Sunny Mondays

Mood: Winning
Music: None, again

I'm actually enjoying my Monday, which is either a sign of spring or a sign that I have finally fallen off the deep end.

At least four to five times this weekend, I thought of something to blog about, decided I wouldn't stop doing whatever I was doing, and promptly forgot about it. Because blogs (like books and stories) so rarely write themselves, this is something I need to work on.

Yesterday I began a short story with the working title "Christians Who Cuss" (I am never sure where to put the period, so am avoiding it by admitting I don't know). The story may evolve into something longer; I'm not yet sure. The central character has many spiritual similarities to me, and the overall theme is an examination of her journey in determining who God is and is not.

The story came to me as I was traveling last week with a coworker, who shared some thoughts from his own spiritual journey in one sentence, and then let out a stream of expletives the next, in a story so funny I was wiping tears from my eyes. It caught my attention - the marriage of these two seemingly incompatible trains of thought, the way he was so carefree in tripping both the highly spiritual and basely secular off his tongue. I was reminded of a story I once read, about a person who asked God whether or not it was okay to put down the Bible in favor of a comic book, and God answered back, "Please feel free to read the comic book. All I really want is for you to invite me to read it with you."

That story has stayed with me as I bump around life, mainly believing, often questioning and sometimes doubting. I hope I can bring a little bit of that feeling to my story. We'll see.

Happy Spring. :)

Just Do It

No specific mood, really. And no music is playing.
~~~

The last time I sent out a few chapters for a quick look see, my friend told me the plot reminded her of something she saw on Lifetime once. Or somewhere similar. She graciously added that the movie had been entertaining, at least.

It may have been an After School Special.

Or, perhaps, a Scholastic Reader story. One of the short ones. In the big font.

Clearly, I needed to identify an alternate plot. And that's what I've been doing - musing about my next long format story. And producing at work - a lot - but since work isn't terribly important to my inner well being, I will skip the details on that.

The plot is a key stepping stone - perhaps the key stepping stone - to writing a story of any length. Characters can surprise you during the process, can evolve in ways you didn't foresee or take actions that you hadn't anticipated, but they don't really show up at all until you've provided them a vehicle. You know - four sisters make the best of life while their father is away fighting... what war did Mr. March fight in, anyway? Or guy with a hunched back falls in love with a beautiful woman. In a tower, I think.

You have to have a story, and while it can be the literary equivalent of a straight to DVD movie, I think I'm capable of producing something more. A "B" movie with a Paris Hilton cameo, at least (I am kidding. Really. Though I might not turn my nose up if the Wayans brothers called).

But I digress. I'm having plot issues, and my lately my writing has been choppy, giving me seasickness when I go back to read it (please use this post as Exhibit A).

So that's why I haven't posted much. I'm short on Dramamine. And short on drama (this is a good thing). But I'm not shutting down shop altogether, and will make a better effort to fling something into cyberspace more regularly. That's what Mrs. Early, my childhood piano teacher, would suggest, because practice really is what makes perfect.

Note to self.