After my brash statements in my last post about being "back at it" and all that, I am ashamed to admit that I haven't been working on The Silent Goodbye as diligently as I should be. I can come up with all kinds of excuses but the simple fact is I am intimidated at the thought of writing the trial scenes, even with my sister's expert help, and therefore am stalling.

A terrible thing to have to admit, to be sure, but it's true. I revised the section including Gold's opening address to the jury immediately prior to my last post (and, hence, my optimism therein) but wrote what I think is a terrible opening statement by the Crown. It is so flat and uncreative, lacking in drama and pizzazz, that I'm quite embarrassed by it. It must be rewritten.

That being said, I'm a little scared at the thought of trying to rewrite it. I guess I have to force myself simply to sit down and hammer something out, then revise revise revise, get input, and revise some more.

It occurred to me that I am trying to write in one sitting an oral presentation that the Crown, herself, would probably spend a long time preparing. And she has all kinds of experience doing this kind of stuff. Maybe I just have to accept that I have to put in the same kind of work in preparation for writing the trial scenes that the various lawyers would put in to prepare for the actual trial.

Seems obvious, once I've written it out like that. It's kind of arrogant for me to have allowed myself to think for a minute that I could just sit down and, in a couple of hours, hammer out an effective, dramatic, realistic opening statement to a jury.

So it's back to work for me. And work it will be.

Tags: Phillip Gold