So The Question Is...

[mmerriam]

Despite my plans, I found myself mugged by a shiny new short story that demanded it leap over the queue and be written right now, thank you very much.

I'm a little over five hundred words in and my brain suddenly realized that I was doing things I had never tried before as a writer. Things with voice, and language, and tense, and perception. I've wondered off into new, weird, uncharted waters.

And then I stopped cold.

So the question is: what stopped me? Is it that I've overreached what I'm capable of as a writer? Or is it just raw naked fear of wandering off into the unknown?

I'm going to go for a walk and see if I can sort myself out.

Peace,
Michael

Comments

[aliettedb.livejournal.com]

It's hard to tell. It's nice to stretch yourself as a writer, but the stopping out cold might be your subconscious telling you something is wrong with the story. I'd suggest plodding ahead and see what happens. It's just a short story, after all. If things turn out really wrong you can delete it.

But if it really doesn't take off, then maybe you need some time for it to coalesce.

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

Good Advice :-)