Chapter 8: A Possible Wall

You know, I'm just setting myself up when I say 'Oh this part of the book is going to be easier to write than this part'. Chapter 8 was (I guess still is) a definite trial of my patience. A good story is like a puzzle. It has parts, which separately can be good on their own are made better when they're fuzzed together. A good first draft is like when you get all the edge pieces and put them together and see where you can work. Hmm, maybe that's not a good analogy. A good first draft is one that's written. Yeah that's better.

The one thing I can't stand is when I read a biography of a writer where everyone says, "Oh yes, they just wrote the story down and it was published with very little to no revision." This is something that's often said about Shakespeare and Rex Stout. Even if this were true, which I suspect it is, I still hate hearing it. I've never written anything, other than possibly some poetry, that has been amazing on its first draft. Sure, good, great and needs improvement to be awesome, but I never fool myself. The real work begins once the first draft is finished. A Good Thing, 12 page short story, took 3 years to finish from concept to finished product. Truthfully, if I had worked solidly on the story, it would have been done in maybe four or six days, but truthfully A Good Thing needed that 3 years to become what it was. It grew with my experience and my understanding and it will continue to help me grow in my style and how I see myself as a writer. And that's what I'm hoping this book will help me accomplish as well. Sure I want to write a story, sure I want to tell a story, sure I want to publish it and make millions. But I know in my heart that the reason I'm writing this story is to prove that I can write a book. That I can write a story from beginning to end that will make people laugh, cry and think. That is my goal. And that is why I write.

So now, despite my conflicted feelings about Chapter 8, I'm going to write a Chapter 9 without any real plan as to where it's going. I've discovered that I don't have a Chapter 9 or a Chapter 10. Short sighted, yes, but if start writing down ideas with the opening, I might get somewhere. A whole chapter of reflection and TV watching... Hey, that might be a good idea!

Anyway, time to get a pizza or something to eat then back to work. Keep you posted.

Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110218

P.S. Thank you Kirstin for your advice. It just helped write two chapters!