“Creativity is a continual surprise.”
Ray Bradbury

author: Nicole J. LeBoeuf

actually writing blog

Click for cover art notes. Too many to include here.
this fictionette is a week behind and ok with that
Fri 2015-03-27 23:48:56 (single post)
  • 916 words (if poetry, lines) long

Hey look! A Friday Fictionette! Just don't look too closely at the date. It was supposed to go up last week, but I only just finished it today. It's called "The Divorce Arch." It came from a from a writing prompt and a bunch of random thoughts that all coelesced into the question, "If you made divorce into a ceremony, like we already do with weddings, what would that look like?"

It was a fun question to speculate on--but I was uncomfortably aware that, since I've never dealt directly with divorce myself (and have no plans to at this time, thank you for your concern!), it will only be a matter of speculation to me. I was (and, honestly, I remain) worried that this rosy-hued vignette would look like some sort of prescriptive statement about divorce in the real world, which would be a grave disservice to everyone for whom it forms part of their life experience, and probably not a particularly enjoyable one. So this one went through a lot of drafts, a lot of restructuring, a change of main characters, and more overhauls than a vintage roadster, in my (perhaps futile) hope that the piece would infallibly come across as just these characters' experience and not me preaching about something I have no right to preach about.

(For what it's worth, I do think there should be the option of some sort of socially acknowledged ritual to commemorate the end of a relationship. It's a life-changing event, just like weddings are. But I would not suggest that every relationship ending calls for a ceremony and a party. Sometimes it's a tragedy; sometimes it's a relief. Sometimes it's something else entirely. How to view the relationship's end really should be up to the people involved in the actual relationship. That's my only point here, really.)

(Also, "hallmark cards for friends considering divorce". Somebody thought it was a thing enough to google it.)

All that aside, writing the last paragraph made me absurdly happy. And not just because it meant I'd finally finished the dratted thing, either.

So now I just have the one I was supposed to post today, and I'll do my darnedest to post it this weekend. I know, that's what I promised last Friday. But last weekend was very, very full and exhausting. This one's looking to go a little easier on me. I think I can fit it in.

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