Thursday, September 16, 2010

Writing adventures

One of my goals while in Japan was to read and write more. I figured I would have a lot of extra time on my hands that I could devote to these things that I had neglected in college. The reading has slowly been coming along. The writing has been a bit more difficult. Although I completed Nanowrimo (writing 50,000 words in the month of November) last year, the content I was working with was a story line I had been dreaming up for years and years. Frankly, I'm sick of it. As I've gotten older and imposed limits on my once absurdly limitless imagination (one cannot live in a dream world ALL THE TIME), I've had difficulty coming up with new material.

However, it seems as though I might be finally conquering this obstacle, or at least climbing up it a bit. I wrote my first short story in over a year last week (please see previous post). Also, I started work on co-writing our AJET production for this winter, our very own 'Treasure Island.' It's not an original piece, but there will be a lot of original thought going into it. We'll be adapting it to Japan in a way, with Japanese characters, locales, and jokes. I'm super excited. It's going to be a ton of fun.

I'm hoping to be almost finished with the first draft by November. Hopefully, I'll still have time to participate in Nanowrimo this year, which brings me to my third point. I think I may have found a group of characters to write about in November. I've already realized that plot is not my strong point. I have to start out with a group of characters and situations and find the plot from there. I suppose this weakness probably has something to do with the fact that my favorite part about writing is the dialogue NOT the narrative. However, I've realized that some novels aren't necessarily dominated by an over-arching plot, but rather are just about people with relatively interesting lives. All this to say, I can't wait for November. I have a little over a month to work out some ideas and then I could start on my third novel attempt! I'm quite excited for this.

One last thing I've been thinking about: when I've approached writing in the past, it has often been as a perfectionist. I read my work with disgust sometimes because it didn't meet some standard I had set. I've realized this is the last attitude I should have about my writing. I'm an amateur. I'm probably even less worth-while than an amateur. I should write, not because I expect myself to write the next NY Times bestseller but because I want more practice and because it's fun. I enjoy writing. I like creating. If I'm lucky, my mom and my boyfriend will read it, and that will be it, and that will be okay.

So, here's to someday writing something pretty cool, but for now, being okay with less than mediocre :)

1 comment:

  1. Anyone who can write that piece you wrote about Peter can WRITE and write well. Yes, I'm sure you polished and tweaked it a lot, but it was so good, I'm getting pricklies all over my scalp just remembering it.

    So. Take down all the parameters you've set up, they sound like they're hindering your writing more than helping. Also, let your imagination run rampant. Sometimes, even if you don't end up with something "well written," you still have fun writing it, and that probably will help you write more "realistic" stuff, if that's what you want to do. One more piece of advice (yeah, since I'm the world's BEST writer out there--ha! :) ): shitty first drafts. If our patron saint of kick-ass writing (Anne Lamott) recommends it, I think you should take it to heart. Save the surgery for after you've gotten a story out. :)

    Most importantly, keep enjoying it and keep writing for you.

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