Off Track

     Sometimes you just need to get off track in order to remember why you were there. I took a short break from writing and it turned into a massive editing session.
   
     I found mistakes, repeated so often throughout all of my writing, that I just cannot live with anymore. I know this means I will also run the danger of over-thinking plots and characters but there must be a happy medium there somewhere. I am working to fix more of these repeating issues to cut down on the editing time so I can spend more of it doing the writing I love so much.
   
     All of this has also led me to make a painful decision and stop posting first draft work on my site until I have had a chance to at least go over it and then still guard it like a newborn until I am picking out beta readers. I am not sure what I will be doing with my site as I make these changes but I still plan to use it regularly and finish the story I left hanging. After that, who knows....

create

Create

The drive to create is amazing. It can cause every emotion to flood your senses. Joy at a characters good fortune, sadness at the demise of a character you liked but was destined to reach a horrible fate. Painters, sculptors, artists of every ilk find these same things throughout history. Does that mean the artist is more emotive, or just better at putting those feelings into something. I have heard mechanics talk to a car while working on it, the same for gardeners and their plants. I think it is more a matter of medium and self-expression. If you find words your strength, then by all means put them down, even if you never show anyone. That is another topic. Paint grand cathedrals in the sky, draw a unicorns first experience with a flower, or talk to your plants as you water and care for them. Everyone has a talent, everyone can create something. Whether it is good is subjective. You will find a million trolls to the one beacon of hope on the internet. In the end only your own feelings for the creation really matter. Every other pair of eyes comes with it's own prejudices, experiences, and bias. Go, create, and in the end, if it makes you happy, good job. Do it again.

Growth in writers

I had a recurring dream. It pointed out that I really should save the prince, or princess, from a bad fate. Even though in my dream the cost kept escalating. Are we inherently teachers? Doomed to live the same grade in school, seeing the same mistakes, helpless to only help the situation in hopes that the person learns. Is the story more importantly if we grow, or that we teach others to grow.
Being a writer, you hope your message rings true and others learn from it. So are we all doomed? Do we learn and move on? Ignoring the plight of the ones falling into that same trap. Saving the world and teaching goes hand in hand with writing. We want our characters to grow like children. Do we hold their hands in rescue?
Charles Colp