Hey all, I am sorry you have not received flash fiction pieces, I have been down and out with a cold. But, since I have been away from my computer, Dreamland’s Insurgents has decided to help me out! So here you have a wonderful installment reboot to Letters of Questioning.
Dear Ravyn,
Well, here we are again! It’s been quite some time, hasn’t it? Of course, it hasn’t been completely silent between us. So much life has happened, however – since the last time we had our Letters of Questioning! Your writing has changed immensely. It’s been a great pleasure to work with you over the last few years and witness that change, and to take a step back now and assess the years of growth. I’m excited for this new phase, too, of working together and writing regularly!
Too much time has elapsed, of course, to try to “pick up where we left off” with the previous series of letters. Nevertheless, I’m sure a lot of our themes and thoughts will circle back around.
New beginnings aside, I want to talk about what you’ve been doing lately. A flash piece a day! That is ambitious, and only you could pull it off. You, the woman who wrote 100,515 words for Nanowrimo! If that ain’t over-achieving, I don’t want to know what is. The achievements of we mere mortals pale in comparison. And now this! For the wanna-bes out there reading this, who don’t know what it takes, here’s my advice: know Ravyn; see her works; hang your poseur heads in shame.
I’ve enjoyed what you’ve written so far in this new journey. My own favorite pieces aside, I am wondering what you like about your own. Which stories do you think show the best of your new techniques? Which do you think speak the best to your life now? Which do you see as best showing that bridge between your old writing and the new?
Sometimes assessing our own writing can help us make more conscious and effective decisions when we write. But that doesn’t mean we sacrifice spontaneity. Especially in a project like the one you are undertaking! Can you tell me a little bit more about your process, and maybe about where your ideas come from in the moment?
While you muse over that, I will take a few minutes here and look at one of the stories that show the most promise. KayCe’s story is one of the shortest you’ve come up with in this project and it is just brimming with potential. You never did tell me what the prompt is (maybe it’s on that blog of yours – ha) so of course, I’m curious what the first kernel of inspiration is.
I see the beggar and the vial, and my own experience in down-and-out towns makes me think of drugs. But of course, the vial is purple, and the conversation the characters have is around magic. Who has KayCe lost? Is the magic his own – has he put it, distilled it somehow, into the vial to give to the beggar? Who is this filthy man who wants the vial? Some kind of supernatural power, or its earthly agent? That line of inquiry makes me think of the word angel, which, via its etymology, is a good word for a messenger of the gods. The name Jin, in this sense, is related, because it sounds like Djinn or Genie, spirits from pre-Islam Arabia who are best known in Europe and the US for their ability to grant wishes.
Jin in your story seems to have access to the kind of otherworldly insight we would expect spirits to have. Juxtaposed with the beggar and the vial, what I see here is a fragment of urban fantasy. I want to see more: the kinds of conflicts that put this world into motion, the love KayCe has with this unnamed “her,” the circumstances that were keeping them apart before their reunion in the end. Was she enamored with his magic? Why was its loss necessary for them to be together again?
So many questions…. Perhaps this is why I feel so eager now to resume our letters!
Back in the spirit of things,
Dreamland’s Insurgents
There you have it my friends! A return to something amazing, and I know that it will become even more amazing! (And no worries, you will hear my response soon! Who knows, maybe we can even make this a Monday Thing!) How about you? Do you ever pick up or return to old projects, just knowing how great they were and how much better than can become?
Random Acts of Writing 