Dominoes
September 19, 2000
7:32 a.m.
Sometimes things just work. I wish I knew why. Or, maybe I'm glad I don't. Who can tell what would happen if you knew the root of creativity, huh? Maybe the world would just up and disappear. I've been working on this story for a little while. I had started it before I left for Worldcon, and just picked it up again three days ago. I knew pretty much exactly what was going to happen. And I was writing along fairly merrily. But something was wrong, and I knew it. I just couldn't see what it was. Still, I persevered. I created words. Something like 4,500, give or take. The story moved, but it was kind of dead, you know? It just lay on the page and sparked occasionally when I poked at it, but otherwise seemed content to sit there like a snake in a zoo's glass cage. I'll admit it was getting me a little down. Maybe they are all correct, I thought. Maybe I'm just wasting my time forcing words. Crow, you know, can taste mighty dry. Then came this morning ... and the sudden realization that I had my main character in the wrong occupation. No wonder the story sagged, I thought. No blanking wonder! I sat there for a moment with one of those feelings sitting like electricity inside my chest. I think I smelled ozone--no the ugly exhaust-laden ozone of the city, but the "just after a thunderstorm" ozone of discovery. So I made a tweak. I changed his occupation, changed his mindset. And next thing you know, I understood things from this guy's point of view so much better. The situations he was in were suddenly real, and meaningful. The bottom line is that the character suddenly became true. And so I spent this morning "fixing." I figure I'll spend tomorrow fleshing out the rest of the story. Maybe Thursday, too. And from that point it will be all detail. Adding detail. Getting readers remarks. Tweaking more. Making it right. Doing all the things that make a good story a joy to read (I hope) rather than just being a good story. Sometimes stories come to me all formed and fresh the very first time. And those times I send them out immediately, and when they sell it feels so gloriously easy. Other times they come in fits and starts, only emerging when the last piece clicks into place. This time it came like a collection of dominos, all falling in place only after the right one toppled. You know what, though? Every one of them has that moment, that pristine instant of clarity when I know something important--no, I never know if what I'm doing is any good or not (at least as defined by editors taste). I never, at those moments, know if something will sell or even if anyone else will like what I'm working on. But I do understand the most important thing of all. At that precise moment, that instant when the electricity is sizzling and popping and boiling in the center of my chest, I know exactly what I'm doing--exactly what I think about the story--exactly what it means to me. And from that point on, all the rest is gravy.   Have a great day.  Go, Ron, Go ... Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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Stephen Leigh's got a fine post up on How To Write (HTW - TM) |
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