Writing
 Thought
for the Writer's Day: A Lesson
Did you ever find that your favorite band suddenly
changed direction? They produced two CDs that blew your
mind and then, for reasons you'll never quite put your
finger on, released a third that had only half a heart.
Did you ever have that same experience with a favorite
author?
I've run into it a hundred times and I could never
understand why, but now I can, because the very same
thing has happened to me now that I'm writing for an
audience. I don't want to disappoint, but I always fear
that I will.
American Invisible, Inc. won me whatever fans I have,
but I can't repeat it. I can't write a second American
Invisible novel that follows right on from the first.
Whenever I try, it comes out flat and worthless.
Time, Please, is lost too. If and when I write about
Lea and Michael, they won't be 17 years old any more,
they'll be 21 or 28 or 53. I just don't seem to have
the knack to pick up the story just where it left off,
and write the next adventure.
See-Through Sue and the Naughty Dream was a more recent
attempt to write a compelling short story, and I think
it went down quite well, but I cannot, for the life
of me, repeat it. Trust me, I've tried.
Somehow I suddenly find a deep sympathy for my favorite
bands. You know something? If The Eagles could have
written ten more songs just like Hotel California, they
might have made it really big.
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