Well it’s been two weeks now, and I have managed to stay abreast of these self-imposed assignments. I fell a little behind this weekend; I was out too late Friday and Saturday night (doing research) and had to write those day’s posts the following day. But I’ve done so, and with this entry, I’m caught back up.
The greatest outcome of this project is this: the process has finally freed the novel that’s been waiting to be released from my subconscious. The kernel had emerged earlier this summer, but it was still a bit unformed. Then the form began to take shape, and I felt ready to embark upon this writing journey. I still hesitated, keeping the actual writing in my mind, opting out of actual fiction copy and instead writing character lists, plot scenarios, and outlines.
Then I began this project. When I wrote about Markie in post number nine, Duck Duck Goose, I felt her come alive after years of dormancy. Markie is the protagonist of the novel, and had been the protagonist of my master’s thesis, a novella called Dancing with the Dragon that I wrote in 1995. That had been a feeble attempt, I’ve always thought, and the first chapter was the only memorable part of the writing. That chapter, revised and amended, will appear in the novel. However, it will not be the first chapter, but a few chapters in.
The outlines, plots scenarios, and character lists I wrote earlier this summer are morphing and shifting with each installment I write, but the novel has captivated my being. I think of Markie and her struggles, her trials, her challenges, much of my waking hours now, and she’s always just below my conscious thought when I’m pursuing other ideas. I can’t seem to let her go now, and what happens to her has become my obsession.
That is why, for most of the posts following that number nine, you’ve seen Markie and her adventures. I can’t let go of her to allow another fictional character or world intrude.
I do believe that is my challenge, however. I don’t want to keep writing the novel and putting it here, in public, as I create. It feels, as I said in another venue, as if I’m showing my cards while the game’s still being played. It’s time to take Markie and her story into private. I’m not sure how I can do this, as I don’t have as much free time for writing as I’d like.
And so lies my challenge for next week. I hope to write not about Markie here, in this public venue, but about other characters, other stories, other dreams. But I must continue to write daily of Markie’s story. So although the “real” world beckons and demands, my intention is to give this world, the imaginative world, legs and wings and heart, and let it fly in many different directions – both as Markie’s story emerges and others are discovered.
Come along for the ride if you wish, and we’ll see what happens.
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It feels, as I said in another venue, as if I’m showing my cards while the game’s still being played.
I don't know, IL. But it seems to me I read some place that is what any good writer must do. Show their cards. This is the risk of honesty, of exposing yourself innermost self and feelings to the world. Not that you shouldn't protect your intellectual property, but as long as your writing has that quality, I think you will have a considerable audience for it. I don't comment often because I am not a critic or a writer, and there are many regulars at Eschaton who have more valuable advice and input than I. But I do enjoy reading it. And I confess that I am somewhat tempted to give this a shot after reading this post.
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