I hope you guys don't mind, but I'd like to give a little background on my story, Solomon's test.
See, the story is actually the 2nd oldest story I have published here.
(The first, if you're curious is called "Six Forty-Five")
See, way back in my teens, I started fiddling with the idea of becoming a writer, and wrote down some story titles I felt I could expand into full stories. And, as I had recently become a fan of super hero comics, one of those ideas involved creating a hero of my own.
But I also had become a Christian not long before, and so I thought I could create a Christian super hero, even going through the bible and finding instances where people had super human abilities, most notably Samson, who was known for his great strength.
However, I was also influenced by the comic I was reading called "Blue Devil", and as that is a more ... lighthearted look at capes and costumes, I soon found a lot of humor slipping into the story.
I was going to call it "Fluke"
(Yes, that Fluke)
But I got to the point where I felt that any Christian who read it would think I was making fun of the faith, and dropped it,
A decade or so later, while taking a creative writing course, the idea came back, and because the course recommended it, I created an outline.
And discovered that outlines are like Kryptonite to my muse, and the story died.
But, when I first found this site and had posted my first offering here (The Saga of E-Girl), i managed to find some of my outline, put it onto google docs, and hoped I could finish it.
But instead it just sat there and eventually i went on to other ideas.
Until this latest contest was announced, and I thought if anything I had ideas for could be expanded to meet the requirements, it was that outline.
But then just after I had completed Melody's transformation, I got stuck.
Until I thought of doing a little tribute to my friends here, and asked to borrow their lives for the story.
But there was one last hurdle - the ending. I sat on it for days unable to come up with a satisfying ending until the idea of a trial and
sacrifice came to me, based part by a story called "you meant it for evil" (Which you can read here: https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/23993/you-meant-it-evil ) and with that, I was able to finish the story in time for the contest.
It seems to have turned out pretty good for a 35 year-old idea ...
Comments
I enjoyed it a lot
No pun intended.
It put me in mind
It put me in mind of the story of Job, although reversed.
I know what you mean about outlines, my muse freaks out at them and I hate them. They make me feel like I've written the story twice once the actual story is done. Then of course those of us that prefer discovery writing have a tendency not to finish a story.
One thing I tried and found it worked for me, is to jot down the highlights of the story, then discovery write from one planned major event to the next. Having the next major event already planned gives you something of a beacon of light to write towards so that your muse doesnt stray too far from what you wanted.
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
Instead of an 'outline'
I use bullet points.
I'll get an idea, if it appeals to me enough I'll sit on the idea for a few days up to a couple weeks while I turn it around and look at it from all sides. I'll know if it's still appeals to me at this point because along the way I start having little scenes show up that start fleshing out the story some. When this happens I'll create a title page and throw in my bullet points so that I don't forget all these little scenes my mind has come up with.
- Leona