“The dragon sits by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go to the Father of Souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon.”
- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, instructing catechumens.
Okay.
Two Questions.
1) What is the dragon, to you?
2) Where are you on the road?
Personal questions, yes, and I am asking them only in a rhetorical fashion. But here’s the twist: I am not interested, really, in my dragons or yours, or where we are along the road.
What I am interested in, here, today, are the dragons of my characters. Just from the past week’s posts: What is Dennis Jannings’ dragon? Reginald Browne’s? The dragons of Scoba and Nestor Rennie? Do they see the dragon in the distance, or just up ahead? Is the dragon upon them, or have they successfully negotiated its jaws? How about Mar-Shadda? Believe it or not, he is not the dragon of the story. If I spent a little time, as little as ten or fifteen minutes, pondering these questions, how would I rewrite those posts / short stories? Would there be something to expand upon?
Dragons, ultimately, are tools. I now finally understand this.
- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, instructing catechumens.
Okay.
Two Questions.
1) What is the dragon, to you?
2) Where are you on the road?
Personal questions, yes, and I am asking them only in a rhetorical fashion. But here’s the twist: I am not interested, really, in my dragons or yours, or where we are along the road.
What I am interested in, here, today, are the dragons of my characters. Just from the past week’s posts: What is Dennis Jannings’ dragon? Reginald Browne’s? The dragons of Scoba and Nestor Rennie? Do they see the dragon in the distance, or just up ahead? Is the dragon upon them, or have they successfully negotiated its jaws? How about Mar-Shadda? Believe it or not, he is not the dragon of the story. If I spent a little time, as little as ten or fifteen minutes, pondering these questions, how would I rewrite those posts / short stories? Would there be something to expand upon?
Dragons, ultimately, are tools. I now finally understand this.
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