The Forces of My Writing

The forces of my writing -the power of my words -could swallow me whole if I let them. But I’ve learned to taper them. Tape them to walls and use them to patch holes in my heart and my thighs and the small of my back -the place he never brushed to gently guide me -a girl unguided -picking up rocks to leave a trail for no one to nowhere -but up is some where -I just cant leave rocks -that’s why I leave words.

About Reading and Writing

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” – Robert Frost

My first question, is there such thing as too many surprises? I like surprises, but I also like to know things. I do appreciate a good surprise cry in a story. oh. I really like when I’m so interested in what’s going to happen that I can’t stop reading. Now that I’m writing this, I’m realizing I’m due for a nice long reading session where I read, eat, read again, nap, and finally read again hopefully to the end of the story.

What’s the last book you read?

My last read was The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig

James Baldwin

“One writes out of one thing only—one’s own experience. Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this experience the last drop, sweet or bitter, it can possibly give. This is the only real concern of the artist, to recreate out of the disorder of life that order which is art.” — James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son

Sometimes James Baldwin hits the nail right on the head; this quote is one of those moments. His understanding of the human experience, the written word, and the words that come out of his mouth are all so poetic. Not that he’s perfect, but he says things that inspire me to be a better writer.

Who inspires you to write?

George R.R. Martin on Types of Writers

“I think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many rooms are going to be in the house, what kind of roof they’re going to have, where the wires are going to run, what kind of plumbing there’s going to be. They have the whole thing designed and blueprinted out before they even nail the first board up. The gardeners dig a hole, drop in a seed and water it. They kind of know what seed it is, they know if planted a fantasy seed or mystery seed or whatever. But as the plant comes up and they water it, they don’t know how many branches it’s going to have, they find out as it grows. And I’m much more a gardener than an architect.” – George R.R. Martin

This is such a great description of the two types of writers out there. For those planters out there, what seeds are you planting? I planted an experimental fiction seed, and it’s a toss-up between horror or historical fiction later. But who knows, maybe it will be full-blown nonfiction.

Happy Autumn!

Today is the Autumn equinox!

“A carefully worded answer is that on Sunday, Sept. 22, at 8:44 a.m. Eastern daylight time (5:44 a.m. Pacific daylight time) autumn begins astronomically in the Northern Hemisphere, and spring in the Southern. At that moment, the sun would be shining directly overhead as seen from a point in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, 461 miles (743 km) south-southwest of Monrovia, Liberia.” -Space.com  

It’s literally fall, and the temperature was perfect today! It was so perfect that I wanted a warm drink with my iced one. I’m just happy we get to keep moving forward in life. There’s no time to stay stuck in one season when we have plenty more changes ahead!

The Call

“The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.”
–Albert Camus

We don’t have to be part of the generation that destroys itself; there is infinite hope on the horizon and a collective of creatives all over the world that we can embrace. We have options and we have ways to lift our voices, through dialogue, innovation, and the power of community. We must remember that our voices can inspire others to join the cause. Don’t we owe it to ourselves and future generations to take action and create a better world?

Editing My Way

“I have rewritten — often several times — every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, Speak, Memory

One of the ways I edit best is to print out my work and mark it up in pencil. A pencil with a good point on it works best for me. Sharp points help because I add rewritten sentences into the small spaces. That’s my way. Finding my own method to edit has really helped me through this process. I still have some editing ahead of me, but it feels much less than 6 months ago. Now it’s feeling likes bite sizes instead of huge chunks.

Do you have an editing routine that works for you?

Friends and Family

Good friends and supportive family are the zest of life.

Life surely is richer with family and friends. I love hearing about their days, their come ups, all the news. It brings me so much joy. I’m not always able to get out and do things, but I sure do want to keep in touch. I also love the ones who me cheer them on. If I ever get poorer or richer, or stay the same, I just hope I still have my friends and family by my side.

Writing Check In

The editing process is moving along. I found some work I need to focus on, but it will probably be fixed in one or two writing sessions. I’ve gone through about 35k words, give or take, which is the first two parts. The last part is the screenplay, which I’m not fully satisfied with yet. But wow, I can’t believe how far I’ve come with this novel. So many elements I’m proud of. I’ve connected deeply with my characters and the worlds they live in. I’m not sure I’m ready to be finished yet.

How’s your writing coming along?