Monday 28 December 2009

These Days

I don't know why but during the last few days I've been thinking a lot about a story I began to write some 3 or 4 years ago. It's called The Time Dolls Of Stephen Tempus. It was one of those projects that was supposed to be finished in a jiffy and that, as soon as I started working on it, it just kept growing more and more, out of my control but also getting better and better.
So, yesterday, after working a while on Morto, I decided to appease my mind and heart and pulled out the dossier and started browsing through the sheets of paper.
Now it was clear why this was still a mess.
It started coming back to me...
When I dropped it I still hadn't worked out a structure that did it for me and there were still a few scenes left to be written.
But boy, does this story appeal to me. And I know why. It ticks some very old boxes of mine, it takes me to themes that I've grappled with or have grappled with for years now. Like every story is as much about me as it is about what I think is important to be said.

So I took the easy way out. I reached a compromise. I pulled out the folder containing a short essay I had written within the larger framework of the story and began revising it.

It was interesting to see that it wasn't as ridiculous as I expected. It still made sense. More, I could see the holes more clearly now.
And there were things I wanted to add. I loved the feel of being hinted something greater.
So that's what I did. That's what I spent most of last night doing. I even ended up not seeing the film that I had wanted to watch...
I didn't finish the revision up until an hour ago or so.
It's strange but I just want to finish this story. And, I'll be honest with you, I feel really tempted to just drop Morto and do it...
But I won't.
I'll strike another deal with myself.
I'll keep working on Morto. The Time Dolls will have to come into play in my "spare time".
Let's see where this takes me...

Peace!

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