A Writer's Notebook, Day One-Thousand-Five-Hundred-And-Sixty-Two

I think that I was correct when I suggested that the biggest thing holding me back with the novel is just finding time to really focus on it more.  There is beginning to be a bit more momentum in the action, and the comedic tone is starting to really come through, I think.  I know that much of the early work on this piece was kind of floundering, and I am not entirely certain about where or how the book will begin, or even how much of what I have written so far is really going to be part of the final piece, but I am now at a point where I feel more on solid ground with it.  In truth, I suspect much of my uncertainty has been held over from starting in that way, but I think that being more aware of that will be helpful in shifting my attitude.  I also need to recognize that I know what I need to in order to write this story.  When I started, there were a lot of things that still felt nebulous to me about what I was writing and where it was going, but since then I have figured out a lot of the big picture stuff and have a much better sense of the plot.  I feel that, at this point, I am just as prepared as when I wrote my previous novels, but I am still feeling as if I am not right now.  I think it is just, as I said, a holdover from when I was starting, and I think it is starting to shift.  Working on it tonight I felt myself getting into the flow with it.  Really, I just need to focus on keeping myself at it.  I know that, as long as I keep working on it each day, as I have been, I will find my way through to the end.

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