Just to get it off my chest...
I once read that while writing Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien wrote a letter to his editor explaining that the story had gotten out of hand. It was no longer a children’s story but a dark, evil-versus-good story that related with so much detail it was bound to cause a commotion. And it did when The Two Towers cliffhanger frustrated the devote readers. If you haven’t read the books and enjoy fantasy I recommend you read them, but be prepared to have a dictionary close by, read carefully and don’t lose a detail, it might come and bite you in the ass if you don’t. And If you read the movies don’t expect the books to move as fast, just saying.
Anyway… what I want to pull out of this small introduction is that sometimes when I write things do get out of hand, if a writer is not struggling with Author’s Block, we are attempting to sew in seamlessly the facts and details of our story and it is so time consuming, but also so natural, that you could be in your regular job doing the most boring of things and suddenly you burst out laughing, because finally the link between two complete opposite ideas reveals to you; and one can only laugh and be free of the worry. But the problem is finding pen and paper before you forget it. All that is in your hands, keeping the story together is what drives you to finish it, perfecting every detail and singularity.
Stories, as I understand it, are the way a writer calls for attention; this is my baby so don’t judge me until you read it. That is the reason why it’s a work we enjoy doing, why we fight against real life, why we keep busy during lunch breaks, why we drink tall cups of coffee even when our eyes are closing and our bodies beg for rest… We keep typing!
Yet there are moments in life when even the most dexterous writer gets put down by situations out of their control.
I have a story that has gotten out of hand, I now understand what Tolkien (and I’m sure any writer out there) meant when things get out of control and you find yourself in such a tight spot that you want to trash the whole thing and start all over again. I really do want to stop writing this, even hand it over to someone else to finish it, because it makes my writing look like one of those rack novels they sell cheaply in any drugstore; the ones with cowboys or businessmen on their covers and stupid titles on their covers. For once I am ashamed of myself and I want to destroy this document… but I have fallen in love with the characters and can’t simply throw all this work out. It’s a 67-pages document. I love the characters, the settings and I hate the development… can’t I go back and start again? Probably even salvage some of the writings?
I really love these characters! Aishhhh…..
Anyway… what I want to pull out of this small introduction is that sometimes when I write things do get out of hand, if a writer is not struggling with Author’s Block, we are attempting to sew in seamlessly the facts and details of our story and it is so time consuming, but also so natural, that you could be in your regular job doing the most boring of things and suddenly you burst out laughing, because finally the link between two complete opposite ideas reveals to you; and one can only laugh and be free of the worry. But the problem is finding pen and paper before you forget it. All that is in your hands, keeping the story together is what drives you to finish it, perfecting every detail and singularity.
Stories, as I understand it, are the way a writer calls for attention; this is my baby so don’t judge me until you read it. That is the reason why it’s a work we enjoy doing, why we fight against real life, why we keep busy during lunch breaks, why we drink tall cups of coffee even when our eyes are closing and our bodies beg for rest… We keep typing!
Yet there are moments in life when even the most dexterous writer gets put down by situations out of their control.
I have a story that has gotten out of hand, I now understand what Tolkien (and I’m sure any writer out there) meant when things get out of control and you find yourself in such a tight spot that you want to trash the whole thing and start all over again. I really do want to stop writing this, even hand it over to someone else to finish it, because it makes my writing look like one of those rack novels they sell cheaply in any drugstore; the ones with cowboys or businessmen on their covers and stupid titles on their covers. For once I am ashamed of myself and I want to destroy this document… but I have fallen in love with the characters and can’t simply throw all this work out. It’s a 67-pages document. I love the characters, the settings and I hate the development… can’t I go back and start again? Probably even salvage some of the writings?
I really love these characters! Aishhhh…..