Typewriters.
Writing.
Words.
Couldn’t be more appropriate, I thought, for I’ve spent my
week going over galley proofs of my latest novel – pages and pages of type, of
writing, of words: Copyright page, title page, dedication; table of contents,
running heads, pagination; acknowledgements, notes on sources; chapter heads,
introductory quotes…
…two hundred
fifty-eight pages…
…seventy thousand, nine hundred
fifty-seven words.
Four years.
I used to think that writing a novel is an act of faith.
I mean, you start at what you think
is the beginning, and you go until you reach the end.
You start with a town, say, a particular stretch of roadway,
the river that runs near it. You start with a house that you own and love; you
start with a deed that helps you go back to the people who first lived there
nearly two hundred years ago – the people who built your house.
You learn their first names, their
middle initials.
You find the years of their births
and marriages, the names of their children, the years of their deaths; you go
to probate court and read their wills, their legal papers; you hold documents
they have held, you see their handwriting.
You read the
public remnants of their lives.
You walk in their barns with the memories of their horses
and cows, their sheep, their oxen and swine; you find the old foundations of
their sheds and cribs, their chicken coops.
You smell their lilacs in spring,
you watch their apple blossoms fall.
You stand on their front porch in
moonlight.
At night you cook dinner in their kitchen
and read the newspaper in their front room; you climb their stairs to their
bedrooms and dream of broad fields and woodlots, orchards and old stone walls.
After a while, you realize you have a sense of them, and
that they are still here. You are living in their house; you begin to
understand that you owe them something for this gift they have given you.
And that’s when
you realize that you were wrong – that writing a novel is not an act of faith;
it is, rather, an act of integrity.
You start over, and you write a novel for them – it’s the
best you can do.
That is very inspiring. I wish I could do the same for my ancestors but I haven't really got enough detail, and I don't live where they did, but perhaps I just need to try a bit harder.
ReplyDeleteOne of the funny things about this, Jo, is that the people I'm writing about weren't my ancestors at all! But, through the process of writing this novel, they certainly have become what we call "family."
DeleteI enjoy writing my blog and family history narratives, but I am hopeless (and always was at school) at creative writing. I enjoyed reading your very evocative post on what inspired you to write. Good luck with the new novel!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good wishes! A chapter of this novel won the Maine Literary Award for short fiction, so I've got high hopes!
DeleteI admire those who can write fiction. I have never even tried to write a novel.
ReplyDeleteGive it a try! It takes you to places you never knew existed...believe me!
DeleteKeep at it Deb! I was never one of those who could say they had a novel in them but I like to try my hand at poetry and short pieces of creative writing and I know it’s not easy.
ReplyDeletePoetry? I'm definitely not a poet, but I'm in awe of those who are...it's a process, isn't it, and we all go about it in different ways! So...post a poem!
DeleteDeb, since I've had the privilege of reading a draft of "The Eastern," I can say without reservation that you ARE a poet. Your post just proves it.
DeleteAnd you and I share this "thing" about the past; it seems to anchor us, give us perspective!
DeleteThe biggest thing I've learned in writing (2 full-sized novels, 16 novellas, & a book of fairy tales - all, as yet, unpublished but I'm working on it!) is that you may think you have a complete story in your head or down on paper in an outline, or even in a rough draft; but once you really get going on the story you'll find yourself suddenly wondering how in the world your characters got where they are, doing what they're doing? You may think, since you created them, you have control over your characters. Don't kid yourself. You do not! Your characters will write their own story and you're simply along for the ride and to tell the story THEY'RE creating. It's a crazy phenomenon, but it's true. Every writer has had the experience & I don't doubt you have too. Good luck with getting your work published. It's not easy, but with today's Kindles and such, it's easier than it used to be - or so I'm told? I will soon find out for myself.
ReplyDeleteI've had the experience, too, of characters who seem to take over...at least in my head. And I talk to them all the time (do all writers do that, too?). I've had two books published; this, my second novel, will be out late July/early August!
DeleteGreat essay. Typewriters, computers, or pencils, they wouldn't work if not for the words that tumble through our heads. It's the imagination that drives the tools of writing. Keep us posted when your book comes out.
ReplyDeleteI will, Mike; thank you! I'll post a photo of the cover, etc. on here...probably about another month or so!
DeleteIs your novel about your actual family? This sounds like I feel about some of my ancestors that I have spent a lot of time on.
ReplyDeleteNot my family, Wendy! It's historical fiction about five families who built houses along a river ... and I lived in one of the houses. It's all about social history (not military/political). I'll tell you, though, they certainly FEEL like family to me!
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ReplyDeleteI love Sepia Saturday -- a community of creative people, poets, writers, potters, photographers, and just people with a passion. Today, you have shared your passion -- and passed a bit of it on to all of us aspiring writers and such.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Joan! So many creative, lovely people...and so much knowledge shared among us all...maybe that's what makes Sepia Saturday one of my absolute favorite things in life!
DeleteWhat a fascinating post! I'm writing a memoir and I'm finding it's wanting to take its own shape, rearranging itself in ways I couldn't have predicted. I'm spending a lot of time just listening: what do you want? what is it you're trying to convey? How am I standing in the way?
ReplyDeleteI wrote one reply, but I don't think it went out! Email me at debgould12@gmail.com -- I sense a discussion here!
DeleteI'm not writing a novel, but I'm getting towards that stage for my first book, and it's very exciting, if a little daunting. Thyanks for sharing your experience.
ReplyDeleteThat's exciting, Brett! What are you writing? Believe me, it all starts when you write that first sentence...and you're on the way...there's no stopping you!
DeleteI'm writing about my experiences walking the Camino de Santiago. I find it not only daunting, but very, very hard. Although I have written a lot, it's almost all been technical writing, where the self is excluded completely, and writing about myself is tough. Still, the first draft and photo selection are done, and I'm part way through the first re-write ...
DeleteWonderful! Have a friend who walked last spring/summer, and it changed her life. Yours, too, I assume, if you're writing a book about it. Those rewrites can be a struggle, but sometimes they're actually easier than the initial draft!
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