OptionalFiction

I was willing to give the woodcarver another chance to redeem himself after yesterdays transgressions. I had gotten feedback that he didn't deserve the ending he'd gotten. Rather, he should've been more developed as a character, or gotten a lighter punishment or ambiguous ending. I do partly share the criticism and think the last few lines were the weakest part of yesterdays entry. Today I tried to try out another style of narration; First person, present tense. It gave me more room to explore the inner life of the old woodcarver. I really enjoyed finding his backstory and exploring his perspective on that same event. Painting him to be more sympathetic also inevitably made him incredibly weak and frail. Suddenly, a cracked skull didn't seem an appropriate end anymore. It was fun to deviate from the plot and change that ending. I'll definitely have to revisit the idea of retelling stories from different perspectives or different plots. Reminds me of Yasmina Reza's “Trois versions de la vie” which I recently saw.