ARGH!
I was up half the night dreaming and waking, dreaming and waking. All I could think/dream/wake about was this book. And not just the book --the BOOKS. I couldn't stop thinking about new plot ideas, new characters, new places of interest. Then suddenly my mind would think about a great new children's book idea --and then it would switch to an auto-biography. A what?!? Yes, exactly. Why would I think that? But back and forth, back and forth.
When the cat fight outside our window (luckily, our cat survived) woke us up at 5:15AM (and I happened to NOT be running this morning, darn cats! Could have slept longer!), I was wide awake. I went downstairs and began typing, trying to get all my ideas out. It's been hours now (of course, I haven't been at the computer for hours --I do have children to raise and clothes to wear), and my mind is still completely cluttered and unfocused. Wait. No, it's completely focused on one thing: writing. But writing about everything I've ever done, said, experienced, lived, etc. etc. Once I think I have a great idea, I'll start and then scratch it and start over. The mantra "Write what you know" keeps cycling in my brain, and I can't help but respond "Well, dang it all! Jane Austen didn't write what she knew, now did she?"
Unfortunately, Jane Austen, I am not. Definitely not.
~sigh~
4 comments:
I know the feeling! All I can say is: Put a notebook, a pen and a flashlight by your bed and jot down notes while you lay there, so you can sleep! Good luck!
I think she wrote what she knew up until the marriage parts and those were only 2 pages at the end of each book!
amanda-
GREAT idea!
rochelle-
Well, I guess technically, you are correct. But she wrote what she observed more than what she lived. But I'm sure we both agree that whatever it was she wrote, it was pure genius! :) :)
Good luck with the book! I think most woman wait till after their little ones are out to accomplish that, but hey, if anyone can do it, you will! I know that cluttered frustrated feeling. I get it all the time when I start to get people asking me about video and photography projects, but I am always brought down to reality when my kids look at me with their dirty sticky faces and I smell the dirty diapers... sigh... as for writing, my brothers are pretty good friends with Orson Scott Card, his last book Empire is actually a collaborative project with them, anyway, he tends to think and think and then suddenly his "masterpiece" all seems to come out in one quick sitting. I think that's how it often is for artists.
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