Reflections on Writing

I have been a little slack with my posts lately--I'm sure there has been a noticeable drop in the frequency of my posts. To all who follow my blog with love, I apologize deeply. And here is a little treatise based on my ruminations on the subject.

I would like to say that my time is occupied with my writing. This is not strictly true, from a factual point of view--actually, very little of my time is spent writing. But when I say that, I mean that most of my own time--mental energy, really, because I don't have much actual spare time that isn't peppered with baby noises and bouncing monkeys on my knee--is immersed in my writing. Each unoccupied moment of mental spacetime is currently being dedicated to developing the stories.

I currently have seven books in the works. Seven stories, carefully filed in meticulous order, which I'm developing into books, bit by bit, as inspiration strikes. These are, for the most part, shelved projects, ideas which came to me months or years ago, and which one day will be published and marketed, and all of my faithful followers will receive an autographed copy...

But I am actually only working on two books at present. I wish I could tell all about them, but I won't, because it'll take up far too much time, more than I have at present I'm afraid. The kids will be coming home from their get-out walk in a while, and I'll have to be ready for them when they arrive. But here are the stories in a nutshell.

One book is the story of two families, neighbours, in the 1800's, and their lives. Hortense, the protagonist, is determined to be a missionary, even though she knows it will cost her everything. And Leopold, her neighbour, is in love with Hortense's sister Maxine. But his father has recruited him into a secret brotherhood, and now he must guard the secret of his profession--but it's destroying him from the inside.

Actually, it's going to be about three book-length volumes. I'm halfway through the second volume already. The inspiration for the story came in a haunting flash one day, while walking through the neighbourhood of Chilavert; I saw a house that had very strange-looking windows--they seemed to be bricked over. It was so intriguing, I dreamed about it several times, and finally decided to write a story. The working title of the book, in fact, is The Mysterious House with Missing Windows.

The second book is one I'm co-writing with my good friend Stevie. We each invented a character, and these characters write to each other--these letters will constitute the main body of the book, with very little, if any, surrounding narrative. We alternate writing one letter each week. I'm not going to give away the plot, nor even the characters of this book--but suffice it to say that it's going to be a veritable novelty.

One thing I've found to be essential in novel-writing is to, in essence, live your characters' lives. Get to know them as though you lived in their world--in other words, you have to write straight from your heart, from your own observations and conclusions, or you won't convince anybody else. And in the case of fiction, its reality must be lived in the heart and mind, either from experience or imagination, in order to be believable.

And to those among you who enjoy writing, but who aren't sure whether you possess the talent or not, my advice is to write. The first few pieces you write likely won't be entirely publishing-worthy, but you'll get better and better with practice. By practice, I mean make each piece your best piece. Don't bother writing just for silliness' sake--if you're going to spend the time and invest all that mental energy into your project, make it as best as you can. Who knows? You may be the next Agatha Christie.

Another thing: don't be afraid of corrections. I suggest taking one or two close friends, people you trust and who share your interest in the piece you're writing, into your confidence, and having them go over your work critically. Don't go around showing your work to everybody and trying to get as many opinions as possible: it can be so very discouraging to hear too many opinions on the subject, and doubtless some or most won't even be interested enough to make well-rounded suggestions, but will just comment according to the mood of the moment--which won't help you much at all.

One or two individuals will do splendidly, and you'll have the pleasure of knowing that somebody is truly interested in your work, and wants to help you make it reach its best potential. It's also an incentive to continue working on something even after the inspiration fizzles out, when you know someone is anxious to hear the rest of the story.

Finally, don't let the adage "do few things but do them well" bother you. If you have a penchant for writing, and you feel the storytelling urges but have no time to indulge, it may be that you have not divided your time correctly, or perhaps are squandering it in some unnecessary passtime. I, for example, dearly love to play Mah Jongg during my downtimes--but after an hour and a half of trying to beat my own records, I find I've neither contributed to society, nor grown in intellect, wisdom, or wit, nor produced anything worthwhile. So I have to force myself not to indulge in that game when I could be working on my book, or doing something else.

Finally, don't be afraid to make mistakes. It's okay to go back and change half the work you did on your piece if you think it can be better. Just remember to save a copy of the original so you can compare the different versions. Keep good records--I recommend uploading all your progress, or backing it up, to prevent losses in case of crashes or robbery.

Hey, bebe is squirming all over the place; I'd better rescue her. Love you all so much!