Monday, June 13

TOO MANY WORDS


Does anyone else have the problem of too many story ideas?

Is this concept as annoying as a skinny person complaining that they can't put on weight no matter how many Kitchener buns they eat?

The problem is not having the ideas, it is writing them all down.

And when I have written the first - or second - or seventeenth draft of a story -  I like to carry a hard copy in my bag.

Like a pregnancy, for months, I carry the story with me and take it out on the bus, at the cafe — anywhere I'm waiting.

I need time for the story to grow. I change things, move scenes around, take out lots of stuff I thought was important and generally tighten the story.

Sometimes this tightening process takes a whole year.

There is always a queue of stories waiting to be told. They're just waiting for me to listen, a writer friend once told me.

It's one of the reasons I love writing so much.