It's just over a year since I started this journal. In a bored moment I did a word check (I keep a copy elsewhere) and it has reached 91304 words. If nothing else it proves to me that I have a certain sort of persistence. Recently I have been fiddling with plots, writing opening sentences, building characters, starting and stopping with opening chapters, middle chapters, end chapters. There is a seed germinating, a central theme which has some energy of its own but, as yet, not quite enough. I can't decide if it is a good idea to jot them all into this 'notebook' and invite comments or keep them all hidden, probably for ever!
Opinions on the best ways toward manifestation of any project vary; members of the New Age community nearbye generally seem to favour public declaration of what they are wishing to manifest, whereas a Sufi leader, Hazrat Inayat Khan advised keeping it all secret, close to the heart, until it is already achieving form, for fear of dissipating the first tender shoots of energy as they begin to gather.
Mostly I would favour the Sufi way but in this case, as writing stuff down on paper results in a waste of trees and keeping files on the iMac of all the faltering first steps keeps the desk top tidy but allows me effortlessly to forget them, I might try broadcasting and see how that goes.
I'm going to use the Lily Pad for that purpose, mainly because the theme has evolved from what the events written there.
A quotation from Eugene Ionescu that came to my attention last night on BBCTV (as I channel-hopped through adverts interrupting CSI Miami, oh the shame of it...)
'Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together.'
4 comments:
Doing it in public has kept us writing..........but the other side is being aware of ones readers.
Perhaps try a bit of public and private writing and see if they feed each other?
Whatever - best of luck keeping it going, it won't write itself.
1000 words a day no matter what!!!
'Being aware of ones readers'? This is a bit gnomic - I'll look forward to an expanded comment by email!!
I've been doing the private writing for years and it gets nowhere, which is possibly OK because in all probability it ain't going nowhere, but it's not very satisfying. If you sewed and sewed and no-one saw the results would you still go on sewing?
1000 words a day no matter what! Er.. but... I'm going to Glasgow tomorrow, leaving at 5am - so maybe I could have the day off?? ;-)
I've always kept it to myself until I feel it is ready for reading by others without too much criticism. I'm a complete coward and haven't the confidence in what I write to argue its worth.
I have to take a deep breath and force myself to take criticism positively and see it as a way of improving instead of a condemnation.
If I went for 1000 words a day, I'm sure the last few hundred would be rubbish!!!
But of course I want you to go public with yours...I'm good at double standards.
Cheers Gillian
Re exhibitioning, I was very keen at one time to sell and thus get the positive feed back, but now I am at a half way house where I want to exhibit but I want to keep it.
I think I would always stitch whatever as i can't sit doing nothing, even on BetaBlockers I have a fizzy brain that needs to be partly distracted or explode.
Exhibitions are definitely good for making me finish or at least stop.
I have started many writings but I always give up after the first few pages, it is extremely annoying, but inescapable it seems. Going public would help with that I think.
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