementary school, I still am consistently trounced by the computer set on Easy skill level.  My problem?  (Because obviously there is one)  I don't think far enough ahead to beat my opponent.  Recognizing this should have made me feel better, after all "knowing is half the battle", but it didn't.  If you're not willing to fight the other half then knowing doesn't do jack squat for you.

For a long time this particular fault quality of my personality worried me as it applies to my aspirations for becoming a writer.  How can I write a well planned and cohesive novel if I don't think ahead?  But, much like I play a game of chess, I plowed forward, making the moves I felt like and dealing with consequences as they came.  When I finished that first novel I was pleasantly surprised to find myself NOT defeated.  There was a complete novel in my hands - it had a beginning and an end with characters, plot, conflict, and resolution.  So, I wrote another.  I am now writing a third, and nothing has changed about how I approach writing them, except perhaps I'm a little more comfortable with my ways.

What changed?  I read a little book by Stephen King called "On Writing".  He was the first "adult" author I ever read, and I've definitely read more books by him than any other single author, so I dare say his writing has influenced my own more than any other.  I don't know why it took me so long to read his book about the craft of writing, but I'm kicking myself now for not reading it sooner.  Reading about his own process for writing a novel made me think that he doesn't plan too far ahead either.  One part I remember clearly is a comment he made about the joy (and shock) of seeing your characters come to life while you are writing them.  I immediately thought, "That's happened to me!"  I had a specific phrase I wanted a character to utter in order to move the conversation in a certain direction, but no matter how many times I tried to get them to say it, they did their own thing.  In the end it was either force the phrase or go with what came out when I wrote it (for the tenth time).  I went with what I wrote and just moved on.

Forcing your characters to do one thing when they want so badly to do something else is NEVER a good thing.  I still jot down little notes or phrases I think I want to see in the next few sentences, but I no longer try to force them.  My characters will let me know if I'm on the right track (if I let them).  So, when I try to explain to people that I have a general idea of how I want things to start and end, but not much about the middle, I don't worry so much about their doubtful expressions.

So, if I ever am so fortunate as to meet Mr. King, I think that will be on my list of questions I'd like to ask him: "Are you any good at chess?"