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I keep revisiting Halo, adding a line or two, polishing here and there...
The part I've arrived to is when the protagonist is at his daytime, 'normal' job - which he finds completely boring. He finds no meaning in commuting to and fro and in working in general.
I am now at around 900 words, which rate perhaps sounds ridiculous to those who spit the same amount half a day - but this is just how I seem to write.
When the kids are at home they sometimes wish to grab the computer and play games with it. Sometimes they just wish some attention from their mother, that is me, which I surely must give them. I cook, I clean the house, I shop firewood, tend the chicken and so on...
When they are at home, writing is hard.
When I'm alone, writing is hard, too.
I like when they are at home, providing me some fading family background. When they are at home but leave me alone - those are the best times for writing.
---The short story was originally 250 words and I, upon the suggestion of my readers, wanted to expand it.
This is what I do now - expanding.
I'm planning to have it around 1500-2000 words.
I like finding out more detail about the interesting elements of the story around Hail, the main character. I like getting involved in his actions. I like describing the way he feels when he's actually DOING something interesting.
But when he's doing something he DISLIKES -
I think I have written most of that part, too.
---
(not) surprisingly enough, those parts came out sort of dull.
It's rather telling and not showing.
Don't you worry, my dear potential readers, it is not a long part, it's less than a few lines.
Yet -
---
Question
when your hero is faced with a problem/situation/person s/he gets bored with/dislikes to the point of ignorance - does your style changes? do YOU get bored writing it, too?
10 comments:
I forget who it was who once said, the secret to good writing is to leave out the boring parts. If it bores me I usually skip it.
You know Charles, I don't want to bore my readers, neither my own self while writing/reading it.
I want to express the boredom of the main character. And I found that the one way I'm doing it bores me, too.
It will surely bore readeres as well.
I wish to avoid this, but at the moment I have no idea about the 'how'.
I am not a writer so it is not a problem to me. I think descriptions about nature are very boring and it makes the story more interesting if the characters are having a conversation.
Ropi,
Sometimes I'm dreaming of writing a story entirely composed of a conversation between two (or more) persons.
It's not that easy as it may seem....
Szelsofa,
I've been so engrossed in the Dickens Challenge that I haven't been checking many of my favorite blogs. But I'm glad I got a little bit of a break, and I'm glad I found this post. Charles is right, but the trick is somehow to make those descriptions of boredom interesting to the reader. Here's from the beginning of Jack Finney's "Time and Again:"
It was an ordinary day, a Friday, twenty minutes till lunchtime, five hours till quitting time and the weekend, thirty-seven years till retirement. Then the phone rang.
"Man here to see you, Si." It was Vera, at the switchboard. "He has no appointment."
"That's okay. He's my connection. I need a fix."
"What you need can't be fixed."
---------------
Finney can convey the sense of boredom without boring the reader. It's something I'll be needing to do fairly soon, and I'm no Jack Finney.
Thank you Steve, for taking time in answering this question.
Those opening lines, especially the hints to time are doing it for me. I see it feels boring for the main character, but it is not boring for me.
I see what you mean and it was a useful advice.
I try to make it ... less boring ... for both of us :)
Miladysa,
Oh yes, neither the writer, nor the reader wants to get bored too much. It is enough if the main
character suffers ;))))
Thank you Miladysa, for dropping by.
Syerve's example covers it nicely.
Bernita,
agreed.
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