60,000!
Announcer: Congratulations, you've reached 60,000 words! Tell her what she's won, Bob!
Bob: Faye McCray, you've have won complete OBSESSION with your novel! OBSESSION comes equipped with sleeplessness nights, distracted conversations, using your husband and his body parts to heighten your description writing capability and the ability to turn every single conversation into conversation about your novel!
Wooo hooo!!
I am well on my way to completion, folks and I am feeling more and more like the hippie artist I always hoped I was. Yesterday, I was sitting in my favorite spot in my favorite writing place having breakfast and reflecting on how far I have come in my novel. There was a time where I felt like I could never write a novel because I truly believed my stories needed to find their own length and I needed to feel my words - not plan them.
Pretentious much?
Understand, my writing came of age in college when everyone was doing Spoken Word. My writing during that point was heavily influenced by college politics, the Iraqi war and really cute guy who called me "sista" and wore red, black and green beads around his neck.
Anyway, I am currently reading Stephen King's On Writing. In it, he discusses falling in love with his wife/her writing. They were in a poetry class together in college. It was 1969 and a time when not making sense was considered deep and prophetic - apparently, my generation didn't create that (thanks, Mom). When his wife got up to share her poem with the class - no one knew how to react.
He wrote: "[h]er poem [also] made me feel that I wasn't alone in my belief that good writing can be simultaneously intoxicating and idea-driven. If stone-sober people can fuck like they're out of their minds - can actually be out of their minds while caught in that throe - why shouldn't writers be able to go bonkers and still stay sane?" He references a part in the Lorraine Hasberry's Raisin in the Sun where a character crys out, "I want to fly! I want to touch the sun and his wife replies, "First eat your eggs."
As I reflect on my own evolution as a writer - I realize just how true this statement is. While I once thought the process of planning and thinking would be oppressive to me as an artist, I have now come to truly appreciate it. Novelist Joyce Carol Oates said in an interview with BBC that she enjoys revision because when she revises she has direction - she knows what the characters want and what story she is trying to tell. I must say... I agree. While I truly value the free fall of my fingers dance across a page (or keyboard) to the rhythm I still have not found the words to describe - I also value going back and making my words clearer - sure to convey the message I intended - even if that means I need to figure it out. Awesome of Mr. King to figure that out before he got a little gray in his hair.
Here's to eating our eggs, writers!
Love and Light,
Faye
Bob: Faye McCray, you've have won complete OBSESSION with your novel! OBSESSION comes equipped with sleeplessness nights, distracted conversations, using your husband and his body parts to heighten your description writing capability and the ability to turn every single conversation into conversation about your novel!
Wooo hooo!!
I am well on my way to completion, folks and I am feeling more and more like the hippie artist I always hoped I was. Yesterday, I was sitting in my favorite spot in my favorite writing place having breakfast and reflecting on how far I have come in my novel. There was a time where I felt like I could never write a novel because I truly believed my stories needed to find their own length and I needed to feel my words - not plan them.
Pretentious much?
Understand, my writing came of age in college when everyone was doing Spoken Word. My writing during that point was heavily influenced by college politics, the Iraqi war and really cute guy who called me "sista" and wore red, black and green beads around his neck.
Anyway, I am currently reading Stephen King's On Writing. In it, he discusses falling in love with his wife/her writing. They were in a poetry class together in college. It was 1969 and a time when not making sense was considered deep and prophetic - apparently, my generation didn't create that (thanks, Mom). When his wife got up to share her poem with the class - no one knew how to react.
He wrote: "[h]er poem [also] made me feel that I wasn't alone in my belief that good writing can be simultaneously intoxicating and idea-driven. If stone-sober people can fuck like they're out of their minds - can actually be out of their minds while caught in that throe - why shouldn't writers be able to go bonkers and still stay sane?" He references a part in the Lorraine Hasberry's Raisin in the Sun where a character crys out, "I want to fly! I want to touch the sun and his wife replies, "First eat your eggs."
As I reflect on my own evolution as a writer - I realize just how true this statement is. While I once thought the process of planning and thinking would be oppressive to me as an artist, I have now come to truly appreciate it. Novelist Joyce Carol Oates said in an interview with BBC that she enjoys revision because when she revises she has direction - she knows what the characters want and what story she is trying to tell. I must say... I agree. While I truly value the free fall of my fingers dance across a page (or keyboard) to the rhythm I still have not found the words to describe - I also value going back and making my words clearer - sure to convey the message I intended - even if that means I need to figure it out. Awesome of Mr. King to figure that out before he got a little gray in his hair.
Here's to eating our eggs, writers!
Love and Light,
Faye
I read once that "if your novel doesn't keep you up, it certainly won't keep anyone else up..." (or something like that). I can hear your excitement over this and I'm excited by your joy. Keep it up! BTW- it's sort of difficult to leave comments here because there's no "Name/URL" option.
ReplyDeleteLove that! Thanks for letting me know - I have no clue how to fix that but I will try.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the word count! It's a huge milestone. Re: not being able to write a novel - Zadie Smith actually said something similar about not being able to write short stories. She'd start something and find herself suddenly at 70 pages. So I suppose there is some (unpretentious!) truth in the notion that a story finds its own length (at least for some writers).
ReplyDeleteI remember spoken word. I was firmly in the ABG camp on that: "Rap and poetry had a baby called spoken word. I wish I could abort that baby." Lol. Couldn't stand it - too overwrought or something. I was a high school drama nerd and most of it fell under scenery chewing overacting for me - totally obscuring the value of the words they were saying. So I suppose I hated the performances, not necessarily the writing...
I love Zadie Smith so I will believe her unpretentious...ness... lol. I was like, philosophically opposed to believing I could write a novel unless I was inspired the whole way – it has been fun, but there has also been work involved!
ReplyDeleteLOL @Spoken Word - I agree, the annoying part about it is probably more the performances - I remember there was a guy I went to college who kind of looked like Taye Diggs so everyone loved him. He would recite the WORST poems but he would lick his lips and say things like, "chocolate thighs" and trick everyone into thinking he had talent. I felt like everyone was drinking crazy juice - I'd look at my friends like - THAT DIDN’T MAKE ANY SENSE! lol. I frequented the Nuyorican when I was living in New York and witnessed some true spoken word talent - not the ratchetness referred to in that video (and at my college) lol - I think there is a difference... sometimes.
Btw, I didn't know you were a drama nerd! Oh how we could have bonded in law school!