Trying, really trying, to write a 1500 words or less short story for a competition. Finding that gabo makes me feel better but doesn't seem to do much for the focus needed to write such a story. Allows me to go off on obsessed tangents but not to cohere a story.
Like all tools, I guess gabo serves a certain purpose, but it is not the tool I need for this particular job. It's just the tool I enjoy using the most.
Tripping over my literary shoelaces by over-thinking as usual. Should I determine my themes and list them? Should I map out a character?
Or is this art, where I just put pen to paper and let the Muse dictate.
Given the history behind the last option, I think that's what I have to do. At least I finally have basic idea, a framework to hang my neuroses upon. No doubt the final work will bear little resemblance to this original target (hmm, a little like Twin Towers getting bombed then Iraq getting taken over by the US - you know there's a causal chain but it doesn't really make much sense....)
Okay, back to the writing board...