Friday, August 01, 2003
Stride
Been thinking a lot lately about finishing the 2nd draft of SELLING THE FINISH LINE. It's about damn time, that's for sure. It could be a decent book, or it could be obvious trash, that's the interesting, frustrating thing about it. I still take the position that it only requires minor additions . . . I think I have to take this position to con myself into starting . . . er, finishing . . . the draft, rather than going ahead with a second short story, which I know is a throw-away.
The book needs more character, that I can't hide from. But I think I have a plot device or two that will elicit some character. What I need to find, without breathing into my readers' noses, is a nice symbol or two -- beyond the grass, which should be clear by now. Symbols, symbols. Why do people require symbols in their stories? Can't the story itself be a symbol? Do we all need some glorious image to agree upon or believe in? Hell, we'll all imagine it differently anyway. Is this part of our inner desire to assure ourselves that this is . . . (drum roll) . . . "One World"? Fuck "one world". But that's a rant for another book. Now, to find a decent symbol for Marty Evans to write about as he watches his classmates run . . . .
The book needs more character, that I can't hide from. But I think I have a plot device or two that will elicit some character. What I need to find, without breathing into my readers' noses, is a nice symbol or two -- beyond the grass, which should be clear by now. Symbols, symbols. Why do people require symbols in their stories? Can't the story itself be a symbol? Do we all need some glorious image to agree upon or believe in? Hell, we'll all imagine it differently anyway. Is this part of our inner desire to assure ourselves that this is . . . (drum roll) . . . "One World"? Fuck "one world". But that's a rant for another book. Now, to find a decent symbol for Marty Evans to write about as he watches his classmates run . . . .
