Would That I Might

I need that first line.  It is clear to me that it has certain qualities to it, and must include a number of different elements.  First, it needs to place the setting and depict toys to some extent.  Second, it must present the protagonist (I am close to a name) and his current state. It must do all of this from an outside perspective that is distant from the character.  I can see certain images as well, though they might not fit within the very first sentence.  One is that finger on the temple, another is a furry, purple Pteradactyl.  That last may change, but it is something on that order.  A strange, quite particular, stuffed animal that is unlikely in a particular way.  I think, indeed that may be unlocking the line for me right now. To play with the idea: "As he looked at the stuffed creature, a winged lizard covered in soft, iridescent purple fur, his finger rubbed rhythmically against his temple."  That may well be the idea in a way....

I am  here again, having failed once more to actually do the work of writing this story that I had wanted to begin.  It is not too late, and I might well begin it tonight, but I don't quite feel that I have the beginning nailed down in my mind enough.  I have a very good idea of where I am going, and a much clearer sense of the story as a whole, though it is still a bit confused in some ways that I am trying to understand. I have come to realize much more about the nature of the toy store, and have begun to see that portion more clearly.  What is truly clear to me is mostly about Bimble who runs the store.  It is not a normal place and Bimble is not some clerk.  I know their is an exchange in which Bimble is telling the main character (name?) that he cannot find a toy without the person it is for being present.  The nature of what Bimble does is to find a toy for a person, and the girl being dead, which Bimble is not told, makes it impossible.  ...

I spent much of today avoiding writing.  Thinking about the story I plan to write, and which I gave some general idea of in my previous(and first) entry to this series, did not progress and this tinged even the idea of continuing my work on this blog feel rather unappealing.  I began to consider that I would have to force myself to begin writing the story tomorrow, and I still had not really thought of anything beyond my initial thoughts.  What is worse, I know that those basic ideas were not particularly good, as I stated yesterday, and while I wasn't going to abandon the story, I was unenthused by the prospect.  That was, however, when I began to consider the story again, and it began to open up some.  I had been thinking, I now realize, about certain aspects of the story in the back of my mind for some time.  For one thing, I had the thought that I wanted to make the store that the character goes to a special place in some way.  I do not mean spec...

As mentioned in last night's post, today I began the process of expanding my daily writing practice to include work beyond this blog.  To make that a reality, I am intending to also incorporate entries on this blog reflecting some of that progress.  I will admit that I was unsure how this entire process would go, and including discussion here is a way to keep me honest about that progress. I am not really certain how to assess today in terms of my success with this process, since, while I did not start writing today, I do feel that I have come up with an idea for a story.  That idea is still rather rough right now, and it will take a fair amount of shaping, but I know that it is a start.  In fact, I think that I do need to recognize this as a step in my process.  I don't think that I usually can begin on the page, but I need a stronger sense of what I am working on before I can begin setting the story into words.  It is important for me to know what I am ...

One of the central observations in Boskovich's essay here is the recognition that an ending can reshape an entire story, and that this may mean that the right ending is not always one that the reader will immediately accept or understand.  To illustrate this point, she discusses Stephen King's Dark Tower series.  The plot of the books leads the main character towards a confrontation in the tower, and while this confrontation occurs, the outcome subverts the expected resolution.  I haven't read this particular series, but I gather from Boskovich that the ending is one that alters the meaning and context of the journey that the character's have undergone.   In her discussion, Boskovich admits that when she first read the book, that ending did not feel entirely right to her, yet that very discomfort was also part of what made the series endure for her.  It was not the ending she had anticipated, and was instead charged in a way that made her keep thinking a...

It has been a bit over a month since I began this blog, and I feel quite happy with the work here.  My main goal in starting was to commit myself to daily writing, and that has succeeded.  I am certainly writing more now than I have in quite some time, and am committed to the work.  I like having this blog to work on, and feel a real sense of purpose each time I set down to work. At the same time, I am aware that the point of developing that practice was not so I would write this blog, but to propel me towards doing more of my own work.  In that regard, I think it is time for me to push myself yet again, and while I do not intend for the work I am going to begin to be a part of this blog directly, I do feel the need to commit to the work here, and to develop a way of relating my work to the blog itself.  It is a matter of feeling accountable.  While I know that I have not reached a wide audience here, I also know that just the act of a public declaratio...

The last section of chapter three returns to VanderMeer's novel Finch to discuss some of the choices he made in ending the book.  He acknowledges that he had a far easier time with the ending than with the beginning and attributes this largely to his previous efforts.  Still, the truth is that this section is far less detail oriented than that on the opening of the novel.  The focus is far more generalized and does not address the specifics of the text or show how differing ends might have changed the reader's experience. The point made, though, is that by knowing the story, and recognizing what it was really about from the start, VanderMeer was capable of making choices he felt would provide a meaningful experience for the reader.  He is quick to point out that he did not answer every question, but left certain things open ended.  For instance, information that Finch would not have access to was left out, as the story was so closely linked to his perspective...