I’ve been thinking again, which many times splits into something beautifully insightful or frustratingly crippling. Hopefully putting it down in the semi-permanent existence of the internet will lean the odds towards the former goal. “I don’t know what I think until I read what I say,” said someone with more success at reaching the beauty of thoughts than I’ve had. (I can’t help quoting others. They put words together so well).
So back to my ponderings, I think. It all started with another small bout of writers block that led to the question currently bouncing around in my head; do people want to read something sad? To further that question and to make my chain of thoughts more clear I moved next to ‘Why is it sad?’ I don’t want to make people cry although that would be a pretty good indicator that the writing has had an effect. But tears are so temporary and the effect I want my writing to have is much more. I want readers to come back to my work and find more with each visit until they’ve reached a point of permanency in being someone else because they encountered what I wrote. Lofty ambitions, I know.
Another question to add to the musings so far; will a tearjerker accomplish what I want? I want to strike at something true and through my perspective that means not holding back. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not about trying to teach some moral lesson by damning characters for their fictional wrongdoings. It’s again about reaching and possibly glimpsing the awesome, the inspiring, the terrifying, the all. Am I reaching too far? Have I gained some deeper understanding here? Or am I stuck in the dirt staring up at the sky waiting for the answers?
Casey M. Peterson 