I was going to work on writing a new short story to share with you all here but I hit a couple of road blocks. The first being that I genuinely am not sure where exactly I want to go with this story. I get the premise but sometimes it feels a little too...anecdotal to me and I get a little stuck. It feels TOO obvious to me the message I'm attempting to share and I feel like that makes it a little bit boring (for lack of a better word). I believe that a story can communicate something basic that we know but don't "know" in a way that makes it really sink in for us. That's why I love short stories. I'm also an image person in terms of understanding something, if I can somehow picture it things make a lot more sense to me. I guess that's to say I'm a very visual learner. However, I do think that sometimes the power of a story can be lost if we feel like we're being talked down to in some sense? I'm actually not sure I fully believe this but it is certainly how I feel when I'm writing this story. There is the fear that people are going to read it and think...why didn't you just talk to me as an adult instead of telling me a story like I was a child.
However, I think of C.S. Lewis' thoughts about stories and it makes me think that stories and enjoying stories really isn't childish (or childish in a negative way). There's a quote from him that says, "Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again." I think that as adults there is something we do connect to in stories that perhaps have a more obvious teaching point because it allows us to see things from a different perspective or to have some distance from something that is potentially hard for us to think about.
The second road block that I came to is that I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to story writing. One of the things that has stopped me from completing anything more than a short story is that I hold myself up to a standard that is potentially unachievable. There are so many authors that I admire and that inspire me to write and I see their end works and assume that they got to that point right away. I forget about the editing and time that went into their final story. In fact, I often hold myself to Tolkien's standard of complexity and detail forgetting that it took him around 17 years to create the world and story of Middle Earth and The Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit). Even after those 17 years he was constantly making changes, I think I remember reading somewhere that he almost didn't share his story because it wasn't completed or perfected yet. He had to be convinced that it was worth sharing!
C.S. Lewis in comparison was a faster writer, though in comparison less complex and detailed in his storytelling, and he writes such compelling and engaging stories with something new to be taken from them every time. Jane Austen was also a quicker writer, writing Pride and Prejudice in just 10 months! Phew! I think she must have been a very dedicated and driven person to have written (by hand!) such a long story with fairly in-depth conversations that seem quite natural (something I find I struggle with). However, it took her over 10 years to focus in on and come up with the final published version of Sense and Sensibility (originally called Elinor and Marianne). This just reminds me how varied the writing process is for all authors, and how it can take revisiting something multiple times to finally find the story you're hoping to tell. Also, in thinking about this, one of my favourite Jane Austen novels isn't one of her well-known ones but is one that makes me laugh, nod in understanding, yell in frustration and just generally connect to emotionally the most. There is a lesson there...however I'm not entirely sure what it is.
All this to say...I'm a perfectionist in my writing. I want to have everything decided on and figured out and understood so that when I'm writing I'm making sure that I'm sticking to the "right" story or that I'm not leaving any holes in plot or character in my first go. However, I think that this can stop the story and the characters from naturally becoming what or who they are. By attempting to force everything into this preconceived idea of what my story "ought" to be it stops a naturally flow from happening. Perhaps I saw two characters continuing a friendship but me holding onto this so tightly perhaps stops them from developing on their own and having experiences or struggles outside the friendship. Perhaps there would be more richness in their relationship if it wasn't so consistent, steady, predictable and perfect...perhaps this way it is more like real life. Or maybe it ends up that as I write it this is exactly what happens, unexpectedly these friends consistently stay friends, in each others lives intricately woven into one another's stories...imperfectly there but there none-the-less without question. The thing is if I let my perfectionism take hold, I never get to find out their stories. I never know if my character falls in love, figures out how to forgive, continues in friendship, takes that job or becomes the person I expect.
I apologize that this post has turned into me pumping myself up to write my stories. I hope that it provided some food for thought for you as well...even if you aren't a "writer" in the traditional sense (because I think we can all write and tell wonderful stories). Perhaps it's letting go of some other limit or standard you've set for yourself so that you're truly able to experience and enjoy what you do. Maybe it looks like letting go of this ideal image of what it means to be a nurse, engineer, mom, counsellor, teacher or sales associate. Maybe the idea of what you feel you have to achieve is stopping you from really embracing and stepping into the wonderfulness of who you are.
"Today you are you.
That is truer than true.
There is no one alive
who is Youer than You."
-Dr. Seuss
However, I think of C.S. Lewis' thoughts about stories and it makes me think that stories and enjoying stories really isn't childish (or childish in a negative way). There's a quote from him that says, "Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again." I think that as adults there is something we do connect to in stories that perhaps have a more obvious teaching point because it allows us to see things from a different perspective or to have some distance from something that is potentially hard for us to think about.
The second road block that I came to is that I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to story writing. One of the things that has stopped me from completing anything more than a short story is that I hold myself up to a standard that is potentially unachievable. There are so many authors that I admire and that inspire me to write and I see their end works and assume that they got to that point right away. I forget about the editing and time that went into their final story. In fact, I often hold myself to Tolkien's standard of complexity and detail forgetting that it took him around 17 years to create the world and story of Middle Earth and The Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit). Even after those 17 years he was constantly making changes, I think I remember reading somewhere that he almost didn't share his story because it wasn't completed or perfected yet. He had to be convinced that it was worth sharing!
C.S. Lewis in comparison was a faster writer, though in comparison less complex and detailed in his storytelling, and he writes such compelling and engaging stories with something new to be taken from them every time. Jane Austen was also a quicker writer, writing Pride and Prejudice in just 10 months! Phew! I think she must have been a very dedicated and driven person to have written (by hand!) such a long story with fairly in-depth conversations that seem quite natural (something I find I struggle with). However, it took her over 10 years to focus in on and come up with the final published version of Sense and Sensibility (originally called Elinor and Marianne). This just reminds me how varied the writing process is for all authors, and how it can take revisiting something multiple times to finally find the story you're hoping to tell. Also, in thinking about this, one of my favourite Jane Austen novels isn't one of her well-known ones but is one that makes me laugh, nod in understanding, yell in frustration and just generally connect to emotionally the most. There is a lesson there...however I'm not entirely sure what it is.
All this to say...I'm a perfectionist in my writing. I want to have everything decided on and figured out and understood so that when I'm writing I'm making sure that I'm sticking to the "right" story or that I'm not leaving any holes in plot or character in my first go. However, I think that this can stop the story and the characters from naturally becoming what or who they are. By attempting to force everything into this preconceived idea of what my story "ought" to be it stops a naturally flow from happening. Perhaps I saw two characters continuing a friendship but me holding onto this so tightly perhaps stops them from developing on their own and having experiences or struggles outside the friendship. Perhaps there would be more richness in their relationship if it wasn't so consistent, steady, predictable and perfect...perhaps this way it is more like real life. Or maybe it ends up that as I write it this is exactly what happens, unexpectedly these friends consistently stay friends, in each others lives intricately woven into one another's stories...imperfectly there but there none-the-less without question. The thing is if I let my perfectionism take hold, I never get to find out their stories. I never know if my character falls in love, figures out how to forgive, continues in friendship, takes that job or becomes the person I expect.
I apologize that this post has turned into me pumping myself up to write my stories. I hope that it provided some food for thought for you as well...even if you aren't a "writer" in the traditional sense (because I think we can all write and tell wonderful stories). Perhaps it's letting go of some other limit or standard you've set for yourself so that you're truly able to experience and enjoy what you do. Maybe it looks like letting go of this ideal image of what it means to be a nurse, engineer, mom, counsellor, teacher or sales associate. Maybe the idea of what you feel you have to achieve is stopping you from really embracing and stepping into the wonderfulness of who you are.
"Today you are you.
That is truer than true.
There is no one alive
who is Youer than You."
-Dr. Seuss
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