I went out of town for
Thanksgiving. Before I left, I was writing what I thought would be my weekly
blog post only to discover (too late) that I was really writing a column.
Hence—the lateness of this post.
While away, I started
rereading Kate Atkinson’s When Will There
Be Good News. This turned out to be a great thing. I had forgotten all
about the structure she chose to tell her story—stories.
Atkinson has whole chapters
dedicated to separate points of view, POVs. There are four: a doctor, the lone
survivor of 30-year-old crime; a veteran who was police and is now a private
detective; a currant police detective with marriage issues; and a 16-year-old
orphan with the worst kind of brother.
Each person receives ample
time to reveal background, frame current conflicts, and then gets sent on their
way. I presume they will all eventually meet up with each other.
I’m only halfway and there’s
been a train wreck, the doctor’s husband is lying about her whereabouts, nasty
thugs are looking for the brother, and the two detectives have more in common
than their professions.
I have to finish so I can see
how Atkinson makes all this come together. (My memory is a little murky… Well,
a lot murky.)
It’s an academic point for
me, since I’ve already taken out the multiple POVs from my novel. Let’s face it;
I didn’t have this much drama going on. My story is set in—Bishop Hill , IL —the
center of the grand American Midwest.
Donald Harstad can pull off demonic
cults and foreign terrorists in northeast Iowa . I’m only managing a missing painting
and the motives behind the heroes and villains searching for it.
I will endeavor not to be
late with the next post.