In the Shadow of Leviathan

Writing is always a fluid process... which is probably just a nice way of saying that writers have a tendency to suddenly change directions and go galavanting off in some new direction, either pursuing inspiration or fleeing from the dreaded menace of "writer's block". I've been struggling a bit with Skin Deep, to the point of having drafted two extremely distinctive approaches to the exact same story, and that's usually a bad sign. When a story stalls out, sometimes its a lot like a car with an empty tank of gas: until it gets a fresh tank, it won't move any faster than you can push it, and a lot of times its just not possible to push it where you need it to go.

Diversion has arrived in the form of a couple of story writing contests, including one involving an upcoming theme issue of On Spec magazine. The theme for submissions is "In the Shadow of Leviathan", and I figured I'd give it a try and see how it goes. The various interpretations and mythologies of Leviathan, combined with the broad scope that On Spec has left available for the theme, should make for some interesting stories. Maybe mine will get to be one of them; either way I figure I'll give it a shot.

So Skin Deep is going on the shelf for a month at least; whether it will bloom or fester there only time will tell. Meanwhile, my creative energies are going to be diverted to breathing life into my own spin on Leviathan... which will, most likely, contain many of the darker aspects that come from "writing in shadows".