Puzzlement

Most stories come to the writer like a puzzle does. The box is the intention to create, the inspiration that comes like a present, unexpected in different sizes. Inside of that the idea, the character, the setting, a sentence or two jingle around in wait of a master puzzler to place them just....so, in the perfect position, till they reflect something complete and completely beautiful in it's solidity.

The difference is that, unlike the puzzles that come in boxes, the writer's puzzle has no clear number of pieces and no definite picture to create. Imagine the puzzle in which there is one piece left after you've completed the picture. A center piece, with a splotch of grey in no definitive shape, is looming in the shadows just out of reach of the lamp light.

Trying to write my latest "piece" feels just like this. The working and reworking of the pieces, nice pieces with clear lines to fit, seemed easy enough. They were already steadily becoming more visible for the last 4 years. I came close to finishing many times only to realize another piece, grey, shapeless, left out.

To some writers this puzzle is a challenge. No two writers would create the same story, novel, "picture" when presented with the same pieces. Teachers of creative writing classes offer this as exercise in their classes. A list of random words, images, sounds are presented for the class to "create something". The possibilities are endless. This thought is of course deeply inspirational and completely frightening. It is here where the pictures blur, the pieces loose color and for some they may as well have each piece from a different puzzle altogether in front of them.

This story is my baby. It is the one that constantly dangles in my mind, stopping any other creative ideas from coming. It whispers to me when I sleep. It wraps itself in time, both real and fictional. It adds pieces to the picture, or removes them when I'm not paying attention. Id sit to continue writing and realize that this is not the story at all. This is not what my character does nor does it link fluently with that they did before, this is a new piece of this puzzle. It is the shifting puzzle that can't seem to choose a picture once and for all.

This piece is my baby.