November 2006: History (cont.)

And if it doesn’t, what are you going to have in front of you for all your writing? A problem without a solution. In other words, a situation . . . and, once more, a situation is not a story.

I have heard some writers say, “If I knew the ending, I would never write the story. I write the story to find out how it will end.” And such a loose process may work for some writers. But when one of my writing students tells me that she is writing a story in order to discover the ending, I feel cautious. I may even feel a bit skeptical. Simply writing and writing and writing in order to find out what is in your head may be one way to go, but it strikes me as a journey fraught with peril. The chances of discovering that what you have in front of you isn’t a story at all are high. It’s a risk you may not want to take.

The bear doesn’t need much history, but he still needs some. Here is Trouble’s history. He is three years old. He has always lived with his mother. And when the story opens, for reasons he doesn’t understand, his mother sends him away and refuses to let him come back to her.

Jonathan’s history is somewhat more complex. His father is a keeper at the Alaska Zoo, and Jonathan, who is ten years old, has moved to Anchorage with his dad, leaving his mother and little sister behind in Minnesota. His mother is a teacher and has to finish out her teaching year before the family can be reunited. That is one important fact.

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