The snapshot image seems to be working for today. I can see that my voice is all over the place, but will not worry about that just yet. Because of the subject matter I'm also having to write highly emotional experiences that I know nothing about, and I hate feeling like I'm trolling other people's crises and tragedies for plot points. It's very difficult to be honest, sensitive, real, and thorough if you haven't experienced something yourself--it can be done, and has been done, but rarely, because it means the writer has to work overtime from every conceivable angle, plus ferreting out all the angles most people would never think of. I know I get angry when I see writers skimming through a story, all moaning and whining dramatically over stuff I live every day when they clearly haven't got a clue. So in this ms I'm trying to back off that as much as I can--and probably ending up half@ss and wimpily in the middle.

If you get down to it, I suppose all fiction is really trolling and dramatic moaning and whining. That doesn't absolve us of responsibility, though.