I encountered recently a writer who was publishing his old journal entries on Substack, and it occurred to me that there was probably nothing that private about my old journal entries that I couldn’t do the same, so here it is.
“Rescuer”—A boy who wants to grow up to be a hero.. When the opportunity arrives he freezes. Why does he want to be a hero? Why does he freeze?
How about the issue of “control” in a relationship? It occurs to me that this might be something interesting to explore. I think if it grows out of a sense of altrusim it’s even more tragic. Scenario—college-educated guy meets girl who is working, trying to save for school. Show how his “love” for her develops along with [how] his growing control comes about—he wants to see her go to school, willing to do a lot of the work to get her there, but he doesn’t realize that it’s something she has to do herself.
Oh, such a sweet summer child I was as a purile 19-year-old wannabe writer. I was so eager to start with issues and concepts in my stories, small wonder I never wrote anything successful. These days I tend to let thematic things emerge on their own, if they do at all, and I am more focused on character and emotion than plot (although I hope I manage to end up with plots that make stopping the wedding guests to tell me tragic tales worthwhile).
I see some definite signs of a mind that was certainly fertile and had some thoughts worth exploring, but I think that this kid was starting in the wrong place which isn’t great for the start of my old journals.
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