I learned amazing amounts from him and my five classmates,
not the least of which is my wonderful friend Dawn. I have to laugh. I just received some of my pages back from
her today (Chapters 21-30) and twice she cites Steve and his views on
writing. As it turns out, they're both
right.
Anyway, the most important of those lessons was to write
tight. I still ramble at times, but am doing oh-so-much better. Sometimes
I think I’ve grasped the concept. Other times it slips into the cracks,
and I start again.
Outside of Steve’s admonition “Write tight,” the best way
I've heard this concept expressed comes from the English poet Robert Southey,
who once wrote, “It is with words as it is with sunbeams. The more they
are condensed, the deeper they burn.”
Oh, so true!
The most elusive of Steve's lessons is that you’ll work on
your novel so much that you will come to HATE it.
I’d never experienced that feeling.
Oh, there were times I didn’t want to look at it, or
couldn’t face it or the thought of one more draft, but I’ve never experienced
pure HATE, until last week.
And I felt guilty as hell about it.
After all, I've spent one full year on this, my ghost story.
I’ve mentioned elsewhere that I’m working diligently on
Draft Four. I’d made it more than halfway though when, last week, my
beautiful ghost told me that it wasn’t working for her; that I’d have to start
Draft Four all over again.
Huh? A fictional character telling me what was what?
Fictional character?
No.
For good or bad, she’s real to me, just as real as the
memories I carry of actual people. The difference is minor but makes all
the difference. She lives in a prominent
place in my mind called the imagination.
The two worlds can see each other, but I always keep a layer of cheesecloth
separating my imaginary world from the real.
Bringing the ship into port, she said it wasn’t working
for her, and I understood. I felt it,
too.
A month’s worth of work shot to hell and gone in the space
of a microsecond.
I stomped around, and cursed her. Swam lap after lap
after lap; played my guitar, especially the blues. I did everything to try to forget her.
I hated her freaking guts!
Or did I?
She'd been the love of my life for a year, and now I hated
her?
How could I possibly go from one extreme to another?
I consulted my faltering memory and found the answer. Love and Hate are not opposites. I have
no idea whether this notion has sound basis in Psychology, but I believe that
Love and Hate are different branches of the same tree of Caring. Whether I love something (or someone) or hate
something (or someone) I care deeply.
Consequently, LOVE and HATE have the same opposite … APATHY.
So yes, I had, for a brief time, a strong negative feeling
toward the love of my imaginative life. But the leaves on that branch quickly
withered and left me with love again. My ghost was right. The story
had deserted her and I needed to fix it.
Took me a week, but I have now caught up, and am charging
on my merry way. I’m embracing it, even as I write this, and so looking forward
to helping her and my hero through the rest of their journey.
My ghost is the love of my imaginative life, along with
the other seven main and supporting characters. I love them so
much. They make me laugh. They make me cry. They excite
me. They make me think. I dream about them all, in the day and at
night.
I’m a man similar in many respects to my hero. I’d
love to meet someone like my ghost, though she need not be so young on the one
hand (31 when she died) or old on the other (over 140 from when she was born).
Check out last weeks post for thoughts on the love of my
reality.
And yes, the above picture is from Fiji. I took it
from the balcony of my hotel room. Those six days were some of the best
of my life.
I know my friend Dawn remembers Fiji. :-)
Great post, Rockstar. I DO remember Fiji - and all of the great fun we had there. Not to mention, the great writing advice from the amazing Steve Berry. xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteI'm stubborn sometimes, but I do learn. :-)
DeletePS - I also LOVE all of the characters in your book. I have such a great feeling about this one, Rockstar. XO
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. Can't wait to hear what you think about the ending. :-)
DeleteRocky, as always I am learning so much from you, not only about writing. Brilliant post. X
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jodie! I'm learning so much from you as well! Emmie assignment coming up. :-)
DeleteI get the impression that writing can be very painful. I have always had an appreciation for the books I read but listening to your pain makes me appreciate them even more.
ReplyDeleteIt really is a labor of love. :-)
DeleteSeems that Fiji retreat was pretty brilliant and served you well!
ReplyDeleteI can't say I've hated any of my WIPs. Yet. Though certainly I've thought, "Holy cats, I don't really have to do any *more* edits, do I???????" Er, actually, that's the phase I'm in right now. But I do have to and I'm dragging my proverbial heels. Wah, wah, wah. :-)
"Write tight" is great. I've seen the greatness of it the few times I've written flash fiction for a contest. Not sure that I've learned to apply it to novel length work, though. :-)
Some Dark Romantic
Definitely put the pedal to the metal! I looked up one day and ten years had past. My mantra these days is "controlled desperation." :-) And Fiji was amazing!!! Thanks for the tweet!
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