I have been writing away and am almost done with chapter thirteen. I have been busily writing and my pen and paper are happy but my hand was a little tired and cramping up on the train the other day. I guess it is a no pain, no gain type of scenario or even a suffering for my art situation, although hand cramps are not necessarily suffering too badly. I haven't removed an ear or not eaten for days so it is pretty minor suffering, at least so far.
I have started reaching the point where research is necessary to finish the chapter. Research can be a lot of fun in my opinion but it can also slow down the fast writing process a bit. It is also exciting because I will be heading to another part of the story and the action that I have been anxiously awaiting to get to. It also means I am almost in the middle of my book . I am very ready to do the research and then head into the past and overseas, at least in my imagination.
I have watched a few movies set in the past lately. I did not really do this intentionally but simply for pleasure but I realized as I was watching them that I was also paying attention to the language and cadence of the speech of the characters. It is quite fascinating to observe the differences. Of course that made me start to think about all my observations that I have not noted here in this blog about writing and my novel.
I really started to think of the differences this past week when I slipped out for a little break from work to do a bit of writing and saw my "dancer boy" again that afternoon. I have not introduced "dancer boy" to you yet. He is not really a boy but a man. He is an African American male probably in his thirties, who is always in sweat suits and no coat, even on frigid days. His sweat suits are also very bright in color and design and you wouldn't be able to miss him normally. Yet, it isn't his attire that draws your attention. People pass him and look back at him and laugh or smile. Others stand on the corners and miss their walk signs as they watch him. This is not because of his clothing choice. It is because he also has earphones in his ears and he is lost in his own world. In our world he is dancing and singing out loud. His dancing is a bit energetic and like watching an excited fan gesture and jump in excitement at a baseball game but if you watch him he is in his own little world and lost to the people observing him.
I know though if he did finally notice he would see that people smile, and of course laugh, at him. It made me realize how much we may miss in what we observe and how it can affect, or in his case, not affect us until later. Below are some of my writing observations that are not overall outstanding but have invaded my life:
1. People often look over at you when you are writing in a notebook or journal. They have an insatiable desire to know what you are writing. They will sit down next to you on the train or on the bench at the museum and finally gather the courage to ask you what you are doing. Then are amazed and will either cheer you on for taking on the task of writing a novel or simply stare and say "Really" in a manner that suggests you are more crazy than sane to do that.
2. Many, many people dream of being writers and after asking about your own writing will give you the plot and scenario of a book idea that they always wanted to write but just haven't...yet. Yet, is a big word with people. I think many individuals who work full time have the grand scheme to write when they retire. I also suspect many won't actually do it. I also think that the people who want to be writers often have quite a romantic view about writing and the idea that one book would set them up for life. As any one-hit-wonder singer from the 80's will tell you it doesn't really work like that, nor should it. I doubt Bobby McFerrin continued to "Don't Worry Be Happy" when he realized that was the only popular song he would have or Nena's "99 Balloons" should have released maybe a few more songs than balloons.
3. Many of those same people who dream of writing a book have a very magical idea about writing and usually don't do it or only do a portion of it and stop because they then discovered that writing a book is work. It takes time and work to write a book. It is also often solitary work and it doesn't get done at night by fairies who also make your shoes and cook you breakfast in the morning. There is no blue bird that sits on your shoulder talking to you as you write or helping you with ideas.
4. Many writers live in their head. This is an obvious observation really about most creative people. I feel it just needs to be stated because for someone to create whole worlds out of pen and ink is quite amazing to me. To feel as if the characters and places were real is outstanding. To understand people that can do that is also frustrating and difficult for many. I have learned that one a lot over my life.
5. Many of you may not realize this observation but ink pens do not write very well when you are sitting outside in the cold. My son can explain the science of it to you. He tried to explain it to me and lost me after the first sciency sentence. My eyes glazed over and I looked like an apt listener but let's just say I am so glad he wasn't giving me a quiz later. This is a weird observation but over the winter has come to mean a lot to me when I am writing outside and can barely read what I have written.
Those are five observations I have had over the past few months. I have had others but I will share those another time and let you absorb all that I have shared with you thus far. Plus, chapter thirteen is calling again and as I have "observed" that is a call I can not easily ignore for very long.
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