Day Eighty-Six: Breather After Paper

And by breather, I mean we're out writing again, fueled by nomtastic cookies at the Paradise Bakery. 

I worked really hard for a lot of days on that paper, and now I need to get back in the swing of my book. Jumping back and forth between projects has never been my strong suit, but the better I bite the bullet the better my life will be. 

One of the things that keeps jumping to the front of my brain when it comes to this book is the theme of brotherhood. I've spent so much time focusing on the romantic plot that I nearly missed the other nugget I've got in this manuscript. I've been exploring how one can still hold brotherly love for a person that may or may not be making themselves evil. 

And backing up a bit, I've been trying to find the nuggets in this story. I know they exist, but how can I punch them? How can I bring them to the front so people are actually moved by them? I'm doing a whole paper on catharsis and how to achieve it in literature, and here I am struggling in my own story to parse it down enough to hone in and spotlight on the things that are the true heart and sinew of the novel. 

I've already simplified a lot, but I guess I need to do it even more so.

What are the nuggets in your own story? What are the things that shine, that intrigue you, that keep you writing on the hard days?