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Sat, Aug 30, 2025

5:47pm EDT

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Seven Degrees Left of Center

by Dale

Rated: 13+ · Book · Personal · #2276168

Each day feels new, and my memory of the one before is faint. I’m learning to adapt.

In September 2019, a seizure revealed a lime-sized meningioma pressed against my hippocampus—the part of the brain that governs memory and language. The doctors said it was benign, but benign didn’t mean harmless.

Surgery removed the tumor, and three days later I opened my eyes to a new reality. I could walk, I could talk, but when I looked at my wife, her name was gone. I called her Precious—the only word I could find. A failure of memory, yet perhaps the truest name of all.

Recovery has been less cure than re-calibration. Memory gaps are frequent. Conversations vanish. I had to relearn how to write, letter by halting letter. My days are scaffold by alarms, notes, and calendars.

When people ask how I am, I don’t list symptoms or struggles. I simply say, “Seven Degrees Left of Center.” It’s not an answer—it’s who I’ve become.

Note ▼

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

SandraLynn

about 6 hours ago
In response to "A good story gone wrong"

Writing is a process, isn't it? I believe the starts and stops happen for a reason. I hope those words reappear and behave this time.

Max Griffin 🏳️‍🌈

Aug 28, 2025 at 9:11am
In response to "Yesterday is gone"

Point of view, kind of like Rome, isn't learned in a day. It takes even longer for it to become second nature as you transcribe the internal movie that's playing your head to the page. I still catch myself sticking in little summary bits instead of staying in the character's head.

To answer Amethyst Angel 🌼

's question, modern novels do indeed more often than not have more than one point-of-view character. Romance novels will often alternate between the romantic leads, for example. SciFi, thriller, and mysteries often use multiple points-of-view--Lucifer's Hammer by Niven and Pournelle comes to mind. Mystery novels sometimes focus on just the detective, but other times use multiple characters. My own novel, Seeking Hyde, uses at least four POV characters. It even switches from 3rd person limited in one chracter's head to first person in a different character's head. Hemingway does something similar in To Have and Have Not.

Readers are delicate critters, and easy to confuse. Too many points of view, or poorly executed transitions from one point of view to the next, can be confusing. If you use more than one point of view--in a story or a novel--it's important that you use other tools to be sure that your reader doesn't get lost in the dust.

The most common "rules" are, first, one point of view per scene; and, second, only one point of view per short story. But...I have a little rock I keep on my desk with the word "nothing" engraved on it to remind me that "nothing is engraved in stone." Everything depends on context. The second rule, for example, depends on the story. "A Rose for Emily," by Faulkner, uses more than one point of view.

Point of view is a tool--a big tool, to be sure--but it's just a tool. It's one of the most powerful tools you can deploy in bringing your fictional world to life in the readers' imaginations. In doing that, it keeps your reader enmeshed in the here-and-now of your story. It also takes time and practice to deploy consistently and effectively.

Ok, I'll shut up now.

1 Like

Amethyst Angel 🌼

Aug 28, 2025 at 8:18am
In response to "Yesterday is gone"

Best wishes for getting it to stick! 3rd person limited is my favorite PoV, taught by my mentor, Max Griffin 🏳️‍🌈

. It's quite useful for most situations, although I question the single-minded perspective for an entire novel. I'll have to ask him about that... Do modern novels work with several different characters, all in their own 3rd person limited chapters? Or what?

Take care

bobaturn

Aug 25, 2025 at 10:17am
In response to "Influence and Encouragement"

A powerful life story reflecting strength and courage offering an intimacy with challenge. Admiration can be a way of distancing myself from taking the action I must to deal with my own. Hopefully, writing about them will help me connect and take action. Take care and thank you for reflecting back what it takes.

bobaturn

Aug 25, 2025 at 10:17am
In response to "Influence and Encouragement"

Jeff

Aug 23, 2025 at 11:57am
In response to "The fight between "complexity vs. simplicity""

I really like this way of thinking about one's writing. Very insightful!

Lazy Writer est 4/24/2008

Aug 21, 2025 at 6:59pm
In response to "A note about AI and breandammage"

I had never thought of grammerly as
Ai. But i guess it is..i have used it also to check spelling etc.

Amethyst Angel 🌼

Aug 21, 2025 at 5:43pm
In response to "A note about AI and breandammage"

As long as you acknowledge it, it's perfectly ok. Thanks for being upfront

Wordsmitty ✍️

Aug 18, 2025 at 6:43pm
In response to "My morning"

Sometimes I hit so early that I find later I posted it in the wrong place.

Wordsmitty ✍️

Aug 16, 2025 at 5:22pm
In response to "Writing a Blog Post with AI: A Meta Experience"

Interesting. I've read about how AI can be used as a tool. The trick will be to make sure that the idea, theme, plot and characters are mostly yours rather than the AI really writing it.

August 30, 2025 at 9:41am

#1096171

A good story gone wrong

My story lost its appeal because I made numerous undocumented changes. These overwhelming adjustments turned a good story into a confusing one.

This happened because I made too many changes too quickly without managing versions. Combined with my memory issues, it led to chaos. Despite this setback, I still like the story and will start over, almost from the beginning.

I will fool myself into saying today is a version 2.0; hell, I don’t remember what I did yesterday anyway. Version 1.0 still exists, so all is not lost. Unfortunately, my writing style before the tumor was a pantser. Now I really need to learn how to be a plotter. Or at least find a middle ground somewhere between.

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