Sometimes I know what my characters are moving away from or toward; more often I just wait and see. For instance, though I knew Sinkler in 'The Trusty' was going for water, I did not know that he would meet a fetching young farm wife until I got him into her front yard.
Ron RashIt struck her how eating was a comfort during a hard time because it reminded you that there had been other days, good days, when youโd eaten the same thing. Reminded you there were good days in life, when precious little else did. (268)
Ron RashI usually do at least a dozen drafts and progressively make more-conscious decisions. Because I've always believed stories are closer to poems than novels, I spend a lot of time on the story's larger rhythms, such as sentence and paragraph length, placement of flashbacks and dialogue.
Ron RashShe realized that being starved for words was the same as being starved for food, because both left a hollow place inside you, a place you needed filled to make it through another day. Rachel remembered how growing up sheโd thought living on a farm with just a father was as lonely as you could be. (130)
Ron Rash