Friday, January 12, 2007

struggle

i am struggling struggling struggling! i am trying to write the best summary ever of one of my stories, cause i want to submit it to win a fellowship. for now i still don't know which one to submit. nor can i find the words to crystallize the meaning of it. that's why i ain't no journalist. i think that was one of the criticism to english teachers, that they don't teach their students to summarize well. how to express what you are trying to say in less than fivehundred words that contain all the vital points? the other part is how to choose 2,500 words out of either 13,000 or 10,000 respectively that will just win the jury over? how to maintain the faith in your own words that no matter what you say it will win the jury over? cause i actually have moments such as these... when the little drip drip drops of desperation don't hit the tip of my forehead and make me run cold all over. when i forget for a moment that i had the nastiest of fights with someone near to me who holds so much of my life in her hand and who chooses to squeeze tight and wring me out, drip drip drops of blood. meanwhile i am not backing down. because what is your blood worth when it contains no substance? is it not better to starve a wolf in the wild than barely subsist on a chained dog's salary? or is it but an illusion to ever be like the wild wolf?

i just need those fivehundred moments of clarity. i shall gather them drop by drop in the bath my lover made for me. i gather all the drops of love i receive from all my lovers. cause every single word of love is a lover to me. drip drip til it starts to pour. kiss me. muse.

2 Comments:

Blogger Jstine said...

Ah, yes, summarizing! I've spent a whole career wrapping however complex a subject in 500 words. And I enjoyed doing that as much as anything else I did in the diplomatic life. (Very satisfying to put on paper what otherwise is a jumble of info, reaction, prediction, etc. -- even if the whole picture is different 24 or 48 hours later.)

Might I suggest you try composing as if it were a telegram, rather than an essay? That is, you need to make brief points in as organized a fashion as you can, looking at it from the intended reader's view, rather than your own. (BTW I'm no believer in outlines for that purpose; they are too rigid in almost all circumstances.)

Hang in there; it'll come.

Hugs and love (that thing you taught me, lest I seem suddenly magisterial...ho ho!), G

Mon Jan 22, 07:31:00 AM 2007  
Blogger Jstine said...

Hey, cool! You follow Chishiki Lauren as well! She is among my favorites on Flickr, always in your face with whatever she's doing. Young, though.

Mon Jan 22, 07:44:00 AM 2007  

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