End of the world as we know it
And I feel fine. This morning, when I woke up at the awful hour of 7:00 am (only awful because I wrote until 2:50 am and then couldn’t sleep until who knows when), the lake disappeared into mist halfway across. Sometimes this place really does feel apart from the real world. Quite often I suffer a sort of compression when I return to my life at the end of the week–a form of jet lag if you will.
Sunny outside
Anyway, now the view from my window is bright and sunny and I’m not totally hating what I have written so far. Last night I started the novel in contemporary omniscient, setting the scene, and then delved into single third, in Sera’s head. After getting frustrated (partly because I switched to past tense as well and I’m so used to writing in present), I started a second beginning (See previous post about my insane creative process) with classical omniscient and then into single third, present tense.
This morning, I sort of melded the two together by making the classical omniscient beginning into Sera’s journal entry. At one, I’ll see whether my small group thinks it is working.
The other thing I’ve had to think about is what question(s) I am going to ask the large group. I’m in charge of leading a group discussion about the writing process–and because I’ve done this for so many years, it’s hard for me to come up with something we haven’t discussed many times. So here is what my brain came up with during the wee hours of the morning.
My daughter recently told me she thought her life was boring, so she had decided to say “yes” to one thing a year that was outside her comfort zone. If you were to do this in your writing this week (and I do challenge you to do so) what might this “yes” look like?
Say yes
What draws you to write what you write? I want you to think about that in terms of the form (poetry, prose, short story, novel…), the tense, and the content. (go with what you are writing currently if that helps–each piece being rather individual, I understand)
What form will you choose?
Feel free to share your answers to these questions in the comments.
Happy writing! (or, if you can’t be happy about it, at least make it productive writing)
You did good with the debriefing. You inspired lots of spirited discussion. 🙂 (Which often means “arguing,” but not with this crowd.) Silly me, I only thought there was 1st person, 2nd person, and 3rd person. I’d like to say your previous post educated me, esp. on 3rd, but I only saw differences with little distinction. I guess I’ll just stick with what works for me. You have my sympathies on your efforts– but keep trying!
Thanks, glad you liked the discussion. Maybe to understand all the point of view stuff you have to try it. I think I’m getting a little better at it–at least, I’m getting better at knowing what the POVs are, even if I might not be finding them easier to write.
Sarah – Thanks for the topic. My comfort zone often shrinks during the school year so that the word “zone” might be an overstatement. “Yes” takes courage and some vulnerability whether it is to start something new or finish something older or step into a new skill that is a tangential part of the writing -> publishing process. Your work and your work ethic are inspiring.
It is difficult to try something new. I’m working in single-third and it feels so awkward and stiff. So glad I have writing group members who I trust to tell me if it is working. Right now, because it is so much more uncomfortable, it doesn’t feel like it is working to me. I’ll trust their opinion for now.
Glad you have the impetuous for moving outside your comfort.