Danielmedley.com

Making Progress

I just finished a first draft of Little Whiskey and the Dancing Cave. Originally, I had it in mind to title it, Little Whiskey and the Cave of Life. Still not sure what the title will ultimately be.

About a week ago I had this idea pop into my head that I couldn’t begin to formulate. At least not verbally or in an outline form. In fact it didn’t take shape until after I started putting the words down. I still can’t explain it, but now that the first draft is down it does, amazingly, make sense.

The drums sounded faintly with an ancient, tribal rhythm, and a chorus of what sounded like thousands chanted distant accompaniment. Errol opened his eyes and saw shadows flitting across the light of the moon that filtered into the cave. He sat up and looked at the glyphs and they began to shift, move, and dance. Oh, how they danced.

It’s a short piece—for me—at only about 1500 words.

Each time I write something I seem to learn something and come up with new questions. I wonder how common it is to have a complete notion of a story in mind yet not be able to verbally formulate it or explain what it is about even after you write it. Although I can’t explain it, it does make since when I read it.

Hi Daniel,
I promise to come back later to read this piece and comment on it.
Thank you for stopping by.
I have slipped you back into the blogroll.
I knew someone special was missing but couldn’t recollect who.  So glad you came.

Your short draft is a beautiful piece to read.  Creates mind-pictures straightaway especially with the glyphs dancing in the caves.
I also like your title of Little Whiskey.
It’s intriguing enough to straightaway provoke the sense.
Do keep going, Daniel.

Thanks, Susan. I’ve finished a second draft and am now working on a third. It brought the word-count down to just above 1500.

Take care and I do thank you for your comments.

Daniel,
Just found my way to your blog.  Okay, so I was searching to see who linked to me.  Sue me. 

I don’t know how common it is to be unable to express what your story’s about, but I can tell you I’ve had the same experience.  I have a feeling it’s akin to describing Mount Rushmore to someone while standing six inches away—you’re too close, and it’s too big.  I wrote a post on it myself called “Resonance”.  Sadly, I’m not sure I adequately verbalized the experience of it, either.  It reminds me of a quote from Making Light, a blog written by two editors from Tor.  To botch it terribly, I believe it said “Most editors are frustrated writers, sure, but so are most writers.”

Anyways, thanks for the link.  I’ll be sure to return the favor.

Cheers,
Chris

I think that your analogy is perfect, Chris. I’ve found that, after a couple of drafts, if I put the project away for several days or even a few weeks, it seems to give me the distance that is needed.

Thanks for stopping by and take care.