I've been reading "The Accidental" by Ali Smith. This is that novel with the William Eggleston photo on the cover. It took me a while to get into it but I like the story and there have been some beautiful passages so far. Recently, the book has taken a turn that I am finding hard to get past. The writer has experimented with structure in a way that makes sense for the story but I find hard to take. Admittedly I am in no place to criticize writing. I had the hardest time of my life this week (slight exaggeration), writing a personal essay-style piece for a magazine assignment. I think I cared about this one a little too much -- extracting words from my brain was akin to pulling teeth. I have never enjoyed visits to the dentist but I like healthy teeth.
I don't have time left to continue contemplating the lameness of that last line (above) since I've been procrastinating facing this thing for the last 2 hours. As soon as I hit 'save' here I will take one last pass of the article before sending it off. I really like the first 400 words although there is a controversial line that I worry will be axed and/or possibly upset the editor. I'm more nervous than I anticipated. Hold me.