At the start of the year, I decided to do something that I have wanted to do for the longest time - to write a story. Gradually, as the story began to take shape, I put my words down on paper. It was hard going; I did not realize how difficult it would be to build a world and fill it with people and their emotions, their histories, and the significant events that occur in the brief time I would spend with them. I would write into the deep of night. Steal time between the little things that fill my day to add in a paragraph or two to the growing story. Wait eagerly for feedback from trusted friends. And re-writing, always re-writing. I had begun the 7th chapter. My manuscript was now 14,632 words long. However, something did not feel right. I took a step back, gave the structure of my narrative a good shake, listened carefully to what people were saying, and realized: this is not working. Somehow, after having drafted 43 pages worth of material, I realized the story I had planned was not going to be quite good enough. And so I tore up the manuscript. It was one of the most depressing, disheartening things I have ever had to do. I had to wave goodbye to characters I was just beginning to understand, and weave them afresh into a different tapestry. All the time, I questioned - would this work?, will this make sense?, will anyone want to read this? Doubt weighed heavily on me. I was over-reaching, I am not talented enough, I did not have a story worth telling. Nevertheless, I started again. Chasing the plot threads to their conclusions, trying to iron out the inconsistencies, testing whether the backbone of the story could maintain its integrity throughout. And the world was rebuilt anew, albeit in my mind, and I was ready to take that journey again. It has now been a little over seven months since I began writing. I have all of 3 pages to show for it. One short prologue, 720 words long, is the sum total of this new beginning. The name of my story is "To The Sea, The Sea". It is a story of two individuals, a man and a young girl, who for their own reasons must travel from KL to Penang even while their worlds are being torn apart, and how they meet by the sea at the end of all things. Who knows? They might even one day arrive at an ending.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 08:28:50 +0000