A Learning Process

"Little Gavin had woken out of his deep sleep with a loud wail, as if he had been pinched. I rushed into his room and leaned over the bassinette, cooing softly, and was startled by his worsening yellowish complexion. His eyes were glowing as black as coal. I reached down to pick him up and comfort him but as I started to lift him to my shoulder, he turned his head and bit my arm so hard he drew blood. I quickly set him back down and took a deep breath to steady my nerves. She couldn’t be right, I thought. Sylvie is crazy. Changelings aren’t real!

I glanced down at my arm, which was now swollen and bloody. It dawned on me that Gavin wasn’t even two weeks old; he wasn’t old or strong enough to bite down and draw blood. He didn’t even have teeth for God’s sake! I felt my heart start pounding with terror. What is going on? Sylvie’s words came back to me. “They will take your baby if you do not watch him with the utmost care the first three days of his life. That’s when babies are most vulnerable to the Sidhe.”

It’s not real! My logic tried to scold me, but I felt on the verge of hysteria. I thought back to that joyous day that our baby boy entered this world and tried to recall exactly what Sylvie had said."

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The above is the vignette I wrote for a Creative Writing class, that eventually led me to writing my very first Fantasy novella.

Re-reading it now, over a year later, it makes me smile.

My characters are wooden and the reader cannot emphatize with them. The plot is full of holes and, to be honest, kind of boring. The ending is actually pretty good, but it could still use some work.

It's so fascinating to go back and read all of the stories, poems, essays, and letters I've written over the years and to see how my ideas and the way I write have changed. I still have a lot to learn and a lot to work on.

The weaknesses I can identify, so far, are:

1.) Wooden characters. I need to make them more believeable, more real. I need to view them as my readership would.

2.) Hole-y plots. I need to tighten them up and have a specific premise in mind.

3.) Boring scenes and unncessary information. I need to find a better way to carry the story from scene to scene.

4.) Too many adverbs. 'Nuff said!

I guess I'll have to go through a few more of my stories to identify more weaknesses, but it's really a learn-as-you-go process. The only way to become a better writer is to write!