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| Amazon.com: Paperback |
Infinite Opportunity
by Lance Umenhofer
It’s funny how little is planned when I sit down to write. I imagine most authors having notebooks, maybe multiple, of ideas and plot points and character sheets for their novels, and when they sit down to write, they compile all of their ideas into paragraph form, having every intention to make their ways to the final climaxes planned out months, maybe years before.
But, through the years, it’s seemed that the more and more I plan out a piece or have a vivid picture of where the story is going or who the characters are, the more and more I stray from it. I do not like to write within constrictions, even if the constrictions are made by myself. For instance, in And the Soft Wind Blows, I wanted Roxie to be Timmy’s saving grace. Without giving too much away, I wanted Timmy to take Roxie in his arms, swing her back, and tell her it would all be O.K., to run away with him to California and start a new life, fresh, with unlimited potential, but it does not turn out to be so.
There’s something about the infinite opportunity of the blinking, black cursor that totally enthralls me. I stare at it and consider my options, though most times the words take over, and I am left without a say as to which direction the story goes. My words come out of me as if I were only but an intermediary between their will and their lives on the page. As I type away, my notebook lies untouched to my side, and I find myself going through it and crossing out things and rewriting other things to make them fit into the parameters I’ve set through the fervent onset of words filling up my screen. This onset, combatting the enveloping shroud of infinity, continues until I feel with every ounce of me to stop, and let it sit, and let the story be complete.
About Lance Umenhofer
Lance Umenhofer lives in Nashville, TN. He is 23 years old. He graduated from Belmont University (Nashville, TN) in May of 2012 with an English degree. He is the author of And the Soft Wind Blows, which is to be self published on April 20th, 2013.
You can read his blog at: thehorrornamedgruffalo.blogspot.com, which features all original poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and other miscellaneous writings.
And the Soft Wind Blows by Lance Umenhofer Amazon.com: Paperback |
Synopsis: Timmy Enosh is a peculiar, small man: fivethree, onehundredandfifteen pounds, and is a pharmacist in Ashton City, Tennessee. He finds himself at fortythreeyearsold as his life starts to fall apart: his threehundred pound wife disappears, his romantic interest has lost interest and has gained hatred toward him, his coworkers harass him, customers verbally assault him, and he has the strange urge to adopt his foulmouthed, eighteenyearold coworker, Alex. When things start to pile up, Timmy must find a way to deal: he turns to Alex to supply him with marijuana, starts sewing an elaborate Mr. Mistoffelees costume, finds solace in the wild, etc., etc., etc. And the soft, constant wind of change blows him on, on, and on.
I think that is the best way to write- to let the words flow out of you. Sometimes when you're trying to think up an idea, sure planning an initial concept is great, but it becomes really easy to start over thinking things. A story is like a child and the writer is the mother who gives birth to it. You nurture it and try to lead it down the path you think it should go but, in the end, the child will become its own person.
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That's probably a sincere way of getting a story written! Thanks so much for visiting :) I'll go and take a look over at your blog!
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