Writing from afar

Just finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett and absolutely loved it. At the end, she includes a personal story and says, "I wrote The Help while living in New York, which I think was easier than writing it in Mississippi, staring in the face of it all. The distance added perspective. In the middle of a whirring, fast city, it was a relief to let my thoughts turn slow and remember for a while."

I have written a short story set in Santa Cruz while I lived there. I am now writing a novel set in Nevada City while I am in Honolulu. For me, I like both ways. Writing from up close can feel pleasantly like an exercise. You can go to the location and describe what you see. Inspiration can flow a little easier.

Being farther away, I set the scene using what stands out the most to me and what seems most important, through the lens of memory. I'm nomadic, so I'm sure in my life, I'll write about where I am and sometimes about where I've been.

Where it's all going down!

So this is (me and) the journal I found to write my research notes and actual scenes in (yes, I'm working on paper again, I just can't help myself!)....

The pink camouflage is actually perfect for the subject of my book, which I will share at some point in the future....

So that's all! Just a pointless post to show you my pink journal. How obsessed am I? Well, now I'm off to the library downtown to work on a scene with 8 new characters! Eek! Major challenge!

Happy Hump Day and Pi Day!

Losing frenzy, gaining trust

I have completed the research for my 2nd book (subject to be announced at a later date) and am 42 pages into my rough draft. As I work, I am struck by the gifts my journey of the last year has given me.

The franticness and frenzy is gone. I don't feverishly write down ideas at 2 a.m. Instead I ponder them for a moment, and let them go, knowing that if they are good ideas they will come back to me in the morning, probably with a new spin or quality enhanced by the nature of my dreams.

I trust myself a lot more. Knowing what I do now about the editing process (how anything can be rewritten, overhauled, moved or re-imagined), I have taken a lot of pressure off the rough draft stage. Instead of worrying about how I will perform in a certain scene, I trust that good dialogue or descriptions will come to me, or I trust in my ability to get down a rough sketch of the scene and then to fill it in when I edit.

Overall, the effect is that I am still excited, still passionate, but just a little more experienced, calmer, and less nervous. My personal growth has enhanced my writing process--just one of the ways that I celebrate the interconnectedness of life.