Which Story?

I started this blog with a clear goal in mind:  I wanted to talk about writing, and I wanted to document my experiences and trials and tribulations during the writing process.  I thought that by talking about them I could exorcise the demons that plague me when I write, and I also thought that the exorcising of those demons may prove helpful to someone like me; an aspiring author who is trying to overcome the hindrances that come with writing a novel.

Then I told you about the novel I wanted to write.  It was to be based on the story of how my wife and I met (which, I must say, was quite extraordinary then, in 2000, but not as much so as we approach 2008; though I’ve not seen many works of fiction written about it), which I think would make an interesting read.  This story, however, is not the only one I want to write.

I’ve been tinkering with another novel for the past eight months or so.  The novel is to be a fantasy story, and it’s also to be the first of three or four novels in the series.  I actually have about two hundred pages of the first book written already, but I set it aside when I realized I didn’t know where I wanted to go with it.  I came to a certain point in the writing and just…stopped.

Things are different now, though.  I have a pretty clear idea of how I want to finish the fantasy story, but I’m also wrapped up in this other story, which, while not as tempting to write, still has taken my attention.  I’m a man divided, pulled between two stories, both of which I feel need written.

This got me thinking about the common idea that a writer must write every day.  I agree with that, but I also do not think it’s uncommon for a writer to put one story aside to take up another, and then, upon the second story’s completion, return to the first.  If it is uncommon, well, I’ll just have to be the Blackfish here (personal joke, though if any of you have read George R.R. Martin’s, A Song of Ice and Fire series, you’ll get it).

So my point is that I’m setting this first story – the story of Jon and Katie – aside, to take up the reins of a longer work.  I have a lot of guilt about this decision; every time I stop a story I count it as a failure.  I’m trying to see things in a different light, though.  I’m trying to be optimistic, for optimism is the aspiring writer’s best friend; without it, desperation, hopelessness, and doubt would surely take over, quashing any and all attempts to write a story of even modest length.

My focus is shifted, my Word document runs open beside this window, and I’m ready to proceed.

Until tomorrow,

J.B.