While You Were Sleeping

Have you ever given much thought to what goes on in the world while you are snoozing?

The other night the dog whined until I got up to take him out at 4:30 am. It was very quiet and misty out. I watched for skunks while Bingley did business. Then I heard a clacking noise and looked behind the house where two bucks were facing off, antler to antler. It seemed to be a rather gentle fight and one deer ran off rather quickly, obviously out muscled. But it is a sight I've never seen before. Bucks are a rare sighting, but seeing two together is mostly unheard of up around where people are.

Another doggy walk gave me the opportunity to see two fawns getting a meal from their mother. They are getting well grown this time of year, so they were both kneeling on their front legs and reaching up to drink. So cool to think what I miss while closed up in the house. But life in nature does progress even if I don't usually see it.

Maybe if you live in a big town you don't want to know what people are doing after dark, but for life to go on as we expect it to, things must get done. While we sleep there are people out sweeping streets, loading mail into trucks, restocking the grocery shelves, and thousands of other jobs.

I got to thinking about this in relation to a story. An author really needs to think about what is going on behind the scenes. There are numerous things happening in a story that will never make it into the actual writing as a scene or motivating plot line, but an author has to consider them to make a well rounded story. For example: A mother's feelings about her daughter getting married, a father's emotion over a child reaching adulthood and leaving his protection, the culture in which the hero/heroine were raised, the politics of the world the characters live in, the level of education in the area of the story setting, the cost of living in the story setting, and so much more. These things may never be "seen" by the reader, but they go on "in the dark" and effect the story none the less.

So don't just research the things that you want to put in the actual story text; research the whole story so that the writing you end up with is richer and deeper and ultimately the most memorable story you can tell.

Have a blessed day, and continue to pray for Kristy Dykes whose surgery is tomorrow.