Saturday, December 20, 2008

Footnotes to the Girl story

hahaha

Am getting a bit of feedback of sorts re the first two "chapter" posts for a story I've been writing called "The Girl who couldn't Cry".

You can find chapter 1 here and chapter 2 here.

The story is entirely a work in progress. I do have a few chapters written up but they may be tweaked or changed and even I don't know where this story is going to end up. I'm just glad I have more than one or two chapters in the current pipeline. I can lose interest in projects like this very quickly as I am completely and utterly results focused more than being able to engage with a process over a long period of time. This story however, seems to have a full universe of potential within and I am more than a little excited about seeing if it can and how it might develop.

Originally, I just started writing "The Girl who couldn't cry" into this blogger screen on a whim, but when I got to over 3000 words, I balked a little at posting it in its entirety. I have written long stories in here before, but because I tend to write on the fly and because I need space between writing and editing to see the flow/grammar/spelling issues...I decided to split the Girl story into sections...chapters if you will... so that I can try and polish the text a little more than I usually do when blogging.

I have to say that this particular story has gripped my imagination like no other before it. Ariadne is fast becoming a very important person to me and I want to get to know her better. I can feel other characters itching to burst forth too. It's a bit surreal for me as I tend to rely so heavily on pure accidental creative energy for writing. I can rarely force it forth, it has always just flowed from under my fingers with the merest hint of a "hook" before I even knew the ideas were there.

As with "The Girl who couldn't cry", I start pretty much all my writing with a title. From there I just let the energy flow - if it will. I had no idea that when I wrote that title into the heading of this blog earlier this week, I'd be telling a story of a world I know nothing of, in a place that is alien and strange to me, about a woman who is very different to myself! My propensity for tears borders on the ludicrous after all! *blush*

The dear story 'fan' who is sending me editorial advice via email will prove useful in helping me to polish ideas, I think. Therefore, I extend an invitation for everyone who may be reading the story to also email me feedback. You can use the link from my profile here in blogger. Alternatively, you can just comment below each chapter with any suggestions or possibilities, ideas, spelling corrections (being mindful I tend to write in Australian English which spells differently sometimes, to American English), etc.

The medium of blogging is a wonderful way of collaborative story-telling. As an aspirational author, I have a lot of creative pride in my work but the times are a-changing and collaborative "instant" fiction may be a trend of the future. Authors with 'fans'- or followers - who can also write, think and contribute lovely gems to the final fabric of a "Jolly Good Yarn". It may be a bit of a pipe-dream perhaps, but it would be nice to feel that kind of encouraging support as one writes; writing is such a solitary hobby for the most part.

I do hope you will enjoy this process for as long as the creative fire, for it, burns.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm certainly intrigued! By serializing the story you make it easier to read in gulps, but of course you also increase the delicious mystery, the tension of waiting for the next thread of her story.

The premise of a girl who cannot cry is interesting. I'm a man who rarely cries--except at tear-jerking movies. I don't have the same extreme empathy that she does, and don't feel the extreme pain she does, but I want to find out what happens to her. My emotions are controlled, as hers are, so in a way I'm identifying with the character.

I hope she doesn't have a disastrous end, just so you can feel more comfortable not being one who controls her tears!