Second Starts

Maybe it's the lot of a writer trying to express himself (or herself) to end up beating their head against the wall.

I had certainly reached that point trying to write a novelization of Madam President. I struggled with plot, characterizations, theme--and ended up with nothing. At least, not with what I had wanted, or with what I felt the story should be. Though I felt strongly that the story could be a powerful expression of the class warfare that is the base of civilized humanity's problems, I kept running into walls that showed me as being inadequate to tell the story. Walls such as a good understanding of the US election process--as expressed in the mainstream, popular culture, and as as existing in reality. It just wasn't working, and I felt drawn elsewhere.

So, after struggling with creating the Madam President novel for months, I had to acknowledge a wall that was forcing, perhaps, a new direction.

Feeling so directed, I returned to the story that had captured me in years past. One that had spoken to me as an epic tale of the post-apocalypse that I believe will come. The story that I conjured from my angst of the futility of modern life, and my doubt as to humanity's future. I wrapped this dark vision around a storyline required for a correspondence lesson in novel-writing. It had earned commendation from my instructor and inspiration for me.

I've written back-stories, histories, character studies, and ten chapters of draft, to create the story of Zane Landstrom. Set in our future, amongst the fruits of the dark seeds we're sowing now, it is a tale of courage and hope; a story I think I can tell, and that can be the major work that I need.

In a few days, I've made much progress, and feel some hope. I've begun writing the first of my Dentville novels. The journey of its creation should provide fodder for these journal entries. I hope you will follow, and maybe find inspiration for your own second starts.