In Discovering Les Incassables
For those who read Version 1 and know about the challenge I have for myself, you may notice that Version 2 is not within the bounds of the challenge at all. In a manner of speaking, I failed the challenge. Yet in failing, I learned things about myself that have opened my eyes not only to my writing process, but my writing flaws and the reasons why I write.
I love writing.
I was obsessed with this story from its first draft. I loved the discovery of the characters, and in writing their stories I was able to find so much depth and beauty in their struggle. The first perspective was simply an exposition; it seems so sanitized in comparison to version 2. Yet there is value in both, and I’m looking forward to adding a third.
I’m impatient.
It was a struggle to wait to post until I had it right, to take the time to let the story form itself, rather than rushing to get it up and moving. Half of this comes from the rather addicting ego-inflation that comes from having someone read you work. The other half was the thought that I had already gotten it right. But I learned that, after sleeping on it for a night and returning to it the next day, the draft would change once again. Until today, after three days of reading it with minimal edits, that the story feels complete. It feels… whole. And that is worth the wait.
I cannot sacrifice a story for the sake of making a word count.
Originally, this was supposed to fit the flash fiction structure, and the challenge was to tell a different perspective of the original in under 1,000 words. I succeeded with the first version, but version 2 is another beast entirely. Getting it under 1,000 words was sucking all of the life out of my story, and out of me. It actually got to the point where I sank into a pit of despair, feeling the pressure of this self-made challenge and the realization that I could not do what I set out to do.
And then, shortly after reading the under-1000 word version, I got over it.
There is never a time when the structure should sacrifice the story. Structure is simply a means by which the story can exist in its fullest form, a support for the life that is infused into words, the skeleton of a body of a beautiful creature. Emaciating a story to fit a word count is like trying to stuff the body of a lion into the skeleton of a rabbit.
Yeah. It doesn’t work.
There will be more to come.
I have so many visions of stories that I want to write. This project was actually a detour; there’s a longer work that I’ve been discouraged from pursuing. But with this, I feel reengaged. It’s as though I can begin again with the knowledge that I can make it to the end. Soon, I hope to post a chapter or two. But for now, it’s a dream that feels less like a dream, and more like a reality.
I already know where version 3 is going, but this may take me even more time to write. But it’s okay; I have all the time (and words) in the world.
Thank you for reading.
To those who read my stories, I thank you. You’re one of the reasons why I write, and it’s my pleasure and my honor to present to you my stories.
Until next time,
-T.
