I don’t believe in writer’s block. There’s writer’s don’t want to, though, and that usually indicates a problem in the project you’re working on.
I’m currently experiencing a block. Not on the novel, though I haven’t spent as much time on that as I want to. I’m mostly still deciding the path I want it to take. No, the problem I’m experiencing is with the short story for January.
The short story series I’m working on is a series of fairy tales, re-telling them with a bit of a twist and a sense of humor. I want people to experience the joy and wonder they felt the first time they heard these stories. I also love semi-obscure stories. There are so many beautiful, wonderful and terrifying traditional tales that have fallen to the wayside that need to be re-discovered.
The first story I did in the series was the story of Tamlyn, a traditional Irish ballad. I love this story. I have since the first time I heard it and I have always been surprised that few people had heard the story or knew it by name. The next story is going to be Sleeping Beauty. That’s the arc the next character takes. There’s just one problem.
It’s boring!
Everybody knows the story of Sleeping Beauty. No matter how many twists and turns I put in it, it’s still going to be the story of Sleeping Beauty.
The third story in the series is going to be The Sea Wife. I love this story. And so few people have heard of it! It just seems to be flowing better, which tells me that this is the story I really want to tell.
So, I may be telling the story I want to and skipping the story of Aidan. Just for now.
OR...does the story of Aidan also have to be the story of Sleeping Beauty or could it be that Aidan belongs to a different tale entirely? Just being a pain ;)
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, I can see that. On the other, Aidan is going to be almost a Don Quixote type Prince Charming, complete with kind of motley armor.
ReplyDeleteThe Sea Wife is the tale of a woman who falls in love with a Selkie. If you know who the inspiration for all these are, you know who the Selkie is. I can't go from Tam to the Selkie without resolving Aidan, that's just a mean thing to do!
I wrote short stories for years. Until someone smart told me my stories were really chapters. So was birthed my first novel.
ReplyDeleteYep, I got asked "where the rest of it" was on a couple of shorts. Honestly, the stories in and of themselves are complete but are all set in the same world. So, series instead of novel.
ReplyDeleteGlad you stopped by, Sandra!