It is sort of hard work editing this rough draft that I have of my short story here. I have to weigh out all of these critiques and see which ones carry the most...weight, which isn't easy, because then there is that blurry line between writing for yourself and then writing for others. Maybe you want people to be able to understand what you are trying to say, so that you can communicate the right message, and plot, and emotion. Then, at the same time, you have this sort of artistic vision, which is how this entire story goes down in your head. This is the creative outlet. If this is lost, all is lost, and then you are just writing trash. The line is blurry, yes, because it is so hard to decide how to achieve this perfect balance between universality and creative peak. Maybe it is impossible to achieve the perfect balance. Maybe you have to sacrifice some vision, or overlook a certain group of people that you don't care about (which is my favorite part to shave off, haha). And then maybe sometimes you are making terrible mistakes that you cannot see at first, but then people point them out, and at first you are hurt and mad, but then you want to thank them, or something. Whatever the case, it sucks, and it takes some thinking. There are 17 different opinions on my story, and most of them contradict each other to some extent. So what to agree with?
I guess it is your decision in the end. It is your story.
The whole process sort of mirrors societal adaptation, and then to zoom even farther, or closer, depending on your outlook, cell growth. You know, you put a cell somewhere, saaay, on a larger body of cells, like skin, and what does that cell turn into and form? A skin cell. Life! Mirrors and adaptations. You could say society is an organism of sorts. And then zoom out some more, and say everything is an organism. Then you ask, what is an organism anyway? What about individualism? Is it an illusion? Is it exclusive to humans? How deep does this go? And then I say, this discussion has gotten out of hand and I am becoming too abstract. We were talking about a friggin' rough draft. Shit.
Buuuuuullsheeeyit. But no! Stick to the plan, man! What to do? What to say? What to write? A short story! Ahhhhh, I lost it. I was onto something.
Cell growth man, cell growth.
