+622

Rarely have I fought so hard with a story as I'm fighting with this new one. The 2000+ words I had before, I realized night before last they weren't working because I was writing first person, and I think this story needs to be third person. My original plan had been to just finish the draft and change it later, but the more I thought about it, then more I saw the end of the story wasn't going to come if I kept trying to think in first person, so I abandoned those 2000+ words and, last night after work, started over. I got just over 500 words, and it was ok, but still not THERE. Then I remember Kurt Vonnegut's rule: Start as close to the end as possible. And I knew the problem. Too much setup, too much preliminary nonsense before I got to the actual story. So I started yet again this morning, and managed 622 words.

Not great, but better. God willing, this will be the last time I have to start this story, and this time I can write on to the end. I think three false starts is a record for me. Hopefully I won't make it four.

Today I wrote about: