Thursday, July 24, 2008

Pure Evel - Explained

I tried to fit way too much story into two few words. My original draft was five hundred words long and I had to cut it in half for submission.

When I first saw the picture of the motorcycle, my mind leaped instantly to daredevils and specifically Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel. I'm not an Evel Knievel or a daredevil expert at all. I did some quick internet research to give myself some basis to churn out a story.

I decided to eulogize Evel, who passed away last year, with my story. The best way I could do that was to imagine what his arrival in heaven would be like. If I were Evel, what would I want eternity to be? Daredevil jumps, of course!

So, I decided it would be perfect if, in heaven, God (or the boss) set aside a 'customized 'little piece of heaven' for every deserving soul. Then, he'd commission a few archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael) to design and build upon that piece of heaven.

All that was left was for the boss to do a final inspection and for St. Peter to bring the new arrival in.

I thought it was a fitting eulogy. Having to cut the entry down to 250 words removed a lot of the subtle hints I gave regarding the setting. Ultimately, I feared many people would not pick up on what I was saying.

Still, I really enjoyed entering and I had fun working past the block that has been plaguing my writing. It was definitely a fun learning experience.

4 comments:

24crayons said...

Ha! I was still missing some of it, and now I get it all!

Parabolist said...

As long as we're all now on the same page :P

Mr. T said...

The agnostic in me couldn't grasp that part of the story. I couldn't decide if it was God or not.

Sheri Perl-Oshins said...

I feel so stupid, because I did read the story that way at all. I think I got tired reading so many in a short time so I wouldn't fall behind the mass of entries. But your concept is great! I love it. And it is really hard to tell a stoy in 250 words! Picture Book writers do it all the time. but I write middle grade novels so I am not great at the flash fiction stuff...