I've Had Kisses That Make Judas Seem Sincere
Christmas is almost upon us and I still have a short story to finish writing: "Sammy's Girl," for the Biblical horror anthology I mentioned back here. Technically, the deadline for the story is December 31, but I'd really like to get it finished before then. Hell, maybe somehow get it done before Christmas. Possibly get a couple people to read it even. But right now at 2300 words, it's a bit rough, needs to be tightened, and, well, needs to be finished, that it all feels so far out of reach. Maybe this is just that moment in the writing process where you hit that particular wall -- the "How is this all going to come together and work?" wall -- and I'm a brick away from bringing the whole thing down.
But, man, I don't know. It's a more difficult story to write than I thought it would be. It's pretty sexual, which doesn't surprise me. I'd say it's one of the most sexual stories in the Bible, but c'mon, there's sooooooo much sex in the Bible. This is just probably one of the most famous Biblical affairs, right up there with David and Bathsheba. But how to write this when you've got, um, multiple climaxes happening before the story's climax, well, it seems out of sequence to me. It's a fine line of going with the original story and reinventing it.
On the bright side, it's teaching me to try some different writing techniques I haven't really done before (writing out of sequence, writing first person POV from a woman's perspective), so the challenges are good. And after talking to a friend, I realized that one of the thing's I thought was a weakness of the Biblical narrative might actually be one of the story's strengths.
Still, I'm going to have to figure out a way to step up the process. When I factor in all the good family holiday time, I've got like less than 7 days.
But, man, I don't know. It's a more difficult story to write than I thought it would be. It's pretty sexual, which doesn't surprise me. I'd say it's one of the most sexual stories in the Bible, but c'mon, there's sooooooo much sex in the Bible. This is just probably one of the most famous Biblical affairs, right up there with David and Bathsheba. But how to write this when you've got, um, multiple climaxes happening before the story's climax, well, it seems out of sequence to me. It's a fine line of going with the original story and reinventing it.
On the bright side, it's teaching me to try some different writing techniques I haven't really done before (writing out of sequence, writing first person POV from a woman's perspective), so the challenges are good. And after talking to a friend, I realized that one of the thing's I thought was a weakness of the Biblical narrative might actually be one of the story's strengths.
Still, I'm going to have to figure out a way to step up the process. When I factor in all the good family holiday time, I've got like less than 7 days.