Writing Bathsheba was a bit of a challenge because of the middle.

Photo: writing in college.  🙂

Most novelists struggle with the “sagging middle” in the best of circumstances because it’s easy to let the tension level fall.  In Bathsheba, however, there WAS NO MIDDLE for me to write about–Scripture introduces her to us, then many years pass, then we’re given another glimpse of her at the end of David’s life.  So what happened in the middle?  That’s what I had to figure out.

And in order to write a scriptural story, I had to take my cues from the other members of David’s family whose stories are recorded in scripture: Tamar. Absalom. Amnon. Michal. And certainly Ahithophel, who wasn’t a member of David’s family, but was his chief advisor.  (And he was part of Bathsheba’s family, which is a crucial key).  When I looked at those stories, all I had to do was ask, “If I were Bathsheba living in the midst of all this turmoil, what would I be thinking/feeling/doing?

And there you have it–a middle.  I did discover that Bathsheba had three other sons while I was writing the third draft, so I had to quickly work them in.

Tomorrow: the editing

Remember–if you have any questions, be sure to leave them in the comments box.

~Angie