Pulling the Plug on THE RED LIGHT

I've decided to clean out a drawer of my incomplete manuscripts and riffs. I do this from time to time in an effort to keep things fresh.

THE RED LIGHT was one of those tales. I felt a lot of promise for this one. I even posted about my excitement for this one. In retrispect however, this is one of the strangest stories I have ever worked on. The initial concept sounded good in dreams but just couldn't get it going on paper.

I have over three thousand words in the original draft but the problem was it read more or less like a preamble. I could never get the story to hook the reader.

I cut it back to six hundred and seventy words but it just didn;t have the 'juice'.

Writers need to be ruthless and show tough love for their 'children'.

THE RED LIGHT is unplugged.

Finally got a chance to write for a little bit....

Okay so it was for the last hour. This has just been such a busy month real work wise I just haven't had a chance. Anyway, THE RED LIGHT is the title and after several crappy drafts from a few months ago; one I read to my students as well...I finally, finally, finally got a chance to clean it up. We are around 2,500 words of a story that should top off around 4,000. Much more to come, including a hint about the plot. Let's just say I found a way to sew shut an eye and a mouth on someone while they sleep. Good times had by all.

I Know It's Crap, Just Tell Me...

I have begun writing again, after a bit of a hiatus, with a story titled "The Red Light". A couple of nights before class this vision appeared in my dreams and as is the case with each of my stories, I needed to jot down the details. The dream has come to me in parts each night and the story is beginning to fill out now.I haven't written for days, but the everything is becoming clearer in my mind. As I look back on that forst draft I shared with my class, I can tell you that first draft was utter crap. At the 3 am this morning I gutted that draftwhile key elements remain; the characters are different and the language and pace are not recognizable. We all need to have the courage to revise our ideas and feelings in the face of measured thought.