This is my second blog post in which there is a scenario where I am having a conversation with three famous authors where we all discuss writing processes. Each author has shared their own procedures that help allow them to fight through the creative slowdown and grasp onto their thoughts in these three articles:
My skin became crisp and I could feel the beads of sweat running down my forehead. Not aware of my surrounds I quickly skim the area with a sudden intense feeling of fear. Realizing I had forgotten where I was for a moment, relief had filled my whole body. I had been laying on my blue striped beach towel with a pencil in my left hand and my three ringed notebook which I happened to use as a pillow. Struggling to write down my thoughts for the book I have been working on, I must have fell asleep. Each time my pencil had become even remotely close to touching my paper it ended up like my mind, blank. The frustration I had been feeling is indescribable. I wanted nothing more to just burst into tears and scream off the top of my lungs. With no other resort I decided I needed to get away and treat myself to some lunch only a few feet away on the boardwalk. Feeling the gritty sand in between my toes seemed to infuriate me even more. Today just wasn’t my day. As I walk inside my nose picks up the smells of fresh oven baked pizza. With only one spot available to sit, I took my seat in the far left corner by the window. Before I even got a chance to order, I overheard, which seemed to be a group of writers, talking about their work at the table right next to me. Me being the noisy person I am I decided to keep listening until I gained enough confidence to join the conversation myself. “How do you stay so driven after failing to meet your own expectations?” I blurted out. That’s when the woman, who turned out being the famous writer Mary Karr, responded “Every writer I know who is worth a damn spends way more time “losing” than “winning”. 1 What she had said really opened my eyes, I again replied saying “ It seems like whenever I am writing, my thoughts are all scrambled and it doesn’t seem to make much sense in the end”. Don Murry chiming in, “Don’t look back. Yes the draft needs fixing, but first it needs writing." 2 As I order my slice of cheese pizza and it had arrived, they asked me to join them.With no hesitation I got up and that is just what I did. Anne Lamott continued the conversation stating that “The first draft is a child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later”. 3 She then took a big gulp of water and continued “There may be something in the very last line of the very last paragraph on page six that you just love that is so beautiful or wild that you now know what your supposed to be writing about”. 4 She had a good point, not everything you write down may have meaning, but it is good to write down all your thoughts even if they don’t make sense in the moment. Don Murray caught my attention and began to explain to me that “Writing is primarily not a matter of talent, of dedication, of vision, of vocabulary, of style, but simply a matter of sitting”. 5 Mary Karr replied with a mouthful of crust “Let your mind roam down some alleys that may land in dead ends-that’s the nature of the process” 6 I then became fully aware that not every draft is “perfect” no drafts are, it’s a matter of trial and error and you need to make mistakes in order to learn to revise and fix them. Before I headed out I wanted to ask one more question. “I seem to struggle the most with the start of writing when all pages are blank, are there ways to overcome that?” “In the beginning, when there are zero pages, you have to cheer yourself into cranking stuff out, even if it later lands on the cutting room floor” 7 Mary Karr responded to my question. Lamott quickly replied “You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you” 8 and the lasts piece of advice I received was from Murray.“Be patient, listen quietly, the writing will come. The voice of the writing will tell you what to do”.9 After my encounter I started up where I left off, with my pencil and notebook and began to write everything that came to mind. The biggest lessons I learned today from Don Murray, Mary Karr, and Anne Lamott was that you can’t force ideas, you need to set your mind free. Writing consists of many rough drafts, in order to get that good draft you need to write and revise.
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My first post is going to focus on how I view myself and others. My responses to The Proust Questionnaire will also reveal a glimpse into my life. Throughout all of these questions, you will get a feel of who I am as a person, what my beliefs are, and have insight on my attitude and personality.
__1.__What is your idea of perfect happiness? My idea of perfect happiness is being surrounded by good family and friends, having good health and a lot of laughter. __2.__What is your greatest fear? Losing the people closest to me is my biggest fear. __3.__What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? I am very impatient when it comes to a lot which I would like to change. __4.__What is the trait you most deplore in others? Dishonesty because it shows that, that person isn’t taking accountability for their actions. __5.__Which living person do you most admire? I admire my mom because she does so much for me and my siblings, and sacrificed a lot. __6.__What is your greatest extravagance? I spend most of my money on food. __7.__What is your current state of mind? I am currently feeling content. __9.__On what occasion do you lie? Almost never, I find it unnecessary to lie unless it serves a positive purpose in the end. __10.__What do you most dislike about your appearance? My nose, I don’t like the way it looks from certain views. __12.__What is the quality you most like in a man? Having a good sense of humor to always keep me laughing. __13.__What is the quality you most like in a woman? I find kindness the most important quality in a woman because you could have a great appearance, but if you have an ugly attitude it takes away from that. __14.__Which words or phrases do you most overuse? I say the word “literally” in a lot of my sentences. __16.__When and where were you happiest? This summer when I went to the bahamas and was down the shore a lot. __17.__Which talent would you most like to have? Being able to play instruments and make music. __18.__If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I would change how negative I am towards myself, I bring myself down too often. __19.__What do you consider your greatest achievement? Starting school again this semester after leaving a university my first semester. __21.__Where would you most like to live? I would stay here because I enjoy having the seasons and it’s where I grew up. __23.__What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Letting people down who are important to me. __25.__What is your most marked characteristic? Physically people always compliment my hair, but emotionally I have been told many times how kind I am to others __26.__What do you most value in your friends? I value loyalty and reliability the most because I find that being able to trust them and knowing they will always be there for you is comforting. __28.__Who is your hero of fiction? Derek Morgan from Criminal Minds, he saved so many lives in that show and is brave and selfless. __30.__Who are your heroes in real life? My parents and my sister would be my heroes because they raised me to be the individual I am today which im proud of. __31.__What are your favorite names? Adrianna, Santino __32.__What is it that you most dislike? Ignorance, people who are rude and mean for no reason. __33.__What is your greatest regret? Lowering myself to other peoples standards. __34.__How would you like to die? For someone I love, or in my sleep. |
AlainaI will use this blog to share my thoughts and posts with others. Archives
May 2019
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