The Old Man And The Sea
 | I love reading classics. This one is the perfect length - too long to be a short story and too short to be a novel. I don't know why publishers are so concerned about new authors fitting into the mandated novel lengths. Hemingway wrote what his heart dictated. It couldn't have been longer, or shorter. And people love this book. Isn't that all that's important?
I want to read the book to my son but it may be more practical to buy the cassette tape instead - then he can re-listen as many times as he likes. He's a fisherman - just like the main character in this book. My son (age 14 this year) came home after a day of fishing at our local park - right after I finished reading the book. I know he will love this story. When I told him about it he wanted to know what the fisherman used for bait! |
Aside from reading this - I started listening to my borrowed tapes of The Poisonwood Bible a few days ago. That book strikes me as being excellent and I want to listen to the rest soon.
Today (talking about Saturday July 17) I wrote the first draft of a young adult short story based on my daughter's life. She doesn't know about this yet. The story needs a rewrite before it can be shared. I realized I need to focus on the most exceptional part of the story to gain my reader's interest. What makes my character different? Why should people care enough to take time to read about this person? I'm getting it. I will rewrite.
This also made me re-evaluate a novel I wrote in 2001 - my first mystery, Escape (short temporary title). I realized that one character stands out as being the most interesting person in the novel. When I rewrite I will expand this character's role and put her in the first chapter. She may catch interest whereas my current main character tends to make me want to yawn. She will be a better person intertwined with the other character.
My word count for Saturday was 4328 words:
1204 - article about writing
1252 - short story
1872 - novel outlining and background material - mostly for Perfection
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