What Can I Say?

We can start by shoveling away the mess from last night's sleep. Not much of use. Some small diversions but nothing with an edge that could hold on out here. I watched The Shipping News last evening and of course that accounts for the dreams of the ocean and the water, not altogether pleasant, that I had in the night.

I read more of the Maltese Falcon last night at bedtime hoping to gain some inspiration. It's a good story. There's a lot of period jargon and even more sophisticated speech that is lost now and makes you stop and look up meanings. More than I thought there would be.

I need to think ahead more. So much of the time, especially with the dailies, I write and wait for a story to form. By the time one does, I have to go back and rewrite the beginning so it doesn't look like what it is, a wandering and wondering vision of a blindfolded fellow, arms stretched out, head back, shuffling about in a darkened field hoping to accidentally bump into a plot.

So even if I just start with a simple premise, I should be able to come up with a simple plot from it. It doesn't have to be the sack of Atlanta to make a practice story. Anything will do.

That is what I will do today. And then, when the plot doesn't come, what then? Will I then go back to the blind man approach? Probably. It's just that I need to practice the better approach if I'm ever going to be able to call on it and have it respond. Right? Of course!

So, how do I start this? I don't want to have to rely on a website for writers without imagination. I need to be able to do this in my own mind. Come on. Maybe I should look at the news headlines and pull something from there. It can't be like trying to come up with a name. It's got to be easier than that.

So I'll go the news and just look down the list and pick a premise, then follow it with a small plot. There must be plenty of material there to choose from. Just pick one. That's all.

OK, let's do it.

More, later,