Direction and Course

At left, a hiking compass in a photo from Romary on wikicommons. Nicely done, too. Thanks for the use, Romary.

There is the direction the story wants to go in and then there's the course we set for it ourselves.

In re-write, I balance these two things trying to bring the arrangement into concordance.

I love stories that have depth. I love the multi-layer character at work and we see the intent and the action and the consequence and , yes - the regret.

I enjoy the effect of watching a character depart from a course due to their will or the influence of others, and the struggle to evaluate their original intent and its likelihood of attainment.

I like characters lead astray. I like characters lead astray even when they know that going off plan is a questionable act.

I like corruption. I like corruption of the soul, the psyche, the mind, the spirit. I like characters who want to do good but do bad.

I also like characters habituated to the bad who occasionally do good. I like it when they're tricked into doing good.

Han Solo is a rogue who has a soft heart. Meh.

I prefer a darker character.

Jake Geddes in Chinatown?

Anyway, I'm working out the concert of course and direction in a story. I'm resolving dichotomies in my writing so that they're less glaring and more acceptable to an innocent eye.

I'm sanding the pages of the story. The pieces are recognizable and I'm dry fitting the whole thing together.

I hope you navigational obstacles are easily overcome.

You can say you use GPS.

There's no signal in a crime story. There's no outside help available. Only the moral compass in the pocket can help.

Crime renders the characters confined to their own dead zone of existence.

Dead zone, heh heh.