One of the first things I learned way back in college when writing fiction was to let the creative juices flow and hold off on editing until after you’ve got the first draft ready. There are some valid reasons for this, but it’s human nature to make changes if they just make sense. Such is the case with the title of this novella. I chose the title, “The Arrest“, originally because it described the opening scene of the story and I needed a name to save the file. I had every intention of changing the title when the time came. I just didn’t expect the title to come to me so quickly. This is one of the many things I enjoy about writing. The actual act of writing, putting pen to paper, causes your brain to move from the present to the future.
As a writer, you cease to exist in the now and instead become almost omnipresent. You create words that form sentences to build a scene that fits into your storyline if you even know what your storyline is about. If you allow your subconscious to take over and your creative juices the freedom to produce, you may be as surprised as your readers when you peruse your story for the first time. If you are incredibly fortunate, you close the book, sit back in your chair and ponder if you really wrote what you just read. It can truly be a blessing. But you must pay attention to when your creativity comes calling.
The knock may be almost silent at first. You may not even hear it the first few times. You may miss it altogether. When you do, the sentences will seem forced. The words won’t belong or could have been replaced with better choices. For the lucky ones, the writers who just let their brains connect to their fingers and stay out of the way, a story will most often write itself. Yes, there will be a need for editors. There always will be a need for someone to clean up incomplete thoughts and to correct grammar and spelling errors. For the most part, though, the story will be complete.
This brings me to the point of this post. While continuing to write my first novella, it dawned on me a more fitting name for the title. It’s weird because the new name does not capture any specific instance or scene I’ve written about so far. Yet, for some reason my creative thoughts suggested I name the novella, “Gabriel’s Sword” and I believe that’s a fitting name.
