Does the end result of your story stop you from even beginning? That seems to be my current problem…
“I dream of an Eagle, I give birth to a Hummingbird.” ~ Edith Wharton
There is a gap many writers experience. Between the expectation and the final product. In my head it’s a beautifully weaved quilt of literary genius. On paper (or screen) it’s a mess of my random connections between characters, inner intentions and very vague symbolism. An example is one scene I wrote in the Finding your Writer’s Voice Workshop… (can’t believe I’m sharing this; don’t stone me!)
Tiffany saw the way the Earth looked at dusk, but never from yards above the rooftops. She didn’t expect it to be so cold and wobbly. Though Gretchen did say there would be flashes of lightning.
“All the better to see you with, my dear,” she had said in her wicked witch voice. Complete with a cackle.
Tiffany couldn’t get used to that voice on Gretchen. But she really couldn’t get used to the energy that surged under her skin and lifted her feet from the ground.
“The umbrella is for effect?” She asked Gretchen.
“No, Mary Poppins, the umbrella is for control. The wind will carry your five foot frame wherever he wants, but at least you can guide the journey.”
Journey. Exactly what Tiffany had wished for at the beginning of the summer. This is not what she had envisioned.
When Dad came home alone from the hospital last month, Tiffany just thought the baby needed more time to grow, develop, heal. And mom, too. But Dad’s face…
The image that prompted this rambling start of a YA story is pictured below (the girl holding the flying umbrella.)
top row, third from the left
Yes, this scene is very disconnected, riddled with grammatical errors and paced awkwardly. Given, it was written in Three Minutes. So, I need to forgive the drafting phase and remember…
“Value the process, not the product.” ~ Jane Yolen
How are you valuing your process? Do you have rituals? Ways to work through the doubt, through the Big Expectation?
Writers Inspired 