A Writer's Notebook, Day Seven-Hundred-And-Eleven

I spent a lot of time today considering the idea for that new collection I mentioned, and I think I am getting a better grasp on it, though I am not certain yet, as some of the ideas are convoluted as a result of their being sort of interconnected and recursive.  It gets difficult to lay down what the basics for an idea when it is not just a single, straight line, but I am beginning to understand it in a deeper way.

It also seems clear that things in that story are progressing in new and interesting ways.  The direction still feels in line with ideas I had about what was coming, but things are exaggerating and warping in ways I had not expected, but which are moving the narrative forward in a way that I had not anticipated, yet it is all within the concepts I had been considering, and seems to build on details and concepts I didn't realize I was seeding in the work already.  It is a strange process, and I keep writing about it because that kind of magical moment where things line up seems to feel like connecting with some larger intelligence, or with a greater aspect of self, but is also easy to dismiss just as quick, as if it is just a coincidence, and the not knowing which it is, whether it is improvisation that comes from understanding all these random details, or if it was a thing that had been intended on some level, it is not possible to know, and it often feels as if it is both and neither at the same time.  I only know that I trust when I follow this aspect of the experience, that I believe it helps me to cultivate work I am proud of and which I believe is of value in the world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Writer's Notebook, Day Two-Hundred-And-Fifty

Each of the three pieces I wrote today was a bit of a struggle to get going, if I am honest.  That happens, as I have mentioned, and my answer is generally to just wait it out, and the results vary.  A lot of the time, if I am really stuck, I might try to force something out, often it winds up being a bit meta, with me writing about being stuck without much in terms of inspiration, and it feels a bit like I am working scales in a way.  All the aesthetic decisions are there, they just don't always have a lot of purpose behind them, and that is fine in that context.  Essentially, I am just forcing myself to do the work, and getting it done, and I am showing myself that I can and will do it even if inspiration never strikes.  This can often take pressure off, and that lack of pressure opens up creative thinking and inspiration. Now, that is a fine thing for me to do, and I am likely to use that approach again many times in the future, but today I felt that I want...
Read more

Le Guin, Steering The Craft, Chapter Five: Adjectives and Adverbs (Exercise Five, Chastity)

A note of apology for my lateness with this.  I had expected to have time earlier in the day, but it was not to be, alas.  Anyhow, I am still a bit nervous about this exercise, though it is clearly of significant import to Le Guin, as she points out that it is the only exercise that she has given to all of her workshops.  That, of course, does not alter my feelings about it, excepting that I am aware of it as something valuable and worth doing, so the fact that it is a bit daunting might well be seen, through that light, as a promise of reward, perhaps.  The more difficult the task, the more one has to gain, at least by some logic... Exercise Five: Chastity Mr. Torino was in charge.  He had his way.  It was the way.  Desktops are clean.  Nothing but work.  No pictures: not your kids; not your girl or wife; not (as Allen recounted) your car.   None of that.  No plants.  No cartoons.  That is for home, this is work....
Read more

A Writer's Notebook, Two-Thousand-And-Fifty-Nine

I have been thinking about how I can discuss certain aspects of my poetry and the choices I make as a writer.  In particular, I tend to write without as much reliance on sensory details and descriptions, instead choosing more abstract depictions.  This is something that I know many writers would call an odd choice, as specificity seems inherently to demand the application of detail, but I tend to be a bit hesitant about relying on depictions that utilize the senses, as I find that approach somewhat problematic.  For one thing, sensory description is always going to be less than universal, and not only because of the reality that there are individuals who lack one or more sense.  In many ways, for me, the deeper problem is one related to language itself.  Our use of language creates our experiences in a very real way, though I can't necessarily offer a full explanation of what I mean by that right here, but using a word for an object bestows qualities on it....
Read more