I know I have two
really terrible stories on AC, because Lore wanted me to share how horrible I used to be. The first two I ever wrote are still there and are nothing like any of the juggernauts I went on to write. I can't remember specific things that were horrible about them (maybe she would?), but I know they were bad because I thought they were terrible in 2007 when I posted them on her urging. I am hesitant to go back to them because of that. But that would have been my underwriting phase. I think all of us have that in the beginning because we're just getting started from our dreams of being elementary school writers where a paragraph was an acceptable story.
Then we write and write and write about how much we love Nick's blue eyes and bright smile or Brian's laugh and curly locks or AJ's rocker vibe and hidden heart of gold or Kevin's serious protectiveness and caterpillar brows of awesome or Howie's...
I'm kidding... or Howie's Latin Lover winking and sweetness. And I realized I devolved Nick to only appearance, but I could obviously write pages of all the things I've loved about Nick over the years. Oh wait, (checks PBox + PNecklace) more than 750 pages of things I've loved about Nick, at bare minimum. (Heck, tack on another 500ish for the original PBox, though all total, it's probably in the high 1,000s somewhere -- just putting my trackable math skills to use!)
Anyway, as we write and write and write about those things, we realize that we have a lot more to say about those things, but also about how sadness feels or what a sunrise looks like. So we start writing paragraphs and paragraphs about those things. And then at some point, we realize that "you can just call them 'eyes'" instead of trying to be clever and descriptive about something that doesn't need it, but you could be clever and descriptive about what else a body is doing when those "orbs" are "glassy and distant". And we also realize that not every sunrise is "a vibrant painting from God's majestic brush," sometimes it's just another mfin' sunrise and you're angry that you're up that early to see it. And we find a happy medium.
I also lean toward overwriting, but I try to be more particular about what gets an overwrite. (which was this post, apparently...)
She smiled again. "I love you so much, Brian."
"I love you even more," he replied, lovingly.
Good thing that adverb is there to help convey his feelings LMAO.
Phew. I thought maybe he didn't love her lovingly enough. But not only does he love her lovingly, but he loves her lovingly
even more than she loves him, which is so much! So grateful to have that expressed so clearly.
I also have... no room to poke fun...