A Shard of Beauty by Traci Kenworth

A Shard of Beauty

Traci Kenworth

I could talk about writing all day long. It’s like a shard of beauty that strikes all the colors when held in the sunlight. It is mystery, it is not knowing your next footfall because you might stumble and fall. Confronting that first page or even the last, is never quite what you expect. Things happen between your conscious and your fingertips that just make up gold when it comes to your writing.

You might have an idea on how to start a story, but that starting line is going to be tackled again and again until you get to the finish line. Oh, not all at once. You do need to do drafts not just a draft. If you only went by one draft in your writing, you’d be doing that story forever. Drafts change. They grow more of a spine as you progress.

Although I have heard of a few writers who can do the one draft, more than likely, you’ll need to do as many as you need. Some writers even set drafts aside because something within the story doesn’t feel right. Weeks or even years may go by before they tackle the project again. This happens more often than we’d like. However, I do think there’s a reason if you push it aside.

A character just isn’t working out. Your plot has hit a snag. It could be one thing or another. Maybe you’re not even the author intended to figure the story out. I’ve heard of this happening with Stephen King in the particular story of Gwendy (I’ve shortened the title for blog purposes) where Richard Chizmar was able to come in and help save the day.

Writing is an outlet for things that are bothering us sometimes. Of course, it’s not autobiographical but some of the events in stories could be triggered from a real-life headline or something we went through at one time or another. For writers, a plotline might grow out of an event we heard about that happened to people we don’t even know. Or it could come about from a nightmare or the sometimes-cursed luck of imagining outcomes that haven’t happened. Such as car crashes, someone in danger, or so on.

There isn’t really a limit to where a story could go. It could start off being a breeze of a day and end up the final destination. A lot of times, we don’t even know where a story comes from, it just appears in our thoughts. It grows when we put it down on paper from simple to a more complex event. The source sometimes isn’t known, it’s just there.

To me, it’s almost like I’m directing a movie in my head sometimes. Of course, the characters don’t always do what I expected them to do but sometimes their actions are better. Sometimes what happens to them becomes a shard of beauty. They just dazzle in who they become, what they want, and what they overcome.

I don’t know if it’s like that for all authors. When my characters react to the story, that’s when something magical happens. That’s when you “breathe life” into something that was flat and lacking energy. If you’re not to this stage, or if another way works better for you, follow what brings your own stories to a depth that makes them real to you and others. Have a great week and God bless.

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Here are some blogs that you might find interesting:

1. Roberta Writes https://robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com/2022/07/03/roberta-writes-wordcrafter-book-blog-tours-will-write-for-wine-stories-i-stole-from-lord-byrons-bastard-by-sara-mcbride/ Stories I Stole from Lord Byron’s Bastard is a collection inspired by Venetian history. The fictional character, Alexis Lynn, wrote these stories in the novel Will Write for Wine by Sara W. McBride, but they are fun stand-alone adventures to be enjoyed with an excellent glass of Italian wine.
2. Soulful Sundays https://syl65.wordpress.com/2022/07/03/soulfulsunday-tonex-make-me-over/
3. Smorgasboard Magazine https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2022/07/03/smorgasbord-posts-from-my-archives-memoir-waterford-ireland-1930s-the-colour-of-life-the-crane-by-geoff-cronin/

My father-in-law, Geoff Cronin was a raconteur with a encyclopedic memory spanning his 93 years. He sadly died in 2017 but not before he had been persuaded to commit these memories of his childhood and young adulthood in Waterford in the 1920s to the 1940s.

The books are now out of print, but I know he would love to know that his stories are still being enjoyed, and so I am repeating the original series of his books. I hope those who have already read the stories will enjoy again and that new readers will discover the wonderful colour of life in Ireland nearly 100 years ago.

4. Angel Messages https://annetterochelleaben.wordpress.com/2022/07/03/angel-messages-jul-3-2022/

5. Stream of Saturday Conscious https://johnwhowell.com/2022/07/02/stream-of-consciousness-saturday-prompt-amble/

A quiet Saturday morning with the sounds of birds adding to the peaceful feeling. Inhaling the aroma of freshly brewed coffee as it is being made adds to the overall feeling of contentment. The temperature is below the blast furnace level, so an excellent opportunity exists to sit on the patio and enjoy the morning.

Twiggy and Lucy decide to come with me to the outside. They are busy reading their nose e-mails, and I’m occupied with mine. A fairly loud noise interrupts us all. Lucy and Twiggy do the instinctual reaction to warn the noise that the suburbs of St Louis are closer than they think. To be barked to St. Louis is a treat no intruder should miss.

The noise repeats, and this time the location is determined to be from the front yard. If this is another Warner Brothers character, I’m going to demand a royalty, I think, as I amble to the front door. After the disarm and unlock process, I’m standing on the front porch face to face with a mule.

6. The Story Reading Ape https://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/2022/07/03/why-im-still-blogging-and-you-should-too-by-terry-whalin/

“As an acquisitions editor, you should not be blogging,” one of my long-term writer friends told me in 2008.

I worked inside a well-known publisher and she believed a blog was a complete waste of my time.  I was an early adapter to the blogging trend.

I ignored her advice and I’m still blogging for many different reasons.

Isn’t blogging out of step?