Of all my interests, I've been focusing on writing lately. There's something exciting about expanding a fresh idea, integrating research, and incorporating real-life experiences into a story.
I've been working on a science fiction story for the last year (or so) now. It's gone through many, many plot changes and revisions. I've brought in new ideas and restructured the story. It was going to be epic. It was going to be a best-seller. It would inspire new fanboys (and fangirls!) everywhere.
For all of the writing I've done, I feel as though the entire process has become stagnant and, at times, a bit boring.
Recently, that changed. Last week at the library, I checked the creative writing section and found a book titled
If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence, and Spirit.
Sure, why not? I thought.
It was such a simple read, but incredibly profound. The author's thesis?
Write honestly. Write as though everything you tell is true.
So, I took a few days to think about the story I wanted to tell. I thought about how I could make it more epic with less. Just yesterday, I approached my story with an entirely different view and began cutting, pasting, revising, rewriting. When it's finished, it may not be the length of a novel, but it will be good. Good enough to publish, maybe.
These are the first few paragraphs. I'm eager and a bit afraid to share them. It's still a rough draft and it's not perfect, but I'm more satisfied with it now than I was only a week ago.
Blessed be.
Finding Isurus
DAY ONE: THE CAPTAIN
My name’s Tuki Varselona.
I'm the captain of a 1200 Peregrine-class freighter, ID code Aivas-0014-98063-T47. To me, she’s just the Aivas. She’s more than a decade old and a little clunky, but she runs well enough to get me from job to job.
Well, she would if there was any real work to be had. Only a year ago, you could get a job - any job - from any one of the 34 colonies and no one would think twice about your politics. I used to freight cargo from the Inner Colonies to the Outer Colonies and anywhere in between. Back then it was more important that you were reliable and honest.
Now, everyone's picking a side, including my clients. Since I’m still formally unaligned, the Freighting Association has restricted my business to the four Border Colonies: Lawor, M-----, Kluane and their mining operations on nearby asteroids, and my homeworld of Vori. Needless to say, I’ve got more time on my hands than I’d like.
I don't regret my decision to stay out of the war - I don’t ever plan on officially getting involved - but it's getting harder and harder to survive. The money I make on jobs now barely pays for my travels and crew wages.
I’ve had a bit of help, though. My parents give me most of their business and even Ty, my Unionist brother, throws me odd jobs here and there. It sounds great, but earning Ty’s “easy money” usually falls somewhere between hours of extra paperwork and catastrophic engine failure: there are always unexpected difficulties and delays. I often wonder why I still accept jobs from him. At one time I could have been more discriminating. Not anymore, I guess.
This morning, he contacted me with another job offer. Just a stop-and-drop, he had promised. The pay’s worth it.
And so, against my better judgement, I tell Dez, my navigator, to take the most direct flyway to Vori.
Dear Balin,
