The Surprise of Writing

So guys, I wrote 3981 words today and finished two chapters worth. And I'm still ridiculously behind. But that's okay! I'm up to chapter nineteen now! Wow, I'm excited! And doing all of this reminded me of one very important lesson:

Just write.

I know, I keep saying that, right? But here's something I was reminded of when I "just wrote:" writing surprises you. I know, it's weird, right? When you take your time and just let yourself soak into the story, it can really surprise you. I thought for sure chapter 18 would be a two-parter with the first part being that they did the crepes and her ruining the sauce, and the second part being their first tutoring session. The first part took up about 3200 words. Wow. I was not expecting that. Writing definitely takes you places and teaches you much more than you might have realized. I also learned Kay wasn't old enough to drink but did it anyway (tsk, tsk), and that Gerda is very uncomfortable around men. I had assumed this, but never realized how it would come into play. She accidentally touches Kay and kind of freaks out. Of course, this is partially because Kay is a pretty good looking dude and decently toned at that, but Gerda would never recognize that at this point. However, I didn't even realize that would be an issue until I started writing this chapter. I was surprised by me. And writing has that tendency; you think you know where it's going, but it just gets richer and deeper

My biggest concern for this section is that I have relatively no idea where it's going. I mean, I have a little bit of an idea, but not much. I know a few things. Ruda is going to tell Gerda she think Kay is the prince. At some point, Ruda is going to disappear. At another point another girl will enter the picture who Kay falls in love with. Gerda will fall for Kay and discover he loves her friend, the other girl (I want her to have a name like Martha or Betsy, very straight-foward and traditional sounding). There will probably be a ball that Gerda attends where Kay get the shard of glass in his eye. It goes on, but the plot points are all disjointed and confusing. It doesn't matter, though, and I know it. The final product isn't going to be what I think it is. The point is, I'm just going to keep writing. And through writing, the story will surprise me. It's like rock climbing. The more I can find little crevices to put my hands in, the more I will discover how to haul myself up to the goal. And haul and haul and haul away I will.