It's a Process

The story begins with a leaf blowing in the wind. No, a leaf isn't right. The connotation is too upbeat. Some trash perhaps? The story begins with a crumpled-up newspaper blowing down the street. Nah, that doesn't flow very well, the words are too awkward together. And I liked "blowing in the wind" better. The story begins with an empty candy-wrapper blowing in the wind. It still doesn't flow very well. And stop with the hyphens. The story begins with a losing lottery ticket blowing in the wind. No, it still isn't right. It needs to be simpler, less specific. The story begins with a paper bag blowing in the wind. That's a little better. Paper is a little too fragile though. The story begins with a plastic bag blowing in the wind. Better, but I think I'm changing my mind on "blowing in the wind." Try something else. The story begins with a plastic bag blowing down the street. It's OK, but the bag doesn't blow, the wind blows. The bag is blown. The story begins with a plastic bag being blown down the street. That sounds way worse. The story begins with a plastic bag fluttering down the street. Fluttering? It's not a fucking butterfly. Check the thesaurus. The story begins with a plastic bag flapping in the wind. I don't like "flapping" either. I think this a dead end. Go back to "blow." The story begins with the wind blowing a plastic bag down the street. That focuses too much on the wind. The sentence needs to focus on the plastic bag. The story begins with a plastic bag. Ok, too much in the other direction, the bag is doing something. The story begins with a plastic bag flailing in the wind. I like "flailing" more than "blown." But a plastic bag won't flail in just a normal wind. It needs something more. The story begins with a plastic bag flailing in a powerful wind. That's too many adjectives. What's another word for "powerful wind?" The story begins with a plastic bag flailing in a tornado. Better, I like the storm. But I don't like the connotation of "tornado." Tornadoes are too narrow, too focused. The story begins with a plastic bag flailing in a rainstorm. "Rainstorm" is too light. The bag would just get bogged down by the water, it wouldn't flail. The story begins with a plastic bag flailing in a hurricane. Not terrible. I'm not thrilled with "flailing" and I'm starting to 2nd guess the plastic bag, but I think that's as good as it's going to get for now. It's a start, I guess.


The story begins with a plastic bag flailing in a hurricane. It........oh shit, it's past midnight already!? I have to get to bed. I'll pick this up later.