STORYSPACE: Well yes, I should have, but…
The idea for the story was right there in the park in Pittsburgh. The visuals, the things I watched and thought about that blossomed into concrete narrative right there in front of me. Back and forth I wondered whether I should take a few pictures; the pigeon, the people, the shoe.
No! the purist in me shouted. You are a writer first and foremost and should not need the graphic image to enhance the story. You should be able–if you’re any good at all–to draw the images with words.
Well, I can try to do that, yes. The problem though is that I’ve just considered that this will be a short story in Storyspace (because that’s the form the story seeks and wants itself to be!). And then it comes to me that perhaps this particular story is the perfect vehicle for implementing the audio and visual opportunities of Storyspace that I’ve wanted to play with way back when.
The sound is humming in my mind, the pictures flashing through; and here I sit without a single dopey pigeon picture.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology