Recharging...
So the fallow time just stretches on and on, like a cat that wakes up from a nap, stretches and yawns, only to curl up and promptly fall asleep again. Hello? Muse? Inner writer? Anyone?
Nothing but echoes.
OK, so I wax dramatic. It's not really so bad. I started a little something that has piqued my interest, but it is being wildly coy, so I'm giving it a little time and space to show itself.
I have the super rough draft of my NaNo novel stewing in the background. And I have some revisions that I could tend to. But TBH, I've been enjoying this time and although I'm itching to be creative, I find myself wanting to express in a more visual way. It happens sometimes; I've found that it's best to just go with it.
But the coolest thing happened today at work. Turns out a regular visitor to the gym also writes - and edits. So we got into this great writing-related conversation. I mentioned to her the novel I'd just sent out for readers, and some of the conflicting feedback I got, and she gave me a whole new perspective on things. I'd been sort of waffling about what to do, but I feel much clearer now, and eager to get back to it - which is a great feeling, oddly. Usually, revisions and I are the best of frenemies, but...maybe this time will be different. (Don't mock me 6 months from now when I am cursing writing, revisions, and words in general. You do it too.)
So yeah, I'm thinking about those marked up documents sitting on my computer waiting for me to read through them with a fine-toothed comb...but I think I'm still going to give myself a little time. It just feels like the right thing to do, you know?
Part of my conversation with the editor today involved writing interruptions and how to handle them. She talked about how when she was writing and was interrupted, you could see, exactly, where in her writing the interruption had happened, because the writing just changed.
Back when I used to draw prolifically, I would never work on a picture for longer than it took me to finish in one sitting. Does that make sense? That is to say, there was no more detail than what was essential to the picture, because I had this absolute belief that I wouldn't be able to get back into the same frame of mind that I had been when I started, and that I would risk ruining the picture. For this reason, the editor never edits her own poetry.
I hadn't thought of this before, in terms of a novel, but in CM, which is the one that I just got back from a few wonderful readers, it was clear to the readers that I'd grown as a writer during the course of the writing. On the one hand, YEAH, ME! On the other hand, that shouldn't be obvious to the reader. Boo, me. Of course, that one did take me quite a while to finish. And in that respect, I think that's probably why NaNo is such a great thing. Slam a book out in a month. How much are you going to change, really, in a month? Certainly not enough that your readers would comment on it.
How do you all deal with interruptions to your work? Do you feel like when you get back to it, the "flavor," if you will, is different? And do you think that's a good thing, or a bad thing?
Nothing but echoes.
OK, so I wax dramatic. It's not really so bad. I started a little something that has piqued my interest, but it is being wildly coy, so I'm giving it a little time and space to show itself.
I have the super rough draft of my NaNo novel stewing in the background. And I have some revisions that I could tend to. But TBH, I've been enjoying this time and although I'm itching to be creative, I find myself wanting to express in a more visual way. It happens sometimes; I've found that it's best to just go with it.
But the coolest thing happened today at work. Turns out a regular visitor to the gym also writes - and edits. So we got into this great writing-related conversation. I mentioned to her the novel I'd just sent out for readers, and some of the conflicting feedback I got, and she gave me a whole new perspective on things. I'd been sort of waffling about what to do, but I feel much clearer now, and eager to get back to it - which is a great feeling, oddly. Usually, revisions and I are the best of frenemies, but...maybe this time will be different. (Don't mock me 6 months from now when I am cursing writing, revisions, and words in general. You do it too.)
So yeah, I'm thinking about those marked up documents sitting on my computer waiting for me to read through them with a fine-toothed comb...but I think I'm still going to give myself a little time. It just feels like the right thing to do, you know?
Part of my conversation with the editor today involved writing interruptions and how to handle them. She talked about how when she was writing and was interrupted, you could see, exactly, where in her writing the interruption had happened, because the writing just changed.
Back when I used to draw prolifically, I would never work on a picture for longer than it took me to finish in one sitting. Does that make sense? That is to say, there was no more detail than what was essential to the picture, because I had this absolute belief that I wouldn't be able to get back into the same frame of mind that I had been when I started, and that I would risk ruining the picture. For this reason, the editor never edits her own poetry.
I hadn't thought of this before, in terms of a novel, but in CM, which is the one that I just got back from a few wonderful readers, it was clear to the readers that I'd grown as a writer during the course of the writing. On the one hand, YEAH, ME! On the other hand, that shouldn't be obvious to the reader. Boo, me. Of course, that one did take me quite a while to finish. And in that respect, I think that's probably why NaNo is such a great thing. Slam a book out in a month. How much are you going to change, really, in a month? Certainly not enough that your readers would comment on it.
How do you all deal with interruptions to your work? Do you feel like when you get back to it, the "flavor," if you will, is different? And do you think that's a good thing, or a bad thing?