In My Head ≠ On the Page
Posted: April 14, 2011 Filed under: Writers Write | Tags: perception, writers, writing 3 Comments »I figured out why this book is taking so long to write. I have story. I have structure. I have characters. I have voice. But, the book on the page isn’t the same one that’s in my head.
In my head, I’ve made the quantum leap. The sound of the words, the way the story moves, the subtlety of foreshadowing–it’s all there. On the page, not so much. It’s like being a millionaire with all my money buried in the backyard. Sooner or later, I have to take the shovel and dig–then clean, count, and bank. Hey, it’s better to be rich than broke, but it’s still work.
I get blocked. It should sparkle. Instead, it’s what-fresh-hell-is-this? The truth is hard. I have work to do. And the discovery of that moment really sucks. Daily.
Light Up the Night
Posted: March 13, 2011 Filed under: Writers Write | Tags: creativity, family, perception Leave a comment »Last night, we went to Hemisfair Park for the annual arts party, Luminaria. I think of visual art as oil or watercolor or sculpture. These artists pushed through the conventional, creating with light, ice, and nature.
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Not a Skunk
Posted: February 19, 2011 Filed under: Joined at the Heart, Noxious Evils, Writers Write | Tags: family, perception, Trusting Your Instincts, writers, writing Leave a comment »I wore my shirt inside out most of the day yesterday. I got dressed in the dark because I didn’t want to wake Bacon. He’s on nights. I went for a two-mile walk. I took Coco’s inhaler to school and talked to Nurse Millie. I drove to a distant continent to buy veggies for the co-op. No one said anything.
On the way home I stopped for a train to pass. When I looked down, the buttons on my Henley weren’t visible. At first, I didn’t get it. Then, I laughed. People must think I’m crazy. My hair was wild–long and gray. My glasses were perched on my head. My clothes were inside out.
We are not meant to be nocturnal. Man is not a skunk wandering for miles in the dark. We need to see where we’re going. I don’t know the future, but it’s not building cars in a factory at night.
