Decisions, Decisions!

Cliche image du jour: I am standing at a fork in the road, trying to decide whether to take the path on the left, or the one on the right.

To follow the left road would be to take Fiction Avenue. It's foggy in places, because some details and important plot points have yet to be imagined. But there are interesting landmarks along this road too. A soon-to-be college student who works at one of those little old privately-owned bookstores (think Pegasus or Laurel), a soon-to-be second-time mom whose passion lies in the the delicate art of cake decorating, a little half-sister who has no idea that she is part of a much bigger picture than she could ever have imagined. The silly thing is, I have to figure out the stakes, where these characters are headed, what challenges they must face, how their paths eventually come to cross. I have a rough idea, but as I say, this road is foggy. It's a tempting road, though; I sorely miss my fiction roots.

To take the right road, on the other hand, would be to embark on a journey down Memoir Boulevard. There is less fog here, because the details are clearer, based on my own experiences throughout most of my life. Peanut wars between cousins, exciting golf-cart rides up and down rolling hills, skipping rocks on the beach, renting movies to watch in the condo while being serenaded by the distant sound of crashing waves, snorkeling, jacuzzi-shmoozing, souvenir shopping, bouncy boat rides...the list goes on...and on...and on... The only problem with this road, from a writer's perspective, is that it is a little bit too...flat. In discussing the idea with another one of my professors, she said, "That's all fine and good, but what is the 'so what?' factor? What's at stake here?" That was a question I honestly didn't know how to answer. Said professor told me that while this was a nice idea, it sounded like a lot of descriptive detail and telling what happened, and little else. So, if I travel down Memoir Boulevard, I have to develop some sort of storyline, to organize sixteen years worth of memoir in space and time, to make it relevant to someone besides me. Ummm....help?

I am standing at a fork in the road, trying to decide whether to take the path on the left, or the one on the right.

- Kelsey