S. McPherson's Blog: On my way to being a writer - Posts Tagged "writing"

Now comes the time to rewrite; a task much easier said than actually done. I sit down and stare mindlessly at my computer feeling as if I'm trying to make sense of a Picasso painting, solve the Da Vinci code or find the 27th letter of the alphabet.

Needless to say, I encounter a few hiccups; great hefty ones that send me flying off my seat and smack my head into the ceiling. How do I rewrite my novel 30,000 words shorter? What 30,000 words are irrelevant? Taking a deep breath, I roll up my sleeves and decide to give it a shot. I'm not going to lie.... it doesn't end well...

Unruly waves fling themselves at my ship. Rain barrels down from the sky and lightning meets the sea in a jagged electric blaze. The harsh slap of the wind stings my lips and smothers them in liquid salt. I watch the wheel spin; veering this way and that. Somewhere along my travels, I have taken the wrong course.

Scrabbling in my pocket, I pull out my compass and realise that the arrow is pointing North, away from the storm and towards my first true love; novels. It is time to go back.

‘Land ho!’ I cry as I steer the boat in another direction.

It isn’t long before I am carried away on the current of my imagination. Diving in and out of waves of fantasy; words flooding my mind like the tumultuous crests of high tide on the shore.

Forever a hopeless romantic and a vivid dreamer of the unbelievable, my route is clear. There is only one channel for my tale to take; a fantasy romance one. I stand on the mast of my stories ship, telescope in hand. Perhaps on the lookout for a romance I can never find; I start to invent one.

And so my voyage begins again…

After defining my perfect imperfection I open up to that blank page and my fingers stretch across the keyboard. The words pour out of me like water from a faucet; tumbling down and drenching the page in sentences I never knew I wanted to say. I let the characters take me to where they want; their personalities steering the story to its apparent end.

The beating of their wayward hearts becomes the tempo my story follows. The continuous shift in their ever-changing moods brings to life the melody. And every interaction between the lovers; hushed whispers and gentle grazes, becomes a lyric. After I’m done with the first draft, I move on to the next and the next and the next.

My aim: To write a story that feels like a love song; just as powerful, just as memorable; just longer.

Innocence lost

My innocence betrothed another, many years ago,

I tried to be its mistress but it left me in the snow.

'Let me in, old friend.' I pounded on the door,

Innocence replied, 'You can't stay here anymore,

Your body may be young but your eyes have made you old,

You no longer believe that life is butterflies and gold.

Take what you have learnt my dear,

Take the truths you know.

No longer remain buried in the wreck beneath the snow.

You have outgrown my wonder, but one day you will see,

that other wonder waits for you,

as long as you believe.'

This was another blog untold. A poetry blog I toyed with in the hopes of gaining a following. 'Innocence' was an unfinished poem I had written shortly after my sister died and now; with a more positive eye, seemed like a good time to finish it. But then I realised the followers I want, don't have to like poetry; they have to like romance and lots and lots of fantasy; just like what's in my book; At Water's Edge