East Capitol Street on Halloween is mayhem. Not fun.
The good news is, so far (first day), I am having no problem writing fiction because, well, I'm just making it up! So I would not become self-conscious or yield to the urge to self-censor, I decided before committing a single word to "paper" that I would NOT reread the text, for the time being at least.
It's clear I'm still working through leftover trauma around my terrible marriage. It's kind of embarrassing. Only now, sixteen years after my divorce, I'm getting at a deep level how BAD that relationship was. Bloody hello. It takes writing a novel to figure it out? Wow.
The bad news is that I'm back to struggling with meditation. Sigh. My mind is no longer pure and clear when I think about the novel. Indeed the characters are rattling around inside my head, clamoring for my attention. In addition to my relationships with spirit guides, animal totems and the dead - and of course friends, clients, neighbors and family, I must now contend with a bunch of unruly characters, waiting to be written about. For heaven's sake!
I'm kidding of course. I'll go back to the Vipassana techniques during meditation, that's fine with me.
Writing a novel is fun! I highly recommend it! Happy November! Cheers.
However, rest and refuge can always be found at the house on Tennessee Avenue.
10 comments:
OMG, I tried to write several novels and they were about "something I knew" etc etc. I could never finish and it's probably because I would re-read and edit and then censor my work as crap. This has been going on for years.
Blogging has given me another outlet for my frustrated writing career. It has taught me not to edit too much, if at all. I often find my stream-of-conscious writing to be much better, more succinct than anything I might edit.
Blogging also teaches brevity although you'd never know from this response. Keep up the work Reya!
It sounds like it might be eventually therapeutic on some level, in addition to being fun.
My kid is doing a novel too - I decided to commit to at least writing every day of November. Happy writing! Alice Walker described her characters as being experienced as real people living their own lives, being channeled through her.
i am constantly in awe of all you take on!!!
absolutely love "I am having no problem writing fiction because, well, I'm just making it up!"
when i think of that pretty much characterizes my attitude about getting through life....
reya - i've thought often about a novel but the challenge of quelling the voices - man the voices that i already here mor than enough but reya yeah! they show up everywhere and whenever - or at least i figure they would and what i'm reading here is they need attention!!!! i'm still proud of being able to put together the very short pieces of thought that fill my blog. they're so like angels on the head of a pin though compared to a novel which is more like everything about who made the pin and then all that is in the world around them!!! steven
i'm walking that same path...both with the writing (and the way it's totally pouring out today - every time i sit down with my laptop!), and with the working through past relationships. These characters ARE an unruly bunch aren't they? (I think even more because i've melded several folks into one character a few times...All About Eve times three! No wonder they're demanding extra attention, right?)
cheers to you for stepping up to the challenge. see you on November 30!
All about Eve times three? OK. I want to read THAT book, definitely.
Steven yeah, give 'em an inch, they take a mile. We homo sapiens are so damn creative.
Deborah - yes yes yes yes. I'm just writing a novel, not trying, no goals, no hopes wishes or fears, just letting it flow. It's really fun!
Mary Ellen, YES. I counted words today but I'm going to dispense with even that rule tomorrow. 50,000 words or 5,000 or 500 - the process is very cleansing.
I love to read, but I can't imagine writing a novel. I'm in awe of anybody who tries it. Some part of any novel has to come out of personal experience, though, so I'm not surprised that you find yourself back in 1995. Good for you; I'm not sure I could do that.
Glad to hear it's happening now, and you're enjoying the process - despite the loss of that amazing meditation technique!
I can honestly say I've never had the slightest urge to write a novel, thank goodness...
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