My Novel Writing Odyssey ? This is your real mother speaking?

24 Sep 2012

by chalkdustfairy in Blogging, Influences/Sidebars, The Welded Link, Writing

?What?? I can hear some of you saying, ?Another random blog post? Where are these Chapters 27 and 28 she was supposedly holed-up re-writing??

Geez! I would say back (and have!). I have a bruise on my upper arm where one of you poked me for not having produced them yet, by the way. You know who you are.

I?M WORKING ON IT, OKAY? (All capitals designates yelling, for those of you who think I?m just a crappy typist?which I am, but that is beside the point!)?Seriously, though, it?s those of you who read The Welded Link who?ve kept me going and I really appreciate all of the support.

The operative word here is WORK (not yelling this time, just emphasizing). I?ve been mystified as to why these two chapters have been SO frickin? HARD (now I?m yelling) to write and I?ve come to the conclusion that the majority of The Welded Link came to me way too easily, as if I had dreamed it. ?You?re going to have to work for these chapters, sister!? the Almighty seems to be saying. And I think he means it. Have I just gotten lazy?

Looking back, I realized that I did work for every chapter. The difference is that it?wasn?t?so much work back then as it was obsession, and I loved every minute of it. I must have read twenty-five?books as part of my research; several of them about fishing, Astoria, Oregon, the Columbia River and religion, and twelve of those about Iceland and Icelanders in particular; their culture, literature, cooking, language and history. I own the 782 page tome, The Sagas of the Icelanders and the two disc Teach Yourself Icelandic. I spent months listening to Icelandic radio while I wrote, just to get a feel for the rhythm of the language.

I spent untold hours researching online, reading newspaper articles in an Astoria museum and traveling up and down the streets of that town. I?ve driven the roads and walked the piers and the beaches. I ate, drank and slept these characters and their story for over two years. It was an ?awesome high.

I was thinking about one of the few negative experiences I had during that time as I pulled out Chapters 27 and 28 today. In my past online research I had found notation of a piece of information that would have been extremely helpful to me, particularly with Chapter 28. When I emailed the woman with the historical information I was looking for, explaining what I was doing, her reply was ?There?s already been a story like that.? She further denied the existence of the information I was asking about. Afterward, I did a little research and it turns out she was the author of (what was in her mind) ?the only book that ever needed to be written? on the subject! The only thing my story had in common with hers was that it involved an Icelander.

I was annoyed, but there was a lesson to be learned there. The lesson was never, ever let someone or something discourage you from doing what it is that you have set out to do. Work around them. Work in spite of them. Work through, around or over whatever is standing in your way- and do not quit until you have achieved what you set out to do.

I?m feeling some of that old fire return as I ponder these chapters and thumb through my notes, and it feels good. It?s true that the best way to appreciate a thing is not to have it for awhile. It?s been months since I felt that passion for my story.

I can see what I need to do now. I can?t believe I didn?t see it before, it?s so obvious. Chapter 28 should be woven into Chapter 27, the past mixed in with the present. It?s the perfect solution for most of the problems. That?s not to say that there won?t be more work involved, because there will, but I?m feeling my stubbornness and OCD kicking in, in a good way!

Who says the last, best definitive story has already been written? Some lady in Utah? I don?t think so! There must be as many possible variations as there are snowflakes. I?m not going to let some silly old bat discourage me. I?m not going to let a missing piece of research stop me from recreating a vital scene. I?m not going to let my shortcomings as a writer, my insecurities and ?fears about how the story will be received get the better of me anymore. This is my story and I?m going to tell it.

Source: http://thisisyourrealmotherspeaking.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/my-novel-writing-odyssey/

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