Scaffolding 1 - Thank you, Jane

A question I’m frequently asked is, “Did you plan ahead?” 

The answer is mostly no, but there are some yeses. 

Around when the idea of writing this novel in the particular way I wrote it came to mind, I was immersed for the third or fourth time in E.M. Forster’s book Aspects of the Novel.  In it Forster outlines seven aspects he considers important in a successful novel: story, characters, plot, fantasy, prophecy, pattern, and rhythm.  He didn’t think a writer had to nail every one of these, but for a good novel, two or three should be done at least competently and if, of those three,  even one is done really well or in an original way that can be enough for a novel to rise above the rest.   

With that in mind, and knowing my own preferences and limitations, I decided the wisest course would be to choose a plot that I was confident I would both enjoy pursuing and feel comfortable with: the “Jane Austen” plot, as I thought of it.  In this case, the couple is already established, and the question is not so much will they or won’t they as how and in what way the question of their commitment will resolve.  While never overtly stated, it becomes evident, fairly quickly, that this is not just any day, but the day. 

And that decision about plot, admittedly a cautious one,  brought into focus a second decision, the twenty-four hour time frame. 

To be continued in Scaffolding 2.