Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Something's Coming

I feel very quiet today. The words are in the stories. As I rework passages of my novel, toss out sentences, bring in new ones to replace the old, I find myself in an unusual position, caught in the breathless anticipation of something coming.

I've never been one of those writers who has a lot of ideas. To be honest, that's probably one of the hardest things for me when it comes to writing, coming up with ideas. It's a strange thing to say but, really, I just don't have any.

I don't know how to jump from one project to another with a dozen nexts stashed away. I generally sit down with nothing. A blank page. An empty space in my head. And I just think: fill it. Because that's how I approach my whole life. That's just what I do.

But, all the sudden, here I am with a little something. A someone. A fragment. One stitch of a seam. And, of course, I am not at all prepared. Not at all ready.

8 comments:

  1. I love it when I feel like this. And totally agree with you about the idea thing. I'm jealous of those who have ideas coming out their ears and unfinished manuscripts stuffed in their closets.

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  2. Aha! Is one of your characters inching forward to grab the steering wheel of your car?!

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  3. I'm the same way, I never, never have ideas. If I get an idea, it's a big deal. I can come up with characters, or a scene here and there maybe, but getting the Big Idea that can be an entire book is a really rare thing for me.

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  4. Excellent description of the writing process. Grab the spark and hang on!

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  5. I rather like the idea of ideas presenting themselves one at a time -- quietly sneaking up on you. It doesn't matter how many ideas you have in reserve...as long as you get them when it counts, you're good

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  6. You rock, my friend. And you're right. I always thought that I had to have seven hundred ideas a week. But they never panned out. But the one idea did. That fragment is waiting for you. (((hugs)))

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  7. That is the best feeling :) I bet you have more ideas than you know.

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