Well, would you believe it? We’ve finally arrived at the last day of 2020. What a journey. At times, it was hard to believe we’d actually get here. And the sad thing is lots of people around the world didn’t get here.
At the end of any year, I like to post a bit of a reflection on what has just passed – to talk a bit about how I’ve managed, and how I’ve gone with meeting the goals I set myself at the start of the year.
One of the most vexed topics to consider when looking at the art of creating a story is where to start. At what point do you start to conceive the idea of what your story is about?
The most obvious point would seem to be the beginning. That makes complete sense, doesn’t it? I mean, a conventional story has a beginning and a middle and an end, so why wouldn’t you want to start at the beginning?
Well, judging from my experience, there are a lot of reasons why you might not start at the beginning. Because I’ve written stories where the initial inspiration has come from pretty much every point in the narrative arc.
Today, the subject of my post is going to be insecurity.
How good is insecurity? Well, to be honest it’s kind of crap. But it’s kind of crap in a good way, at least when you’re a writer. Or maybe I should rephrase that. It’s kind of good in a crap way.
Okay, give me a few minutes and I’ll see if I can sort it out.
As a writer, I like to think I’m supple and agile when it comes to storylines. I like to think I can twist and turn a plot in all sorts of directions. I like to think I can write stories that are twinkle-toed, able to make sudden changes of direction in an instant.
If only the rest of me displayed the same suppleness and agility.
I think I’ve mentioned before over the course of this blog how one of my great loves is the game of cricket. I’ve been a big fan of the game since I was taken to test matches in the mid seventies. These were definitely glory days for the game. The Australian team included names like Lillee, Thomson, Walters and the Chappell brothers. Exciting times to be oriented into a sport.
