Writing!

Ahh.. new hobbies.. I've got a long list of things I want to do. This is one of them. Always loved writing and after years of drought, and a year's of blogging, I thought I should start on a story proper.

I'm writing for an RPG for www.chfladiesrpg.blogspot.com. That is a collaborative effort. I find it hard to concentrate on that as a writer. It works along the lines of a story circle so one doesn't have much control over the character. This is because the character's history or future that one already has in mind are subject to change. Currently, there are 3 of us (Mok, Centuar and myself) writing the stories. I signed off using my christian name Elisha.

There's another main baby project that I've recently birthed for myself. I've started another blog called www.visiblefacets.blogspot.com for a story. Initially, I wanted to start another accompanying blog to write down my ideas for that story. If you would see from my profile, I've already have 5 blogs and that would make it 6. I feel it's way too many and I'll be spreading my resources too thinly. Instead, I've decided to put my thoughts here on my main blog.

To differentiate it from my diary entries, I have decided to put the title in italics whenever it pertains to my writing.

I have only a rough idea of the story. If you read my blog entries here, you will be able to discern the direction of the plot. If you want to keep the suspence, please don't read the entries here. :)

The story is contemporary and centers around a group of friends and their families. It's like Seinfield but more dramatic and without that much comedy. It does not read like a 'proper' novel. Instead of the reader being taken on a journey of events, this story is meant to be more introspective. It's a journey exploring the terrain of the human psyche.

What I'm trying to do in the writing, as far as possible, is not to say what the characters are feeling or thinking and invite the readers to draw the conclusions themselves. Or if I do say, it's meant to surface thoughts. Sometimes, you will find that the characters themselves do not know what they want or how they feel.

Writing is a rather personal thing - especially when it centers on character development. It's walking a fine line between exploring and fleshing out the richness of a particular personality and indulgence. Self-indulgent writing is rather tedious. But this is my first serious attempt after many years (and my previous attempts were nauseously fluffy) so be forgiving...

But as I was saying, writing is personal. Writing is like putting a piece of soul into your creation. The characters in this story (the working title is "Facets") are meant to be fictional. It's not semi-autobiographical (so don't go around guessing :D). However, certain scenes did happen. I guess that's not uncommon when writing. One draws out from one's imagination and season it with life experience forn an authentic flavour.

However, I am aware that too much introspection is tiring and gets stale after a while. While this story is not autobiographical, I have gone through some of the emotions that the characters are going through. It is almost like opening a door to the past for me because I am drawing more from memories a few years old rather than the present.

I believe the emotions still resonate with a lot of people. For me, it make me realise that Christ indeed is my all in all. For the writing to be meaningful to me, I cannot always look towards myself - I'll get bored. But what I have done, is to have pictures of Christ and aspects of the gospel hidden within "Facets". Sometimes, people don't realise how real Christ is, even or especially in the mundane, routine, everyday things of life.

Well, "Facets" is a personal journey. It is not meant to be angsty or dramatic - I'll see where the characters take us. It's whether there is life in ordinary blandness.