Work ln Progress

Consistent with Vivian Gornick's "idea of self," Work In Progress is, in many
ways, a classic coming-of-age story in which the boy, Nicky, along his life-journey,
struggles to discover who he is. If Work In Progress is unusual, it is in the degree and the
detail that it delves into its major themes, which I discuss below. Second, Work in
Progress is unusual in the number of purposeful stylistic variations employed across the
project's books.
Nicky's story is told in seven books, each of which is a standalone, personal
essay. Through the books the reader is provided an episodic snapshot of Nicky's life.
Each of the snapshots facilitate a particular view of Nicky, each is a jigsaw-puzzle-piece
that, when snapped together with the other puzzle pieces, form a single, holistic image of
the boy and his search for self I provide an overview of each of the seven books below.
I am also endeavoring to write Work in Progress on three levels: The first level is
the compelling, personal level that draws the reader to the individual, Nicky, and the
group of supporting characters. The story has to be compelling enough to pull the reader through the various stylistic iterations of each of the different books. Second,
through the exploration of the major themes of institutionalization, abuse, religion, and
racism (including the offshoots: race-based self-hatred and the discrimination within
races that Alice Walker cans colorism), I attempt to raise the story up to another level, a
level of universal applicability. Specifically, I want the everyday reader, the reader who
has not suffered these circumstances to know them through the reading experience, and,
consequently, to relate to and with Nicky. Toward this end, I use every narrative tool and
technique at my disposal including utilizing reflection in the form of stream of
consciousness and dreams, for example, to put the reader into the experience instead of
telling the reader what the protagonist is thinking. I also maximize the use of scene,
imagery, metaphor, and dialogue, to show the reader, and to allow the reader to come to
their own conclusions.