As the "one of the other authors", I appreciate Megan's call to come back. Have I made progress toward my goal? Hardly, unless you count two and a half pages written over the course of three days--over a month ago. That's better than a blank sheet, I suppose. That day to day life just always seems to get in the way. Even while my priorities suffered an overhaul shortly after I joined this blog I've realized that, because of my busier, less self-indulgent schedule, I need this goal more than ever. So, here are some thoughts I had several weeks ago when I started out:
I am determined to persevere, even while fighting amazement at how terrible the product is. One of the hazards of penning a story is allowing yourself to ramble. Stories are linear where unfortunately, thoughts are not. That means that every sentence you write can't just be in natural progression from the one before it; it has to be pointing toward an end, as well. Exploring derivatives can bring you to an observation you wouldn't have made before, but it can also be hard to get back to where you were going. Maybe that's why George Eliot always overdid the metaphors. I can certainly understand the fascination that many authors have with stream of consciousness. In the end I'm most likely going to have to plan out every scene, how they each lead to the next. Structure isn't only important to architecture.
The building blocks are waiting!
I absolutely agree that it is more important to work on your goals when you are busy and think you don't have the time. It's good to see you back.
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