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Why is it we live in a world where people are so quick to tear something down? What happens when everything is torn down and there’s nothing left to demolish or hate? Will you decide to build things up again so you can have the pleasure of tearing them down again? Have we all gone Wreck it Ralph? Ok, I ask these questions but I promise today’s words won’t be focused on destruction and hatred but creation and love instead. No, I’m not talking biblical here. I’m speaking about the written word, fiction. A non-factual story comprised with many elements of made up people, events, and situations. It may contain components within of actual facts (truths) but in its entirety it is simply a make believe story that has been put together for entertainment purposes. One can insert tidbits of morality to be followed or other indirect messaging but foremost I see it as entertainment. I feel the need to write primarily in fiction because I guess I achieve the most pleasure in creating something out of nothing. It’s much more fun to create something than tear something down, in my opinion. There are no rules to follow and no limits to stay within the barriers of. The sky plus is your only limit. If you can think it, you can write it. I suppose it’s a lot like putting a puzzle together. I’m not saying it’s best, just best for me.
So, where do I start when creating something from nothing? Do I start with a person? Perhaps a place? Or maybe a situation? My simple answer is … yes. All of the aforementioned. No story I’ve ever writing had the same spark. From letter one, each one became what it would by a complete random influence to me. Did I read something that lit my brain on fire with a thought? Had someone spoken a word or phrase or even a point of view that gave me some tiny idea that exploded into what it would? I truly feel that a story chooses you, not the other way around. Yeah, I know, you’re probably thinking that sounds kind of corny but I ask you … is it, really? Can a story create itself? What’s stopping it?
You start off writing it one way and it doesn’t quite seem to work. It’s weak. Something is a bit askew. You had an idea you were running with and a brick wall happened. Something said no to you. This aint working. Why not ignore it? You’re writing the damn thing, right? It’s your baby. But it’s a feeling you can’t shake. If you’re honest with yourself then you will listen. You will halt, refocus, redirect, adapt to the new flow, and proceed. This is the moment where love comes into it. If you don’t love what you’re writing then why write it? Thus my affection towards the fictional word. When it is entirely factual, I must tempt myself to fall in love with it within its limits of truth. Facts are facts. They are set in stone. If it’s fictional, I can let the love grow as it will. If I’m not feeling it in the way a character is acting then I can change it. A situation, change it. The outcome, change it. But that is not allowing it to be what it will be if you keep changing it to suit what you want, you might claim. That might be true if you are only looking at the last sentence through one dimensional eyes. Re-read it, not in words but in heart. You are in control of changing it, as the writer, but not so much in control of it asking to be changed. Why did you feel like it just wasn’t as it should be? Did you simply want to feel the need to back up and rewrite it or did you feel the need to have to back up and rewrite? Did that actually hit home to you or fly over your head? Your heart seems to have the final say in what is canon. If you see it but don’t love it then it hasn’t become what it needs to be. Write with your heart and mind, not your eyes and mind. Sometimes it’s hard to back up and give it room to be a better write. You’ve spent time and effort on what you have and want to believe it is good. Well, surprise there, Skippy. Sometimes it aint. The injustice is brainwashing yourself that you can’t improve on it any better than what you have. More effort? Why not just call it good and move on? It’s like stalling your car when you just want to hit the gas. I’ve had to go back and wipe out several pages at a single time. That can be like murdering a piece of you mind. But it’s not the mind you gotta worry about. It’s the heart. If you don’t love it, let it go. When you do man up (ladies included) and let it go, you’ll probably find out that what you now have … you love. Begin to trust the feeling. You’ll be better off the quicker you realize this.
First, I started out with condemnation for tearing something down and follow up with wipe it out until you love it. Is this a contradiction? I think not. What reason would it be to tear it down (wipe it out)? Because you don’t love it and your reader doesn’t love it. No one loves it. No one ever loved cancer. You wouldn’t put cancer in someone you cared about, would you? So don’t put it in your story. If something doesn’t quite work right and could taint the entire thing and you see it but choose not to remove it, you’re letting it die. If you don’t love it and know your reader won’t either, wipe it out. Clear and simple. Now, every reader won’t enjoy your story. That’s just the way it is. But if you write in a particular genre that they are interested in, don’t leave in a cancer that you both will hate. Write what you want to, it’s your story. But stories are meant to be read. If you find yourself liking it but think your reader will only feel as much of a connection as you do (not loving it) and willfully leave it as such, then you have done a disservice to you both and your concerns about them not liking it will probably come to pass.
Where’s the connection with what you started out saying with where you are now? We all have to go through life dealing with the kinds of people who tear down and destroy simply because it’s fun. Don’t be that person. The world detests you, trust me. Tearing down and destroying parts of your written word can be no fun but sometimes it’s necessary. You refuse to be the kind of person who will let anything go? Really? You will secretly detest your own works. Trust me. And your reader will see it. So, let’s try and put this puzzle together. We got pieces lying all over the place and we can barely make heads of tails out of it.
*People love to hate and tear down stuff.
*You like writing fiction because of no limits.
*Inspiration comes from everywhere.
*The story will create itself.
*You gotta love what you are writing. If you don’t, change it. No cancers.
*You gotta please both yourself as well as the reader.
Wow, what to do with all of this? We don’t need a hammer here to beat any pieces into place, people. There’s no hidden meaning or secret to the author’s universe to be explained. It’s just me … recapping me. Nothing more. It’s hard to tear something down that you created. There were no limits and you went crazy with it. Little inspiration birds were flying in at you from all different angles so much that you thought you were stuck in Hitchcock’s 1963 movie The Birds. They all landed exactly where they needed to form one giant mural of what you were trying to paint. You thought you loved it but decided you didn’t and knew if someone read it they would probably say, “Ehh.” As much as you might love them damn birds and the mural they created, it aint looking like the masterpiece you had expected from yourself. Time to shoo some birds. “You twenty on the left, take a hike! Four hundred twenty-one through twenty- seven, all shift to your right three spaces! One thousand and one … turn around!” Make it happen.
Usually, when I decide to wipe something out I will cut and paste it to the very end of my document as to have the opportunity to revisit it again, if necessary. If I wipe it out prior to finished satisfaction then I am only limited to what I can remember. What if there was a line or word that I suspect might have been good for something else … but I can’t remember it? Suppose a last minute touch up based on an unforeseen situation required addressing and there was something in you trashed that could have been helpful. The trashed is there because of direction not taken but tidbits within might actually be useful as stand-alone touch ups. To each his own but I prefer to wipe it completely out only when it is ready to send off for editing. Fiction, I do love writing in fiction. Perhaps one day I will try my hand at something leaning entirely into the non.
Hey, while it’s on my mind, I actually did just write a short children’s story. Last one, serial killer … next one, children’s book. (Haha). Damn right! No limits, people. Relax, there were no children hurt, lied to, or manipulated in the creation of this story. No drugs, adult situations, or violence involved. Straight up character building and overcoming life’s obstacles. Would like to get it out there once I can secure some artwork for both interior and exterior.
Anyway, I guess I’ll call this a complete visit of my mental thoughts for the time being. Time to turn the tap off and let the people exit, door left. If you love to write, keep honing your skill. I try and improve myself as much as I can. If you love to read, find a good book and get lost in it. If you’re having a hard time deciding what to read next … haha … come on now. You know I gotta plug this and point you towards one fresh on the market. (wink wink)
Caesar’s Move! Give it a try.
Until then, continue to feed your brain. You owe it to yourself.
Angelo
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