A Writer's Notebook, Day One-Hundred-Twenty-Six
In many ways, I've had several rather frustrating days, and my birthday, yesterday, was somewhat marred, but I don't wish to get into that. At present, the bane of my existence is my printer. Honestly, it is a stalwart, having been with me for probably a decade at this point, and having not been close to new at that time. However, this evening I attempted to print a copy of one of my books and found that it was incapable of getting through the job. After it had printed sixty or so pages it jammed every few minutes. Eventually it would not print at all. It is a very good laser printer, but it does not seem to be working any longer, and I am rather upset, as I don't really wish to replace it, as I likely won't find anything equivalent that I can afford. In any case, I think I need to get a new printer.
Work today was rather short, as I spent much of the day attempting to clear my head from certain negative experiences which I had in the preceding days. I didn't really have the energy to devote to writing, let alone editing, and so there was not much progress. I did, however, come up with some new thoughts concerning the way to make the ending work.
I also came to think about the story idea I've been kicking around. Now, as I said before, the idea is somewhat derivative, and uses elements from other works. One of those elements is connected to the Picture of Dorian Gray, in which the eponymous character's portrait ages, while he remains young. In considering this, I came to think about what I could do that would be similar to the idea of an aging portrait.
As well, I knew that I needed a narrative concept that would get me more interested. one that would require me to consider the idea in ways that stretch my technical imagination. In essence, I wanted a way of telling the story that would stretch my own thinking about what is possible. I've already got a lot of the plot in my mind. I know a fair amount about the character at the center of the story, the one who is young, and this case a girl, for example the conditions in life that precipitated her becoming as she is.
Today, though, I thought of something so odd, yet compelling, I am not quite sure how it could be done, but I also know that I am very interested in discovering a way. The essential idea revolves around the question of what ages in place of the girl. In Wilde's original tale, this is the portrait, and I considered what I might do that could would be able to serve that role but not seem too derivative.
In considering this, I came to the thought of it being the actual writing that is affected. In other words, any writing about her will age in place of her as a physical person, so any descriptions of her are read as being about an older character, in spite of what was originally written. Now, of course, this requires explaining all of that without breaking that device. That is challenging, and I am not reall certain of how to reveal that without breaking outside the frame of the story. In essence, it must explain to the reader that the character is a little girl, in spite of her being described as other wise throughout the text.
Essentially, the texts that are written reflect her as she should be and not as the little girl she appears to be. The reader needs to be aware of this, of course, but it has to be clear without breaking that wall. The concept requires making the reader understand that without ever actually stating it, and I am thinking about how that could be done. I have some thoughts, already, but am not yet certain of anything in terms of technique. It may be that I attempt to write some of it as a play, first, and see how it works. I know it will not end up in that format, but can see value in using that as a way of thinking about the story in a way that lets me mention things more directly. The point is, I think I have a pretty good idea of just how I want to proceed in that story. Of course, I still have to finish work on the play, but that gives me time to think of just how this can be worked out.
Work today was rather short, as I spent much of the day attempting to clear my head from certain negative experiences which I had in the preceding days. I didn't really have the energy to devote to writing, let alone editing, and so there was not much progress. I did, however, come up with some new thoughts concerning the way to make the ending work.
I also came to think about the story idea I've been kicking around. Now, as I said before, the idea is somewhat derivative, and uses elements from other works. One of those elements is connected to the Picture of Dorian Gray, in which the eponymous character's portrait ages, while he remains young. In considering this, I came to think about what I could do that would be similar to the idea of an aging portrait.
As well, I knew that I needed a narrative concept that would get me more interested. one that would require me to consider the idea in ways that stretch my technical imagination. In essence, I wanted a way of telling the story that would stretch my own thinking about what is possible. I've already got a lot of the plot in my mind. I know a fair amount about the character at the center of the story, the one who is young, and this case a girl, for example the conditions in life that precipitated her becoming as she is.
Today, though, I thought of something so odd, yet compelling, I am not quite sure how it could be done, but I also know that I am very interested in discovering a way. The essential idea revolves around the question of what ages in place of the girl. In Wilde's original tale, this is the portrait, and I considered what I might do that could would be able to serve that role but not seem too derivative.
In considering this, I came to the thought of it being the actual writing that is affected. In other words, any writing about her will age in place of her as a physical person, so any descriptions of her are read as being about an older character, in spite of what was originally written. Now, of course, this requires explaining all of that without breaking that device. That is challenging, and I am not reall certain of how to reveal that without breaking outside the frame of the story. In essence, it must explain to the reader that the character is a little girl, in spite of her being described as other wise throughout the text.
Essentially, the texts that are written reflect her as she should be and not as the little girl she appears to be. The reader needs to be aware of this, of course, but it has to be clear without breaking that wall. The concept requires making the reader understand that without ever actually stating it, and I am thinking about how that could be done. I have some thoughts, already, but am not yet certain of anything in terms of technique. It may be that I attempt to write some of it as a play, first, and see how it works. I know it will not end up in that format, but can see value in using that as a way of thinking about the story in a way that lets me mention things more directly. The point is, I think I have a pretty good idea of just how I want to proceed in that story. Of course, I still have to finish work on the play, but that gives me time to think of just how this can be worked out.
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