“Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I’m always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it’s very shocking to the system.” ― Flannery O’Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose
Well, it’s now late afternoon on this hot 12th day of June 2023, and despite my best intentions (and fondest hopes), I end my workday as I began it: with zero new words for Chapter Ten.
The main reason for this unwelcome situation is that I can’t decide whether Chapter Ten should be set in 1983 and serve as a continuation of the previous chapter, or if it should be a “Present Day” continuation of Jim and Maddie’s story in New York City circa February of 2000.
Unlike Reunion: A Story, which starts and ends in its Present Day of 1998 but then spends most of its time in a fictional version of June 14, 1983 (it should have been June 15, but for some reason, I’d convinced myself that my last day of high school was on the 14th and not the 15th), the novel alternates between the 1980s and early 2000. One chapter follows Jim Garraty at a specific point in his high school years (usually related to either his experiences as a member of the school chorus or his love for Marty Reynaud, his high school “crush”); then the following chapter follows Jim, now a professor of history and writer in New York City, and the budding romance with the enigmatic Madison (Maddie).
I am reluctant to change that approach to storytelling, but since I have been focusing on the “high school” part of the novel, I’m unsure about how to pick up the thread of “adult Jim’s” narrative.
For instance, should I include a scene of Jim giving a lecture to his “History of World War II” students at Columbia University? Or do I write a scene in which, after a day of lectures and fielding questions from students, my “I-guy” goes back to the history department office, where the secretary says that a lovely young woman stopped by while he was in class and left a package for him, along with a note?
I’m tired and somewhat uncertain as to what I should do. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
“There are three secrets to writing a novel. Unfortunately, nobody knows what they are.” ― W. Somerset Maugham
A Certain Point of View, Too 
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