- 06 Nov, 2025 *
I am glad I chose a subject near and dear to my heart for this Writing Month.
I plan to sit down and line up my thoughts about the election results today, but I want to do that with a clearer head. Between essays and DnD, I’m a little too spent to write a diatribe on politics. So, why not instead talk about where a lot of my emotional and narrative energy was spent today – Deep in the Heart of Texas. Specifically, I want to write about the secondary protagonist - Griffin.
There are two protagonists, but Claire is the primary one. She has the majority of POV chapters (five out of the seven that have been written) and those two chapters only contribute 1320 words out of the 8000+ that are in the narrative so far. It is mostly her story and struggles as a firs…
- 06 Nov, 2025 *
I am glad I chose a subject near and dear to my heart for this Writing Month.
I plan to sit down and line up my thoughts about the election results today, but I want to do that with a clearer head. Between essays and DnD, I’m a little too spent to write a diatribe on politics. So, why not instead talk about where a lot of my emotional and narrative energy was spent today – Deep in the Heart of Texas. Specifically, I want to write about the secondary protagonist - Griffin.
There are two protagonists, but Claire is the primary one. She has the majority of POV chapters (five out of the seven that have been written) and those two chapters only contribute 1320 words out of the 8000+ that are in the narrative so far. It is mostly her story and struggles as a first year middle school English co-teacher. Admittedly, it may be a little unrealistic that a rural exurb of Austin would have five sections of co-teacher supported 8th grade English, but I really wanted the forced proximity that would come from the work assignment.
But, this post is about Griffin Harris. He is a fourth year English/Language Arts teacher and lives a fairly isolated life. He’s not modeled after me, but he does have some aspects of me in him. He’s politically liberal, but he lives in a fairly red district. He is a true believer in public education, but struggles emotionally and mentally with how bleak it can be in a rural district.
Outside of work, he maintains a second job tutoring students in China in English (a side job I’ve actually worked) to make ends meet. His chapters are cathartic for me as well because it’s a mirror of my own struggles with depression, proclivity toward isolation, and hopelessness. He is also processing the recent loss of his mother, who was his closest family.
Prior to his mother’s death, he was a member of a trio of friends: Savannah and Cristian, the other two members of the 8th grade English team, who are also around his age. As much as I want to showcase the difficulties and challenges in public education, I want to show how teachers can form strong communities of support, as well as the positive aspects of the profession.
While I am excited to get to know Claire, Griffin is an avenue for me to explore some of my deeper mental health challenges.
I am currently at 8361 / 50000. Slightly above my goal by 30 words. I hope to get ahead this weekend and build up a buffer.
Thanks for reading, if you made it to this point.