RE: The Gods of Love and War - Part 1 (Short Fiction)
It was a bit cathartic too. Not that it's an autobiography. But as with all writings there are elements of the writer in them. There is a lot of me in the narrator. The story itself is fictional and used as guide to explore the central theme. I had the title a long time ago. Maybe even years ago. But no clue as to how I wanted to express what that title meant to me, not until a few days ago. And then like lightning it just struck, and the words flowed rapidly. So clearly my subconscious has been bottling up some of what came out in that story.
I wanted to build a world around the narrator, and tell a story through these women he knows, and these relationships he gets involved in. But its his story, and these women all reflect an aspect of himself back to him. The question is will he ever realise that?
So it became like building blocks, and each episode/relationship (6 in total) needed to logically flow from the last, and lead to the next. As well as act as a kind of it's own short story in a way. Hook, and ending that are themselves compelling.
I think I have succeeded in this regard. But I had to push myself to write that level of intimacy/vulnerability. Glad I did though.
And very happy to read your wonderful thoughts on this story, and what it meant to you. Truly grateful.
Yeah, I wanted to point it out as well. He's painting his story through his different relationships with these women. I just commented on part 2, too. It's so thrilling going from one to the next. Their distinct characters tell more about how the character reacts to the world around him.
I get how he's a shard of you, as you know that I do that with my stories as well. It's great how this is cathartic and entertaining at the same time. A rare mix!
I wrote this in one sitting, so it really flowed well, and reads well as a unit. At almost 5000 words the complete story was too much for one post. Fortunately I wrote it in such a way that I could logically break it into components that fit well together. I was first going to split it two ways and include Grace's story in the first part. But it just didn't sit right with me. She needed Zoe to balance her section. So I guess it does read well in 3 parts, as it is now. But reading it in one sitting allows you to get the full picture, the flow of this man's life and struggles.
It ended up being like a trilogy, with the 3 section having their own style or tone to them. The first was more the sex/love thing. The 2nd is more the covert/overt type of suppression. As for the 3rd, well we'll see :)