Sometimes I'm inspired. Sometimes I just put together an idea and assemble the story. Sometimes I just write and see where the thing goes. But whichever way I'm approaching a story, I have to feel it once I'm in it or it doesn't work. If I'm not feeling it, then I need to back up and try something else.
For instance, when I wrote The Barrow Wolf I was "in" that silent forest Caleb walked through before encountering Perisa. I could feel the autumn air, and the hush only occasionally disturbed by all the crows up in the branches ruffling their feathers. And later I was seeing the Barrow wolf stalking through the shadows of the megaliths, his eyes flashing in and out of existence as he moved from shadow, to moonlight, then back again. And by "being there," I could help put the reader there as well.
But sometimes that just refuses to happen
That's where I am with my Frontier Days story. I wrote several pages before having to stop and accept that it just wasn't working. I wasn't seeing it. I wasn't feeling it. So I need to rethink it. It's not always a lost cause when that happens. I had it happen with "Under a Racer's Moon," (a short story in an upcoming LL Dreamspell anthology) and I backed up and wrote it from an entirely different point of view...resulting in one of my favorite short stories. So all is not lost. The idea of Frontier Days is sound, it just needs me to back up and approach it from an angle that I can get into.
On another front, I haven't seen the raccoon again but I'm sure he's up there in the attic plotting vengeance for my thwarting his attempted theft of my cookie cutters. Sigh. Why can't I have a normal house like everybody else?
It's Wednesday, so I'll do a little promoting on the internet then get ready to take Rowan to her therapy. Another brutal two hours at Starbucks. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. Might sort a basket of laundry too, just to stay caught up. That would be nice. Staying caught up. I hear other people do it. I'll have to explore that theory someday.
I know that feeling when a story isn't moving as expected- they're not fun to write, and not that fun to read, either! I'm sure a little space will sort out a new angle to make it magic.
ReplyDeleteIt always sounds to me like you're getting a ton of work done :)
As I linger in story-development land :)
We have a raccoon too! He found the cat food in the garage and doesn't think we know about his thieving habits. Raccoon believes that frequent checking through the night will bring the cat food back out for feasting . . .
I was wondering about that normal house thing, too :). I wonder what that's like . . . :)
people keep caught upon their houses?
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