Swan Lake taught me that we can always go back again

I started writing a movie script once.  I made it over 40 pages in before I abandoned it for no good reason.

I had just moved to the Rochester area with my parents.  I didn't know anybody and didn't have a job so I figured it was the perfect time to focus on writing, which was always my passion.  I spent most of my days half-heartedly looking for work, but my evenings were spent at the Geneseo Starbucks sipping a pumpkin spice latte and tapping away at my keyboard.

If you could transport that Starbucks to Boston, I was pretty much living my dream life.  It was great.

I'd throw my headphones on and crank up "Swan Lake" by Madness.   It was the perfect tune to write to.  Upbeat, melodic, and lyric-less.  Sadly, I was only able to live that life for about a month before I had to surrender and get a job. 

I hadn't thought about that script, or those nights in Geneseo for a few years.  Until today.  On the ride home from work this evening I had my phone on shuffle and "Swan Lake" came on.  Brought me right back?  You bet it did!

The memories of the Starbucks were great, but it was my script that I was truly reminiscing about.  My execution was lacking, but the idea was brilliant.  Still is.  Coming up with stories and plotlines was always what I did best.  It was the other stuff, like words, that I struggled with.  I always thought that if I could team up with a technically sound writer that could help me plow through my stories, that we'd be able to churn out successful novels.

The script brought me back to my mindset at that time, too.  I was finally recovering from a long-term relationship (yes, I was the one that didn't want that to end).  But more than losing the girl, it was the life that we had planned, which we were on the cusp of starting, that took the longest to rebound from.  We were going to live in Boston, which is the part that still stings the hardest.  My whole life had lead up to me living in that city until the moment she took that all away from me.  I had tried to pull it off on my own, but just didn't have the means to do it.

I was in a bit of a dark place at the time.  Well, not dark.  I don't really have "dark" in my repertoire.  But I was in pain.  Most of the themes and ideas in my story were based on much of what I was going through.  It was a bit therapeutic.  Which, you know, is pretty much the art of writing.  In hindsight, abandoning that story probably had more to do with finally getting it all out on paper, and finally starting a new life, than anything related to my progress or writer's block.

On the drive home I rehashed the whole story in my head; from the opening scene to how I planned it all unfolding.  Spoiler alert: No happy endings in this one, gang!  Nearly a decade later, t's still a really great story.

My point here is that I think I'm going to take another crack at writing it.  It's a story that I want to tell.  One that I think people will enjoy and also relate to.  If you're wondering what it's all about, well, I can't say just yet.  I can tell you that it involves Boston, Starbucks, and a guy that wants to be a writer.

I know.  I know.  Let's all roll our eyes at once.  I was always told to write what I know.  Blame my teachers.