Unface, Writing Journey

the thing about breathing life into stories

I am loving putting so much of my own experiences into “Unface.” It just makes those rough moments flow right over, and the details are just coming pouring out of my memory and down into the words. I’m talking about every aspect. I say, “Oh, high school art teacher here…that friend’s house there…the neighborhood…the bridge…that dream I had…the smells…the friendship I had with that person…what I know about cats…” and all of a sudden this story’s got its own life.
And just wait. I haven’t even gotten to writing the lesson this whole story is supposed to teach me yet.
And boy am I scared of it.

Also, I find I write most of it at night. The bulk of these almost 15,000 words has been written between 11:30pm-12:30am.
Given this is a story about dreams, I guess that’s incredibly appropriate.

Okay, also, I want to say after pushing out ~5 pages in the last 30 minutes that this story is writing itself. I had to do some planning in the first day or two of coming up with this idea, but since then, the most I’ve had to do is sketch out what Ashlyn looks like for fun.
I always say that my favorite works wrote themselves (I am NOT looking at you, Sun-Walking) and that when a project works, it just WORKS (knock on wood). Well, this is exactly what I mean when I say that. There is something truly effortless about working like this and I LOVE it. I will struggle through all the tough days if this is my pay-off. The same principle goes for my art, but I would say it’s not often as intense of a process as storytelling.

2 thoughts on “the thing about breathing life into stories”

  1. Hey, haven’t heard of Unface really. Care to talk more about the lesson it is meant to teach you?

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