Of literal epiphanies

I had an epiphany yesterday about the book I’m currently writing, the Warrior’s Heart. There are smaller moments of enlightenment with every book, when I suddenly know how the story will enfold, but epiphanies happen more seldom.

The book is the next one in my Two-Natured London series. They’re paranormal romances featuring vampires and shape-shifters among other creatures I’ve created myself. I’ve put quite a lot of planning into my world in order to make it believable, logical and interesting, but sometimes I simply cannot design the details to my liking. Writing this book, I’ve struggled throughout with my vampires and their second nature. At times, I’ve been completely stuck, but mostly I’ve written on, doggedly, ignoring the gaping holes in the logic of my creation. 

And then, yesterday: an epiphany. Suddenly, I knew what I needed to do with absolute clarity. And it was so simple I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before. Adding one detail to my description of vampires made everything else I had created fall neatly to their place. No more holes in the logic.

Of course, now I have to rewrite the entire manuscript that was almost finished. But it’s worth it. The book will be that much better for it.

I’m sure there’s a lesson in this for me too. One that immediately comes to mind is that I cannot rush the story. I need to give it time to mature. And I guess the other one would be that even small details may make a difference so I should pay better attention to them. Good lessons for all of us, I'm sure.

For a sample of my upcoming book, visit my webpage, here.