So, after all that talking I finally got to work on my latest story: a short horror story called (so far) "Feast Day" based on an anecdote a couple of friends had on Italy. When I first began working on it a month ago or so it all felt very organic; you know, the process of adapting the story and researching for a supernatural twist that was ingrained in italian folklore, of which I know nothing. It wasn't at all hard and after an evening or two of reading everything that came my way I found the perfect place and set of customs to use as a base for the tale; I even wrote a few paragraphs... great!
Along came french mid-terms and Christmas; out the door went every chance to move forward the work. I didn't worry much, trusting that the rough of the work was already done and I had a pretty clear idea of where I wanted the story to go. Winter-break, finally! The best was having the kids in school since that would give me more time to finish my work. Monday came and I sent my girls to school, hurried up with my chores and sat in front of my laptop only to realize my mind was blank. All those ideas I had were still there, of course, but I couldn't find the right words if my life depended on it. Damn! With GREAT effort I managed to write some 700 wds, shameful...
Tuesday I had to take the kids to gym practice in the evening so I woke up early and sat at my 'desk' without bothering about cleaning the house. After thinking a lot and struggling with the kind of line suited the story best, I managed to reconnect with my characters; yay! Around 1500 wds, good...
Wednesday represented another struggle, it took me like three hours to find the story again. Thursday was even worse... kid's gym, again. So here I am, friday, my last day of vacation and 3400 wds of not so decent prose. I don't think this is technically "writer's block" but sure as hell feels like it. I don't know why I've had such a hard time connecting with the characters and I don't know if it will turn out to be a good story but I feel like I have to stick to my guns and finish it; to see it through and maybe when getting to the second draft I'll have a better sense of what to do with it.
Somewhere I remember I read something to the effect that if you leave a draft untouched for a month, the story is dead and you'll never be able to retake it; maybe they were right. Cross your fingers for me and I'll keep you posted!
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