I have said before in previous posts that I liken writing a novel to trying to turn a cross word puzzle into a book. I would be very interested to see what other writers processes are like. The fact that my actual writing process did not compare with the way I thought the writing process should be frustrated me as a young novelist. Perhaps you might feel the same way.
I had this conception that the writing process should follow some set order like ABC. I thought that this is how people like Hemingway, Joyce, Shakespeare etc must operate. However, I found that my process was something more like AZWCRT with large empty spaces in between each step in the processs on the page and in the calendar.
For instance, I finished my first novel about 5 years ago and began looking for a publisher while starting to write my second novel when, like Dante in the Divine Comedy, I had journeyed half of our life's way, I found myself within a shadowed forest, for I had lost the path that does not stray.
And so, I am getting back to the task of publishing and writing. The task of writing for me is about accumulating a whole bunch of notes, individual sentences, catch phrases and other mental detritus (you can tell I like this word because I’ve used it in another post) and figuring out how it all fits together.
For example I’ve got this saying that I think I’d like a character to use somewhere: “trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents.” And, maybe the only silver he has to spend is in his beard….who knows.
And, of course, Swamp Lily is a great nickname for a prostitute named Addie Beckly. And, she might say something like “a sexually satisfied man is a lazy and useless man. But, if you whip him into a frenzy and keep him there he can serve your purposes”. A manipulative little minx to say the least. I like her.
I’d also like to portray a drunk throwing punches at the moon and it would be really fun for him to say something like “Kiss the north end of a southbound horse”.
And, because the world ends at the end of the book I must somehow tie in the beginning of the world.
“In the beginning was the word, he thought as he walked across the…and down the…and the world was with God, and the word was God.
Just as Adam gave names to the animals in the garden of Eden with words, words, words, so too the indians gave names to the places of this world. They named Mackinac Island, Turtle Island where Nanabozho created the world on a turtle’s back with a bit of mud from a muskrat’s paw. They named the great lake Michigan, the Great Ocean Water, and the land of Wisconsin was the place where The Waters Gathered, Illinois was the land of Great Men and Chicago itself was the place of Wild Onions because the aroma of the swamp was to strong.
And, with each name they bestowed they became masters of their world. For, the act of naming defines things and gives you power over them. It is magical. “Things don’t exist until you give them a name.” His old college professor used to say. “This is the power of language. This is the power of the gods themselves.”
The indians named their world and each of those names told part of a story that portrayed their relationship with the landscape. But, why couldn’t he?”
Yes, why couldn’t he and why can’t I?
Oh, and let’s not forget that there is a Native American legend that says, " If you have a secret wish, capture a butterfly and whisper your wish to it. Since butterflies cannot speak, your secret is ever safe in their keeping. Release the butterfly, and it will carry your wish to the Great Spirit, who alone knows the thoughts of butterflies. By setting the butterfly free, you are helping to restore the balance of nature, and your wish will surely be granted."
This is great stuff because it ties in with the butterfly effect which is a concept in chaos theory that says, in effect, the movement of a butterflies wings in Japan can eventually lead to a Tornado in Kansas.
And so, I have all these little things I must string together like the flapping wings of a butterfly before they become a book. I’ve literally got hundreds of pages of this stuff that I must turn into a book. This is nothing like I thought it would be when I started out. It is more of an Easter egg hunt.
Found another one…
The room was filled with north side nabobs and Dapper Dans from out of town, nobodies from nowhere who were rally suckers and marks to be fleeced and released by the faro Tigers and the Card Sharps.
Good stuff, but what do I do with it now?
