Dear everybody, it occurs to me that I’ll keep writing about my parents until I write the perfect poem about them. That is never going to happen so I’ll keep on writing them until my end.
Awesome beginning - it draws the reader right in. It already seems very polished and I could definitely relate to many aspects. Thanks for letting us in to your process!!
Thank you for doing this. I looking forward to future drafts. The grief from the challenger incident juxtaposed with the grief of the other situation is a little unsettling for me; I'm still processing it.
Ah, good point about the names. The one syllable names are too close in appearance and sound. I’m gonna rewrite again. Wow! This will be the second rewrite already today!
Your observation led me to create a much more interesting name for “Steve.” I’d already planned to make him a young devout Catholic but your note inspired me to give him the awesome nickname of Gabriel the Catholic.
But I'm confused: I thought Steve was Linda's poetry study partner all along? Unless I'm misreading, there is no mention of Jake studying with Linda until the moments after the Challenger exploded.
This is beautiful. Is it really an early draft? What do I know? I would think this version is already a beautiful story.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the story evolves. It's odd, in real life I'm somewhat of a control freak, even the car I drive is stick shift. But when I read books or watch movies, I want the author to take complete control over where I look, when I see things, what he wants to show me, and when, and how. For me that's part of the magic of literature. So my excitement for following your process of constructing a new story seems out of character. Still, as a kid I liked taking things apart and putting them back together, just to see how they worked. I'm hoping that watching the evolution of this story will leave the magic untouched.
Yep, it’s an early draft. Around two hours of work. The TV was on in my office. I was puttering around and heard a documentary about the Challenger and remembered that I was in my door room watching it happen live. The story proceeded from there.
So will the story be about the roomate and the girlfriend? the two roomates? the mother and father?
It will focus on Gabriel, John, and Linda.
Dear everybody, it occurs to me that I’ll keep writing about my parents until I write the perfect poem about them. That is never going to happen so I’ll keep on writing them until my end.
I’m rearranging the furniture on each floor and knocking down some of the walls as long as they aren’t load-bearing.
Awesome beginning - it draws the reader right in. It already seems very polished and I could definitely relate to many aspects. Thanks for letting us in to your process!!
Thanks, Colette!
I write pretty clean first drafts and then it gets messy when I'm rewriting.
In general yes, in particular maybe not so simple
Yes. You are right. And the different forms of grief are something the story is going to address.
Thank you for doing this. I looking forward to future drafts. The grief from the challenger incident juxtaposed with the grief of the other situation is a little unsettling for me; I'm still processing it.
Our grief for strangers is distinct from the grief we feel about the losses in our personal lives. Personal losses are gonna hurt more.
I am definitely looking forward to the continuing story. Watching it unfold, with editing from readers is interesting.
Yep, two rewrites already! The latest version of the story is up on the website.
I liked it a lot but got the names confused. Maybe a name like Zelensky would be good. Just no Republican names. They make me puke.
I did not know there are Republican names. I'm not republican, so I may have missed that.
I think naming your kid after a Republican President applies here. There’s a local politician here in Seattle whose first name is Reagan.
Ah so, I knew a family who named a son Brock (although he was a Democrat)
Ah, good point about the names. The one syllable names are too close in appearance and sound. I’m gonna rewrite again. Wow! This will be the second rewrite already today!
Your observation led me to create a much more interesting name for “Steve.” I’d already planned to make him a young devout Catholic but your note inspired me to give him the awesome nickname of Gabriel the Catholic.
I love this. Especially the last line.
But I'm confused: I thought Steve was Linda's poetry study partner all along? Unless I'm misreading, there is no mention of Jake studying with Linda until the moments after the Challenger exploded.
Shoot, that was just a name mix-up! That’s what a rough draft will get ya! Fixing it on the website.
I corrected and already rewrote to get the foreshadowing of pain that I was looking for.
This is beautiful. Is it really an early draft? What do I know? I would think this version is already a beautiful story.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the story evolves. It's odd, in real life I'm somewhat of a control freak, even the car I drive is stick shift. But when I read books or watch movies, I want the author to take complete control over where I look, when I see things, what he wants to show me, and when, and how. For me that's part of the magic of literature. So my excitement for following your process of constructing a new story seems out of character. Still, as a kid I liked taking things apart and putting them back together, just to see how they worked. I'm hoping that watching the evolution of this story will leave the magic untouched.
Hey, this showing the process is new for me, too. I’m gonna challenge writerly and readerly convention!
Challenging conventions is even closer to what defines us than opposable thumbs! And closer still is story telling.
Oh my Gosh, what a great abs funny observation! Here’s to opposable thumbs!
and story telling.
Yep, it’s an early draft. Around two hours of work. The TV was on in my office. I was puttering around and heard a documentary about the Challenger and remembered that I was in my door room watching it happen live. The story proceeded from there.