In a recent comment on "Manifest Destiny", the reader said, "Their missing mom case was interesting, and I was feeling pretty close to how Hutch felt when they found her and took her to the hospital. I’ve always felt very strongly that there should be no 'normal' in how people should live or think or in what makes them happy. I know it’s a bit more complicated in this case, but I’m glad Hutch spoke about that."
For me, the most satisfying aspect of the case plot was that the "normal" discussion was something I'd never intended. In the writing of the story, it came up that Hutch was feeling unsettled about how they'd taken a mother away from her blissful happiness and took the beginning steps of returning her to the "proper" place of wife and mother.
I generally don't try to plan stories out ahead of time. Knowing where you're going, and especially how you're going to get there, can rob the writing process of wonderful discoveries along the way. Plus, it's just plain less fun. Writing for me is way more satisfying -- and sometimes downright thrilling -- when I find the characters in a conversation that I never expected them to have.
In short, writing for the writer is, at its best, discovering something new along with the reader. It's hard for that to happen when one is determined to control every aspect of the story from start to finish, rather than letting it take on a life of its own.
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