Enduring Lessons - IWSG March 2023

 

Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of  Alex Cavanaugh.  To find other contributors, click here. Thank you to the co-hosts for the March posting of the IWSG: Diedre Knight, Tonya Drecker, Bish Denham, Olga Godim, and JQ Rose.

This month’s optional question: Have you ever read a line in novel or a clever plot twist that caused you to have author envy? 

My quick answer? Yes. I’ve devoted quite a few posts here to works that have made me say, “Boy, I wish I wrote that!” but rather than going back and rehashing them, I thought I’d spend this one talking about an author who has awed me for a different reason.

In high school, I took a class called “History through Literature” during which we read historical fiction set in formulative eras. During class, we discussed the real life events that provided the framework for the novels. Even now, books from that course stand out in my mind. All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, Night, by Elie Wiesel, Désirée by Annemarie Selinko, The Great Hunger, by Cecil Woodham-Smith and Tai Pan, by James Clavell.

The taped-up copy of the last one, an “epic” novel written in 1966 about the founding of Hong Kong , has been sitting on my bookshelf since high school. (No, I wasn't in high school in 1966!) Last week when the novel I’d wanted to download from my library wasn’t available, I pulled Tai Pan off the shelf again. At over 700 pages, reading it is a commitment. Frankly, it’s been so long since I’ve touched it I’ve forgotten more than I remember, and what impresses me this time is the way Clavell wrote with such authority about the English and Asian cultures of the mid-nineteenth century.

I can understand why Mr. Burgess, our history teacher, made this required reading. Apparently it took the author two years to research and write what ultimately became Tai Pan. In my mind, I am thinking two years would be a blink to create the complexity and nuance that flows through the story. He was either a genius or for those two years, writing must have been a one hundred percent full-time occupation. Probably both. He wrote with such clarity and depth about the financial and political impact of the English sea trade, (opium for tea and silks,) and about two distinctly different cultures, both of whom believed the other to be barbarians. The storyline involves pirates, romance, intrigue and betrayal, but beyond the entertainment value, reading it reminds me of something. What a person believes based on how they were raised may be diametrically opposed to the beliefs of those from a different culture, but that’s not to say they can’t learn from each other. 

Reading the book now, I have to make some exceptions for behaviors in the novel appropriate to nineteenth century standards and offered via a 1960’s slant. But even through a 2023 lens, Tai Pan imparts lessons that matter, even after 50+ years in print.

Way to go, Mr. Burgess!

What book(s) from high school made a lasting impact on you?

In Like Again - IWSG February 2023

 

Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of  Alex Cavanaugh.  To find other contributors, click here. Thank you to the co-hosts for February: Jacqui Murray, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, and Gwen Gardner.

For years, five days a week I’ve made it my practice to get up an hour early and eat breakfast, then set a timer and write  before work. While I’m proud to have maintained this schedule, complacency crept in. Five hours a week. That's enough, right?

Back in the day, I'd do whatever I could to find writing time beyond those scheduled mornings, but over the last two years my eagerness faded. I was going through the motions, snail-crawling along on my current project, feeling less than enthused.

Late this past autumn, I told a writer friend about my lack of inspiration. She suggested things might improve if I add a little more writing time to my schedule. “It will help you keep in touch with your story,” she said.

Time for a palm-slap to the forehead. How long had it been since I'd even tried to write more?

With my friend's advice at the forefront, I pushed myself to sit down at the computer after work the following afternoon, and the good news is I only had to push myself once.

That first time I wrote outside of my schedule, my story drew me right in. Three hours later I looked up blinking. It felt so good, I found myself writing on the weekend again and sometimes after work. I can’t say I wrote extra every day, but enough so I found myself awake in the middle of the night, playing “what if” with my characters, figuring out their motivations, backfilling gaps. As is often the case, the more effort one puts in the more successful one becomes. Now due to this extra focus, I’ve got a completed draft. It still needs an enormous amount of work, but finally it’s got some flow.

Lesson learned. I recite this mantra in my head now: If you do what you like, you’ll like what you do.

It feels good to be back on that page.

What do you do when you lose your motivation to write?

What's in a Word? IWSG January 2023

Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of  Alex Cavanaugh.  To find other contributors, click here. Thank you to this month’s co-hosts: Jemima Pett, Debs Carey, Kim Lajevardi, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and T. Powell Coltrin.

January 4 question - Do you have a word of the year? Is there one word that sums up what you need to work on or change in the coming year?

The fear of over-promising and under-delivering means I’m not keen on resolutions. The first word to hit me was “complete” because I want to get done already with my current project. As a goal, it’s achievable. I finally figured out the backstory and motivation for one of my primary characters, the lack of which was making the story one dimensional. I’m pretty sure I can plug that in and get myself to the finish line of a decent draft soon, so maybe “complete” as a word for the year isn’t challenging enough.

Perhaps the word could be “decide.”

While still working at the job I’ve had for 11 years, I’ve qualified to retire a bit early with my little pension and lifetime medical insurance intact. While it’s nice to know I can go when I want, I worry I’ll fall into a slump if I don’t have a reason to get up five days a week. When you’ve been a part of a couple for thirty-five years and then you’re not, it takes time figure out how to navigate alone. Throw in two years of Covid isolation and you can understand why I may be behind the curve. I’m still trying to discover who I am without my wingman. Work offers a steadying influence. 

That said, I envy my retired friends who can do things on their own schedules. One is taking a trip to Australia. Another takes a pottery class. A third loves her poetry group and travels when she wants. Yet another friend has begun a photography business. She shoots and sells the most stunning pictures. I’d like to accompany her a time or two. 

While scary, when I decide to retire, I think I’ll find the time to explore things that bring me closer to the next iteration of me. 

Huh. It's official. 

My word of the year will be “onward.”

Happy New Year to all.