Reverse Chronological Order and Other Concerns.

The tussle with my novel is about over. I’ve decided on reverse chronological order with titles as the best order for this story. It turns out you can tell a story in any order you want that feels right to you. I think titles are in order for the chapters too, to add a dimension to the story.

This is the method where chapters are presented from the end of the story to the beginning. The end is the beginning and the beginning. Given Brian’s struggles with life, this seem a natural choice. I’m embarrassed that it took me five or six years to see it.

Reversing the order of the story is not simple. There is no button that you can just push. I numbered each chapter, copied the number and title and events onto a separate slip of paper, ordered them from the smallest to the largest. Then getting the computer to do the right thing was difficult, but I overcame it.

I firmly believe we should never make the perfect the enemy of the good. I also believe that if it takes as much effort to make something excellent as it does to make it good, why shouldn’t we strive for excellence? There’s another aphorism about the road to hell being paved with good intentions.

Still, I vacillate between (1) worrying that I’m trying too hard to make the story perfect, and (2) not working hard enough getting all the errors out of it.

I have to realize that, no matter how hard I work, (1) the story will not be perfect, and (2) there will always be errors in it.

I can accept this as that which I cannot change, but I don’t have to like it.

So much for spilling out my neuroses on this particular day.