In an attempt to successfully express a thought, to paint a word picture…..
A handful of words will get a foot-hold in my mind, something someone said or something I saw. It might be a deep memory coming up for air, a thought that becomes the birth of an idea.
Once it begins to form, I’ll pour it out in bulk and then re-write – edit – re-write – edit, back space like a machine gun, highlight and drag to move.
And the punctuation! Will a comma do for the perfect hesitation, a colon; or should I go all out with……. repeating periods?
And then- does anyone even notice words in italics? Maybe I should break that mile long freight train into two or three sentences. Blatant repetition? Open the thesaurus!
I love writing the construction zone phase (if the idea survives it). Yeah, BOLD! BOLD CAPS – OUTSTANDING!! And what about those curved bracket parentheses (probably overused)?
And then there’s the circle, that elusive, sweet – satisfying return. I’m sure real writers have a term for it. If the words I’m brewing are great enough in number, and if down the page, I can circle back to a key element highlighted early on, that can create an especially delightful circle within the story. I love it when that happens!
Better phrases will knock on my mind’s door when I’m trying to sleep (thinking they’re all that important). The exact right words will push their way through to the front of the line while I’m driving. I’m not creating a “Master Piece,” here, but still, I’d better write them down or I’ll torture myself because I forgot that gem before getting home.
What’s amazing to me is that I can delicately, meticulously replace one little word with another I think conveys better, and impress my amateurish self with what a critical, but subtle difference that word made.
I will read and re-read again until I can get all the way through without making any (many) changes; sleep on it and read it again. If I can get to the end without revising, it might be finished.
So now what? I wrote it for my own therapeutic entertainment, and/or for my personal library. If I think someone else might enjoy reading it, I’ll probably make it available. If you read it, you will never know how many words I discreetly pruned or plucked. You’ll have no idea how many times I read what you’ll read just once.
The funny – “human nature” thing is…… If I’m successful at practicing the magic of written expression, you might come away with something resembling the idea I began with at the top of this page.
Hello scott sorry for being late Sounds like you have been kind of busy. We were thinking of going to NW but were suppose to have bad wind rain so we decided to pass not fun to do that drive in windy weather . WE have done it but I don’t like to unless we have to . may think about salem or NW in the near future. We both want to get back on the track. So we may do It soon ONE thing about your writing it is al ways nice to read and hear from ya I wonder as much as you like to write and make sure everything is correct . I wonder if you had ever thought about it as a retirement job ? I bet you would be good at it . maybe a second retirement job ? Like do a book of short storys of things you have done or seen and places you and others have done or something like that for I feel your very good at story telling. Just a future thought ? need to catch up with ya during the summer . Had a grate time with ya last year. talk to ya later or when you get the time thanks for the up date DON
Don: I thought about going to the NW track Saturday, but there just wasn’t time. That big tree at the end of my shop died. I want to remove it and expand and re-design my track with longer straight stretches and bigger jumps. It’s on my list, we’ll see. I do love to write, but so far haven’t figured out a way to get paid for it. I once took the best stories I had submitted to the Yamhill County RC Car Club newsletter and self-printed a book. I sold a few copies. I was hoping someone would discover it, print a real book, inspire a movie (or reality series), and make me rich. Then I could write from my new yacht in the tropics. I’m still waiting. Most of those stories can be found under the, “Blogroll” heading (on the top right of this blog) on the link, “(R/C) Down Time Story Book.” I also posted some true stories in, “Stories On The Side,” and some I really enjoyed in, “Confessions of a Youth Leader,” also linked there under Blogroll. I’ll see you later.