An unusual position

I hope I don't disappoint anyone when I clarify that I don't mean an unusual sexual position. ;-) The position I mean is one that we pantsers don't find ourselves in so often: that of knowing exactly where the story we're writing needs to go. That's the nature of a pantser, right? We don't know where we're going until we get there. Sure, we can guess at some stops to make along the way, or we know approximately what the destination is, but the excitement is in the journey of discovery. (Of course, this is why I've already had to go back through the current manuscript twice to tweak it to fit what happens later, but that's beside the point.) Only now here I am with a very clear laundry list of What Must Happen, and I'm stumped how to get there. It doesn't help that the chattiest character has suddenly clammed up, and it's his backstory I need to sort out. But that doesn't explain the rest of the characters all shutting up at the same time. I thought maybe that meant I was on the wrong track after all, but if that's the case, I need to build an entire new railroad, and I just don't think that's necessary. So you'll excuse the short post today, I hope, because I need to get back to work prying some words out of people's mouths and getting them onto the page.

Wish me luck. They're a tough crowd.