No Turning

It has been a while since I have posted anything I have written. I thought it would be a nice change to the writings I have been doing to actually post a recent poem here.

No Turning

You can not stop a wave
From crashing on the shore
And make it turn around
To head back to sea.

You can not stop the wind
From blowing through the trees
And make it turn around
And not blow on me.

You can not stop the rain
From falling from the sky
And make it turn around
And head back to the heavens.

You can not stop the night
from bringing the darkness
And make it turn around
And leave you in the light.

You can not stop the day
From shining the light
And make it turn around
To stay comforted in sleep.

You can not stop the Earth
From spinning on its axis
And make it turn around
To return to days lost in the before.

You can not stop time
From moving forward
And make it turn around
To stay in a moment.

You can not stop youth
From growing and aging
And make it turn around
To innocence forever.

You can not stop the clouds
From hiding the moon
And make them turn around
The moon is still there.

You can not stop the clouds
From hiding the sun
And make them turn around
The sun is still there.

You can not stop hate
From happening in the world
And make it turn around
It is always somewhere.

You can not stop love
From happening around you
And make it turn around
It is always somewhere.

You can not stop loneliness, sadness and sorrow
From occurring to anyone
And make it turn around
It lurks behind the doors.

You can not stop happiness, laughter and courage
From brightening anyone
And make it turn around
It stands tall everywhere.

And you can not stop my hand from reaching for yours
Or my heart beating at the sight of you
Or the thoughts that bring a smile
Or the tears that bring the pain.
 
I will not turn away
I am still here.

Sign Up Ahead: We Are Nearing The Top Of Mount Everest

Samuel Johnson, brilliant poet and essayist said, "Words are but the signs of ideas."

I have recently moved. I changed cities, states, homes and my path to work. My new path to work is quite pretty and rural, albeit a bit scary when it is pitch black outside, foggy, and curvy with the potential to hit a deer.  That being said, the other morning it was so difficult to see the road that I had to be very aware of the signs pointing me in the right direction. My normal landmarks were there but covered by darkness. My sense of direction felt out of sync. So to keep on the right path I had to not focus on the road and seeing my way ahead of me, but rather trusting in the signs pointing me in the direction I should be going to get me where I wanted.

Reading and even writing often becomes a path you can not see.  As the reader or the writer it is about being led by signposts or words that have been put into place for a reason. Some may call this foreshadowing. Some may simply call this description. As Samuel Johnson pointed out the words are signs put in place by ideas.  It was the idea of the story that the writer had. The words that the writer chose and the sequence that the writer followed. Those words become signs for the reader to follow the same path of the story that the writer had. The writer may be able to see down the road of the story to where the destination lies but the reader is relegated to following the words and signs that the writer put into place to reach their destination.

As I am half way through finishing chapter twenty five and, realizing my book will have about five more chapters than originally thought, I try to plan out the remainder of those chapters.  I create outlines of each chapter as if they were a roadmap guiding me. When I started writing chapter twenty five, with my road map in hand, I realized that I was at the point of the novel where many of the climactic scenes are occurring and that as the writer I also was forced to remember and follow the signs in order to continue and keep sequence with my story. Only the signs I am following are also ones that I put into place.

I have spoken how the bigger the scene the harder it becomes to write at times because we have turned it into Mount Everest. I still hold true to that but the bigger the scene the more important it becomes that even the writer follows the signs to the top of the mountain. Having the outline of the chapter or a roadmap as I called it, does assist but it is important to recall all the allusions, motivations and details that were placed into the story prior to the major events. These are the signs that need to be followed so that your trek up the mountain of your story is smooth and easy and you can see where you are going like a map.  If a writer doesn't follow the signs that he or she put into place then the story becomes choppy and difficult to maneuver. The reader and even the writer may become lost and have to go back to recall what was done before. 

Writers can get off path themselves within their own stories or creativity. Sometimes it takes the form of actual writers block which I experienced for a bit. Sometimes it is just a matter that the story stopped to flow as smoothly and became a bit rocky. Having a scene to remember from what has already been written may help. Stepping away from the story and returning after a time may help. For me, what has helped was having an outline, a map so to speak, that has guided me as to where I want my story to go.

Even the bravest of hikers who have climbed up Mount Everest have a map and a compass. The writer has been creating the map of the story all along but now we are in the scenes that are more emotional, more symbolic, more intense. We are nearing the top of our mountain and that is always where things get a bit more wild. Don't worry though. The sign ahead says we are nearing the top. Only nine more chapters away for the summit.

Destination Imagination

“Something is always born of excess: great art was born of great terrors, great loneliness, great inhibitions, instabilities, and it always balances them.” Anais Nin

Emotions! With social media such a prevalent form of communication today and the lightning fast speed that information is processed and rejected or processed and then moved aside for the next logical piece of information, emotion has become a dirty word.

People are referred to as "too emotional". Doctors study emotions so that we can control them better. As kids we are often told to "buck up" or be more realistic. Yet, as a writer emotion becomes key. This may also explain why writers are viewed as artists and overly emotional. The experiences that the writer is putting into words is being felt by that author at the same time. As the foundation is being laid with the words, the feelings are the decoration of the house.

Emotions allow us to feel not just sorrow but great elation and joy and not just wrath and anger but great loneliness and introspection also. As a writer and a self-described emotional person, those emotions I feel have come from people and experiences. There has been great people in my life who have given me love and people who have made me afraid or sad or even lonely. There have been experiences in my life that have left me speechless and there are experiences that have left me in abject misery.

I was recently reminded about emotions through an experience and what emotions do is teach us about ourselves often. They teach us about the people around us, they show us the depth that life can take, the depth that love can take or the depth even that our selves can go either down in misery or up in celebration. Emotions can change from minute to minute and still provide memories that last a lifetime.

So as a writer how do I pin down emotions and portray them in a story so that the reader can feel what I may already have? The reader needs to feel the shadow of emotion that the writer has been describing in detail and feeling in earnest. The first hand emotions for the writer came from experience and knowledge.  The reader though is wading through the emotions of a novel second hand.  It may bring up a memory but it is not a first hand feeling. Those feelings have to be detailed and passed onto the reader so that in those details they are imagining or recalling as if it is first hand. When you watch a scary movie you know to scream at the appropriate scenes because of the detail of the movie leading you into that dark alley, footsteps coming faster behind you, until you see the knife glinting in the moonlight and scream "Run" to the screen.  The reader is given the details and the knowledge in a book as well. Only the knowledge is explained so that the reader can create the image and feelings in their own head versus having it handed to them on the screen.

While you are filling the scenes with the emotions and experiences of yourself and passing them onto the reader there is a third element or thought barrier at the same time. While detailing for the reader the emotions of a scene you still have to make the characters relatable and experiencing the situations provided without making the characters appear too self aware. There still needs to be a veil put in place for the character who is experiencing the storyline for the first time with no foreshadows or guidebooks and the emotions the characters are expressing would them seem more genuine.

Writing an emotional scene has to be thought of as a trip down the highway. Unless you are a genie you have to follow a path and can not skip ahead to your destination without following the full road. The writer feels the emotions and experiences then motors on down the road and places those feelings and experiences on paper with characters who are now realizing and experiencing as if first hand and those characters motor on down the road to the reader who is reading and taking in the story to its end where they imagine and picture their own feelings and experiences now stamped in place.

The beginning is great emotion and art from the writer and the destination is great imagination and feeling from the reader. In the end it all starts with a thought and an emotion.  Origin Emotion, Destination Imagination.