1. 1969 it is. I spent the day there yesterday, and I made some decisions about construction of Book 3 of the Sixties Trilogy. I'm going to try third person vignettes next week for several characters I have in mind.
2. Quote from Arthur C. Clarke: "I don't worry about periods of not doing anything; I know my subconscious is busy." Exactly. I had enough energy yesterday to update my manifesto for the Year of Exploration. I am three months in. I've done a lot more than it looks like from the outside. What COUNTS, when you are measuring your progress? That is one of my eternal questions.
3. This piece, "The Middle of Things:Advice for Young Writers" by Andrew Solomon in the NYer, is great. Good writing, which I am always looking for. I am tempted to quote great swaths of it but will content myself with one of the many lines that resonated: "Your work is not opposed to your life; you do not have to choose between them. It is only by living in the world that you acquire the ability to represent it." Do read it if you are struggling in the middle... of anything, including your writing.
4. I'm thinking about Leo Buscaglia these days and Love 1A. I can't find my old copy of LIVING, LOVING, AND LEARNING, so I ordered one from abebooks. And I see there is a whole lot of Leo on YouTube. I might give him a new listen and see what I think, with, oh, 20 years of experience living in the world since I last listened to dear Leo.
5. I'm thinking a whole lot about love lately... period.
6. And time. My essay "On Being a Late Bloomer" is here.
Happy Weekend, friends. Live in the world. Love one another. Bloom, bloom, bloom. xo Debbie
Thank you so much for chronicling these writing days--and for mentioning resources and joys and troubles. This journey you're on fell at EXACTLY the right time for ME. (It's all about ME--you might think it's about YOU, but it's about ME!) :) I'm so grateful!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Melanie. Isn't it interesting how this happens? We are the heroes of our own stories, so of course it is all about us! Grateful here, too.
DeleteYour #2 reminds me so much of my focus this year. I'm trying to learn to "write smart and not scared". http://carolinestarrrose.com/5-ways-im-learning-write-smart-not-scared/
ReplyDeleteI resonated to #3, and left a comment at your blog. Not that I do what you are suggesting -- I don't think I write with any smidgen of joy. But I love having written. :> Thanks for sharing.
DeleteArthur C. Clarke: "I don't worry about periods of not doing anything; I know my subconscious is busy." - perfect - I worked all day yesterday redoing a garden bed then wondered about my not writing but realize I needed time to just be and the garden is here I can just let my subconscious work while I dig and move plants around. Thanks - a perfect quote for the day -
ReplyDeleteIt has been years since I thought of Leo - I wonder where my copy of Loving, Living and Learning is - Hmmm??
I haven't watched any Leo yet, haven't re-read, but I remember how amazing he seemed to me when he first appeared on the scene. And yes to writing when we're not writing. In some ways I think it's all writing. xo
DeleteHonestly, y'all, how can we even pretend to write when such momentous stuff is going on in the world?? I'm going to link to these moments in this weekend's post so I can have it saved, but heaven's it is hard to work with all the swirl. SCOTUS and marriage rights, funerals in Charleston -- POTUS singing Amazing Grace and Saying Their Names, weddings right here in my back yard in Georgia that would never have been legal before today... SCOTUS judges in-fighting, Confederate flags coming down... and this is just for starters... I'm blown over today. You???
ReplyDelete