Listening to the Lost Voices

“Listening to the Lost Voices” is the working title of a short story I am writing. Oftentimes the story “seems to be writing itself.” Which is quite nice as writing can be painful, if the story can help out, great!

In short, it is a story involving a guy named John who can talk to people in Purgatory.

A few nicely odd things about this story: The self-doubt that normally defeats my fiction attempts is noticeably absent. I’ve taken to the notion that writing can be a form of therapy. I also think that pretty much all writing is autobiographical. Perhaps not so much that a writer picks an episode in their life and dramatizes it, but stuff from one’s life can serve as filler or material.

Another is that I am taking to heart some writing advice, which helps defeat the self-doubt I mentioned above. One bit of advice is from Ernest Hemingway, who said “The first draft of anything is shit.” That makes me feel better. Another is “If it ain’t on the page it ain’t on the stage.” I am not sure who said it, but it is something I picked up wayback when in a failed attempt at becoming a television and screenwriter. It originally meant the basic power of writers in an industry where they traditionally are disregarded: Hollywood. Directors, producers, actors get all the glory, but they can’t do diddly-squat until the writer writes and finishes. I have altered its meaning to be that “It ain’t gonna get done unless you get it written.” Profound, I know.

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12 thoughts on “Listening to the Lost Voices”

  3. Brian H. Gill

    I was wondering how this story was coming.

    I’ve discovered the same thing, by the way. The best, sometimes the only, way to write is to start writing and keep writing: and then revise. 😉

    1. Paul Sofranko Post author

      It’s coming along. I have days of productivity, followed by my reaching a “plot point” and then things have to percolate for a few days. I have other stories in miscellaneous stages of completion, I think when one story is percolating in my brain, I’ll turn my attention to the another.

      Although “percolating” isn’t writer’s block, having multiple things going is a way to potentially combat it; to keep the “creative juices” flowing. I think Isaac Asimov did that.

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