March 17, 2012

Today, I finished reading The Shack. I know that I risk offending some people, but I did not care for the book at all. The idea of it was great, but I did not think it was well-written. It was cheesy at times, and it did not keep my interest. So, I actually had to go back and read bits and pieces of The Lovely Bones before I felt I could get into my writing zone. I wrote a chapter in which Emma dreams of Karley during Karley's first depressive episode. I do not feel great about this chapter, but I actually think that the muted tone works since she is supposed to be depressed. We'll see. I do feel confused, however, as to which chapter to write next. My advisor suggested skipping to the meat of the novel and writing some chapters that really are at the heart of the plot. I wrote of Emma's accident and now of Karley's depression...but I am not sure what to write next since it is out of order. Hmmmm...well, here is a splice:


I think of my mother. My dead mother. If she were here, would she know how to help me? But she isn’t here. Her bones lay in a decaying wooden box. Suddenly, I am in the coffin with her. My bones, with their defined density, are rotting like hers. And the lid of the coffin is sealed, closing me inside this tiny space of darkness. It is where I belong, with my mother’s bones,
and my own tears, the only wetness in the dry, stale air.