Today was the first day since starting March SOLSC that I didn't already have a topic ready, waiting, and partially
written. And naturally that obliged me to start thinking about what I
should write about—and what I shouldn't.
Sometimes, I just want
to share my opinion. Sometimes I want to get a little bit preachy.
Sometimes I want to write sweeping statements about the world,
humanity, morality, and big words. Yet I am writing for the Slice of
Life Story Challenge—not an "essay" challenge or a "missive" challenge or a "manifesto" challenge.
And
that's fine. I'm not very good at writing essays or missives or
manifestos. Occasionally I get grandiose ideas about these sorts of
topics, and I start to lay them out in Springpad
for future blogging. And then they languish. After a few sentences,
what seemed like a brilliant idea has fallen flat. It's rare that I
actually follow through with a philosophical topic.
In thinking
about why these topics aren't quite right for Slice of Life, I realize
why they don't work for me in general: it's because they aren't stories.
My best (or at least, most readable) blog posts are stories. They're
what I'm good at.* They have a beginning, a middle, a few silly
digressions,** and an end. And at the end, that's where the moral lies,
if there's one at all. I usually try to end my posts with some sort of
conclusion, but I guess that's not necessary. Sometimes a story for the
story's sake is good enough. As contrasted to a lesson for the lesson's
sake, which is typically just boring.
Having thought the dickens
out of all that, I suddenly realize I have a topic for my Day 7 Slice of
Life! I will tell about how I came to learn that, when struggling to
find the words to express how I feel about deep subjects like the
distribution of wealth, maybe the best approach is to find a story and
express it that way.
Not every story has a moral, but this one does: Some way, somehow, every moral has a story.
*Not to toot my own horn or anything.
**Like these ones.
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2 comments:
Your posts are always interesting and entertaining...and this one is too. Your last line is so true...every moral has a story...in fact, probably lots of stories. And while I am writing this...how is Hansel doing? :-)
I love your story about stories....especially the way you wrapped it up. I am looking forward to see what you have cooked up for day 8. :-)