After a time of personal labor approaching the gestation period of some greater mammals, I have finally finished the first complete draft of “Hi!”, my latest story explicitly written for Love&Darkness. To reiterate: L&D will have about 24 pieces in it, and while some of the various stories and poems I come up with as a result of college-related prompts and random whims may be swapped out for earlier stories that were, in retrospect, thematically inappropriate or just not up to snuff, rest assured that that number will not go down, nor be inflated with sub-par content.
Keep in mind, though, that “first complete draft” still means there’s work to be done. Of course, I’ll be giving all my stories and poems an additional series of edits before their inclusion in the book, but in this particular case… well, it’s one of the longest stories I’ve ever written, and perhaps uncoincidentally, it’s also the least confident I’ve been in a completed draft. Some plot threads feel a little “lingering” to me, and I can’t shake the feeling that a couple scenes are simultaneously drawn-out and insubstantial… I suppose this doesn’t mean much to you, seeing as this is one of the ones I want to keep exclusive to the book (of course, close acquaintances will be giving me feedback, though), but there’s some grievances a man has just got to air.
Notes&Sketches 