Arrival
When it comes to story ideas, most writers I know speak of a feast, not famine. Story ideas abound. Sometimes they are long in coming in the form of an idea that has been brewing for months if not years. But most often, stories show up like unexpected visitors with minds of their own. They arrive at the oddest moments–while you are taking a shower, when you are swimming or running, when you are on the verge of falling asleep–and ask to come in. Some stories gently flitter about, butterfly-like in their slow and erratic dance. Others arrive on the rapidly beating wings of a hummingbird, and yet others scratch vaguely at the back of your mind, dark and mysterious, waiting to be brought into view. No matter how they arrive, the trick is to get them down on paper or screen as soon as possible so they don’t disappear.
One such story arrived in November of 2022, its wings beating so quickly they blurred in front of me. Its arrival was nicely timed, as it coincided with the launch of NanoWrimo, a thirty-day writing challenge.

Departure
By the end of November, I had written 50,000 words of this new story. This not only garnered me a NanoWrimo winner T-shirt, but a story full of flawed, somewhat lovable characters who had navigated through a number of scenes. In the months that followed, the story proceeded along its tracks at a decent pace, the characters expanded and the scenes were filled in with fun and vivid details.

Delays
Due to inevitable issues at travel headquarters (life getting in the way), the story slowed down before eventually coming to a halt. Apparently, the story train had lost power, as had the digital boards at the current station, which were all blank. The passengers were none too pleased. The more seasoned travelers put on their headsets or downloaded a soduku, biding their time. Yet as the train remained in the station with no further updates or revised itineraries, the characters began to roll their eyes and glare at their watches and cell phones, impatient for whatever situation that kept them from their destination to be resolved.
The conductor, an accommodating type, gave each passenger a sleeping cabin. “On the house! You might want to settle in. It’s going to be a while.”

Powered up and on the Way
One day, the passengers awoke to the gentle swaying of the train traveling along the tracks. It had been so long since they had experienced the back and forth of forward movement that they had to reorient themselves. Oh. Yeah. They had some place to be. The conductor knocked on the door of each sleeping cabin, handing out refreshing wipes and a bottle of water as morning sunlight beamed through the windows. Characters stretched, brushed their teeth, and prepared themselves for arrival at their next destination.
They traveled along, scene to scene, chapter to chapter, reacting to the circumstances they encountered and interacting with one another. It wasn’t the best trip they’d ever been on, but they were having a decent enough time. They were well into their journey and had resigned themselves to just finish the damned thing, come what may, when the conductor made an announcement: “We are experiencing some technical difficulties and will be making an unexpected stop at the next station.”

Assessment
The train arrived at the station and the passengers looked around in alarm. No brightly colored restaurants or kiosks selling coffee and fresh croissants, no pigeons perched on ornately designed rafters or waddling along the platforms picking at crumbs. This station was white and sterile and gave off a clear hospital vibe. The conductor, usually friendly, crossed her arms and asked everyone to de-board.
The story train mechanic arrived in grease-stained blue overalls, a yellow hard hat covering her uncombed hair and a red toolbox in her right hand. The most naive passenger in the group commented on how nicely the mechanic’s red toolbox contrasted with the blue overalls. But the rest of the passengers were eyeing the smartly dressed woman holding a clipboard–clearly, she was from the logistics department.
While the mechanic checked out the engine and the electrical thingamajiggy that connects the train to its electrical power source, the woman from logistics studied each character and scene in detail, and she was none too gentle.
“Say aaah,” she ordered as she depressed their tongues and shone a light into their throats, noses, and ears. She put them on a treadmill and checked their vitals, and she even engaged the characters in dialogue to test their speech patterns and made each scene explain its significance in “moving the plot forward.”
The conductor, despite being sober for five years running, seriously considered a drink as she watched the inquisition unfolding before her. 

Kill your Darlings
The words “Kill Your Darlings” were used, which sent all of the passengers into a panic, except that one Pollyanna-like character who said, “Ha! What do you mean by ‘kill your darlings?'”

Excess Weight
The mechanic determined that the train had exceeded its maximum weight. The lady from logistics agreed. This excess weight was not only bogging down the whole story, but taking the fun out of things. In short? Some scenes and characters would need to be cut.
“Let’s kill some darlings,” logistics said as she smoothed her hand over her gray wool skirt.
There was an uproar. Up until that point, the guards, barely noticeable in their storm-trooper white uniforms as they leaned against the white-tiled walls, had been casually smoking cigarettes and playing Candy Crush on their phones. But as the scenes and characters protested, all making a case for why they should be the ones to stay on board the story train, the officers pushed away from the wall, their hands eagerly resting on their batons. A few dropped their cigarettes on the ground and left them burning as they moved forward.
“Oh. I didn’t even see you folks over there!” Said the one character who still thought she was having fun.
After all, they were now playing a fun little game. Some of her fellow passengers had been given little arm bands with black exes on them, and other characters had been given a green light, which they had to hold in their hands and keep on at all times so as not be confused with the arm band group. She wondered, wide-eyed, what she would receive: the stylish X or the funky flashlight. Having received her game piece and being quite fond of exclamation points, she said, “Oh! Wow! The X!”

Intervention
The conductor pulled a white silk handkerchief from the breast pocket of her uniform, and after dabbing away the amber liquid that had dribbled down her chin, she took a deep breath and said “I have an idea, Ms. Logistics, which you need to hear.”
Logistics turned toward her. It had been quite some time since a mere conductor had dared to share their thoughts.
“Go on, then. I don’t have all day.”
“Very well,” the conductor said. “There doesn’t need to be any killing today. There’s an alternative.”
The guards, who had been looking forward to the pending brutality, grumbled. The passengers cheered. The mechanic, raising her voice over the cheers, reiterated her point about the excess weight problem.
Logistics held up her hand, commanding silence.
“Please. Continue.”
The conductor openly took a sip from her flask. “All of these characters. . .” she glanced over at miss optimism, “most of these characters are fairly well developed and have become quite dear to you and me. Instead of killing your darlings, why not just transfer them to a new story?”
The passengers applauded the idea and the mechanic took off her hard hat and raised it in the air, clearly in agreement. The lady from logistics, as if she hadn’t even heard the conductor’s words, said nothing. After spending an inordinate amount of time writing on her clipboard, Ms. Logistics finally spoke.
“I have an idea, why don’t we just transfer the lot of you with the exes to another story train?”
Typical, thought the conductor, before she said with just a hint of sarcasm, “What a great idea.”
“And you . . .” Logistics said, pointing at the naive, optimistic character in the pink dress. “You stay here. On this page. This is your story.”

Fit for Travel
Now that the story has been trimmed, and the remaining characters have more breathing space, this story is on a much smoother trajectory. The characters have already reported that they are enjoying themselves much more than before and appreciate the makeover, the exercise program, and all the other changes. Logistics, the mechanic and even the conductor, who finally got credit for her original idea, are all working together to keep things on track. And if it keeps going at this rate, this story could be headed for a spectacular finish.

P.S. Are you an author struggling to get your story back on track? I might be able to help. Learn more here: kristininholland.com