I haven't posted. I haven't written. It's all work, work, travel, work. It's OK. It pays the bills and I have obligations. I've been plugging away at Chapter 11 and even though I've only managed a couple of hundred words each time I've found some time to work on it, it's moving forward. I had an appointment this week that gave me an entire hour to myself. I didn't read or work. I closed my eyes and developed a character that makes an appearance soon. I can't remember when I had an entire hour with nothing to do but sit and think about my story.
I love Aimee Mann. Unfortunately, you don't get to see a video with this YouTube movie, but you do get to hear one of my favorite songs of hers. I listened to it and realized how much the song ties into my emotional state when I'm feeling especially fragile about my writing. At this point, I'd be grateful to feel fragile about it if it meant I'd find the time to do it. But Saturday is almost here...
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Deathly - Aimee Mann
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16 comments:
Hang in there Lisa! It's amazing how hard we can be on ourselves. You juggle a lot with the writing and the full-time job--give yourself some credit and think about all you've accomplished in the last year. The rest will come. I'm sending you some zen this morning...hope it helps!
Lisa--kristenspina says it well. In spite of all your busyness, you managed to put together a very thoughtful post about creativity. I'll be looking forward to your next chapter. Tracy made a critical decision last time--I'm sure this isn't an easy one to write.
I hope you get some rest as well this weekend.
Sounds like you're doing the right thing adding to it in small amounts. It'll get there! Have a good weekend.
All good advice from Kristen, Steve, and Julie. I'll add only that I always thought it was crazy it took me so many years to write my first book, but my life and I changed so much during that period; certain elements of the book wouldn't exist if I'd written the whole thing in a blind hurry. Some things just need to be discovered in their own good time. K.
Work. I like mine, but it does get in the way of blogging. Sigh -:)
I haven't been too productive on the novel this last week,either, but you're right - the weekend is almost here! And I hope I can get LOTS of writing done then!
I'm so out of it on music. I don't think I've ever heard the name amiee mann before.
Hey, I get to sign the word verification of "chump." How did it know?
Lisa, first off - I love Aimee Mann - love her voice. My favorite is her rendition of One is the lonieliest number.
Second, feeling fragile is so normal. But I think you should also feel proud. You are an excellent writer. This whole Dickens challenge has proved it. I love your writing. I wait excitedly for every chapter you post. And you know I am very open and honest in what I say. So enjoy your weekend!
Hope you fully enjoyed that hour & that you get many more soon!
Lisa, it's Friday night and I just found this post...guess my time has been spent in India among other places. ;) Hope tomorrow takes you wherever you need to go. We'll be here waiting and listening to Aimee.
Kristen, The Zen always does me some good! Thanks for helping me put things in perspective.
Steve, I see Chapter 13 is up and I plan to read it this weekend. I can't wait. I think I'll have my next one up by tomorrow night (fingers crossed). We have a friend coming to spend the night so we'll see...
Julie, It feels better to do a little than none at all. At least it alleviates the guilt.
Karen, You bring up a good point. I think these things happen at the rate they are meant to, don't they?
Billy, I do like having an income -- I haven't figured how to have that without the work infringing on my time though :)
Melissa, I'm hoping to get some uninterrupted time today...
Charles, "Chump" -- that's too funny! I forgot I turned on that word verification -- damn spammers pushed me into a corner! If you ever saw/see the movie, "Magnolia", all the songs (except for Supertramp and one other) are Aimee Mann. That's how I found her.
Ello, I just love her and I love that she's one of the recording artists who has branched away from the big labels and she does her own thing. Thanks so much for saying such nice things about my writing. Some days it really feels like gibberish to me :)
Lana, It was amazing! And I thought to myself what a terrible thing it is that one hour to just sit and think and be was so foreign to me. We all ought to do it now and then -- not nap or listen to music, but just lie there with our eyes closed and think.
Larramie, I am so looking forward to my trip to India, although I know I need to carve out plenty of time to see it the way I want to. Aimee is great -- I really relate to her music.
Even a crawl is progress.
Hi Lisa,
Hope all is well. I just finished Atonement. What a fantastic work. McKewan seems supernaturally talented to me. I'm now reading a nonfiction work about pyschology and technology called Natural Born Cyborgs, but after that I'm going to read a book called High Rise by J.G. Ballard. I've never read anything by him, and I've read he's quite something.
Anyway, what's new with you? I stopped myself from reading the rest of the chapters you've posted because I want to read it all at once, after it's done. Of course, there should be no rush to finish (although it is probably a tendency to want to get to the end). Maybe there should be a rush not to finish and to craft it continually. I don't know. I'm not a professional writer like you.
Greg
EOH, That's a great point and one that I've been trying to stay focused on. Rather than bemoan the fact that I'm not making more progress more quickly, I like to think it's a plus that I'm making incremental progress. I'll take what I can get!
Greg, I'm so glad you loved Atonement and I feel the same way about Ian McEwan. I really think he's the greatest living writer in the English language right now. Don't worry about keeping up with the chapters (especially since I've been bogged down and not posting as regularly as I'd like to). My approach is that these chapters are all first drafts and at whatever point that I decide to go back and start going through for a second pass, I know that lots of things will change and evolve. The juggling act is to try to get an entire first draft finished so there is something to then go back and revise. And -- I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I'm so NOT a professional writer, just a dedicated apprentice.
No need to feel fragile about your writing - you have accomplished so much with this blog.
I totally agree with that last comment, Lisa. You're certainly no amateur with all the creative writing you've already done. Who needs labels, anyway?! K.
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