Out of the Picture – The Process
Out of the Picture is story number forty in the #52ShortStories challenge.
**SPOILERS BELOW. If you have not read the story and want to be (hopefully) surprised, come back to this when you’re done.**
Other creative types know that inspiration is everywhere. I can’t tell you why this particular instance was triggered, but my family and I were in one of those art and frame stores where there are shelves lined with random sepia-toned and black-and-white stock photography–a just-married couple exiting a church, a family having a picnic, maybe someone’s golden shepherd running in the grass.
Some part of my brain imagined a character walking into the store and recognizing someone in one of those photographs. Originally, my character wasn’t sure why they recognized the person and I wrote a whole bunch of words down this path which had me beyond frustrated because it wasn’t going to be wrapped up in a short story. That’s great and all, except when I’m already behind and on a tight deadline. 😉
So, I scratched a couple thousand words and practically started again. I think the story worked out better and I have my first reader to thank. I always go to her when I’m stuck and she usually steers me in a better direction.
I hope you enjoyed the end product!
Here’s the general scratch file:
- Out of the Picture scratch file
And the daily journal entries:
- Tuesday, May 22nd
- Wednesday, May 23rd
- Thursday, May 24th
- Friday, May 25th
- Saturday, May 26th — Skipped
- Sunday, May 27th — Skipped
- Monday, May 28th — Skipped
- Tuesday, May 29th
-Phillip
