Playing Favorites

Sometimes, as writers, we fall in love with sentences or phrases we have used in a story and, while we are editing we move heaven and earth to keep them in the text, even when they may not be serving a useful purpose.  I know we should "kill those little darlings."

I like some of my stories better than others.  Perhaps they come from a deeper spot inside me, or convey a truth that particularly represents how I feel.  Sometimes it is just that I like the cadence of the words, the sounds of the sentences.  Certain phrases may stick in my head and keep repeating over and over.

One such story was published in the August issue of The Blotter Magazine.  It is called "A Normal Man," takes place in a Bikram Yoga Studio, and describes a certain New York experience which is dear to my heart.  It is also has a complex construction, using present, past and future, to give a full picture of the characters and the lives they are living, lived and will live.  I like the way it works. You can check it out at the website above. 

But it's important not to get too attached to the stories, or sentences or phrases in them.  We need to write them down and move on. There is more where that came from, more waiting to be written.  We just have to get to it.