Checking in Part II

I've been absent partly to Blogger being temperamental (arrggghhh!!), partly to dealing with home pc woes/viruses (arrrggghhh!!!), Wednesday was ds’ 17th birthday (yaaayy!! *sob!!* my baby’s growing up) and partly due to being really busy at work. But the main reason I've been absent, and I probably will ease up on the blogging-every-day schick, is the missing *CLICK*. I’ve mentioned before the worry that blogging (amongst other things) was negatively affecting my writing, but it goes beyond the “wasted time surfing” factor.

I love blogland. You run across the most interesting, witty, snarky, profane, thoughtful, funny, insightful, exciting, educating, aggravating, stimulating, fill-in-the-blank, posts/discussions. But in terms of my writing, a lot of it is: "Hmm, that’s interesting", or "No, I don’t agree, but I can see where you’re coming from", or "Wow, I never thought of it that way/ knew that!" Or, every once and awhile: "aha! That makes perfect sense!"

Of course, sometimes my reaction was plain ole, meh.

But no *click*.

*CLICK* is what feeds my creative soul.

I can read posts/discussions about how a character’s greatest weakness should be his great strength. (First response, when I heard this years ago: Wow, I never thought of it that way, that makes perfect sense! ) So, now, I knew it. But I don’t feel it. It doesn’t *click*

Then I watched Man on Fire on dvd. The audience got to know the main protagonist’s character/personality/history, then saw how the developing friendship/relationship between him and his ward and not only exposed his vulnerability, but gave him hope. We watch him become a better man. Then at the crucial moment comes the downfall, because he let her get close, because he became the better man, so now he becomes the worst he can be, all to save her. *CLICK*

Last Sunday, I watched Nip/Tuck. In one scene, Shaun and Julie reunite (after a short separation), they hug in the doorway. Cling to each other. Hold each other like they would never, ever let go. *I* anticipate The Kiss. You know, that desperate her-head-cradled-in-his hands-his-shirt-clutched-in-her-fists kiss. It never happened. And it was perfect. Cause the moment was about emotion of the heart & soul and the mind edging away from the blackness of what could have been. We didn’t *need* to see the passion (which surely followed), it would have shifted the focus. As a (mainly) romance writer/reader my initial reaction was to want see that kiss. But in many ways, this was better. I wasn’t disappointed, and the scene made me think why I wasn’t dissatisfied, when it was what I’d expected. Then I thought about how I could apply that *CLICK* to my own work.

Those are just some of the examples of *CLICK* that have happened for me, but there’s been more. They just haven’t been in blogland. :-P It’s the same reasoning behind why a writer should never EVER stop reading. It feeds the soul. When a story is done right, you feel the magic. When it’s done notso right, you analyze why. Always, always, learning by example.

**addendum : I tried posting this Thursday, but kept getting an error message re blogger's internal server. what a *%#! pain.