“Creation is an act of sheer will.” – John Hammond (Sir
Richard Attenborough) in Jurassic Park
When you’re sick and the illness lethargy sets in, it takes
more of that “sheer will” to write or do anything for that matter. When I’m sick, I either curl up in bed with a
book or on the loveseat and watch movies or TV while I guzzle down orange juice
and pop decongestants like candy.
But writing...
My mind won’t stop which means all these thoughts, and all these characters, and all these changing plot-points continue to swirl around in my head like debris around a tornado. But without the energy, without that “sheer will,” I don’t have the want-to enough to grab them and set them in order.
Writing this right now is taking a quite a bit of work.
But the creative process never stops. That much I can guarantee you.
I’ve been working on the second Mike Guidry novel lately and I have to confess: if what I’m writing is boring me, I know it’ll bore my readers.
So I go back and re-evaluate what I’ve written and start asking myself, “Why does it bore me?” It could be the cold-related lethargy talking, but I don’t think so. My main character is in a position where he’s not actively running down the main problem. He’s stuck in a place where things are going to happen to him and that doesn’t make for interesting reading, especially in private detective fiction. So, I have to re-work it so he’s the active agent and not a passive recipient.
This is something I learned reading a wonderful blog about writing screenplays, but the principle has broader application across the whole spectrum of story-telling. Carson Reeves at “Script Shadow” was using Raiders of the Lost Ark to demonstrate the elements that made it such a fantastic movie and one of those elements was “The Power of the Active Protagonist.” (http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/2011/03/10-screenwriting-tips-you-can-learn.html)
Indiana Jones doesn’t wait for things to happen. Thing may develop around him necessitating changes to his plans, but he’s always actively going after the main goal: The Ark of the Covenant. Along the way Nepalese thugs, shadowy Gestapo agents, goose-stepping Nazi soldiers, and an opportunistic, self-serving archaeologist all try to prevent him from getting to the prize. But he never stops actively striving to reach it. Indiana Jones makes things happen, even if the antagonists force him to change tactics or adjust his plans. But he’s always on the go; always fighting; always searching for a way to get what he wants. And that (besides being the likeable hero) is one of the things that makes Raiders so much fun as a story.
And that brings me back to my current work. Mike has to make things happen and in the first novel of the series he was doing just that. But now, with the current storyline he’s in, I need him to force a shift from being passive to being active; from waiting to doing.
So, until I have the energy to make a more concerted effort at writing (once this bloody cold with it’s bloody awful lethargy) is gone, I’m “marking time” and making notes.
But writing...
My mind won’t stop which means all these thoughts, and all these characters, and all these changing plot-points continue to swirl around in my head like debris around a tornado. But without the energy, without that “sheer will,” I don’t have the want-to enough to grab them and set them in order.
Writing this right now is taking a quite a bit of work.
But the creative process never stops. That much I can guarantee you.
I’ve been working on the second Mike Guidry novel lately and I have to confess: if what I’m writing is boring me, I know it’ll bore my readers.
So I go back and re-evaluate what I’ve written and start asking myself, “Why does it bore me?” It could be the cold-related lethargy talking, but I don’t think so. My main character is in a position where he’s not actively running down the main problem. He’s stuck in a place where things are going to happen to him and that doesn’t make for interesting reading, especially in private detective fiction. So, I have to re-work it so he’s the active agent and not a passive recipient.
This is something I learned reading a wonderful blog about writing screenplays, but the principle has broader application across the whole spectrum of story-telling. Carson Reeves at “Script Shadow” was using Raiders of the Lost Ark to demonstrate the elements that made it such a fantastic movie and one of those elements was “The Power of the Active Protagonist.” (http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/2011/03/10-screenwriting-tips-you-can-learn.html)
Indiana Jones doesn’t wait for things to happen. Thing may develop around him necessitating changes to his plans, but he’s always actively going after the main goal: The Ark of the Covenant. Along the way Nepalese thugs, shadowy Gestapo agents, goose-stepping Nazi soldiers, and an opportunistic, self-serving archaeologist all try to prevent him from getting to the prize. But he never stops actively striving to reach it. Indiana Jones makes things happen, even if the antagonists force him to change tactics or adjust his plans. But he’s always on the go; always fighting; always searching for a way to get what he wants. And that (besides being the likeable hero) is one of the things that makes Raiders so much fun as a story.
And that brings me back to my current work. Mike has to make things happen and in the first novel of the series he was doing just that. But now, with the current storyline he’s in, I need him to force a shift from being passive to being active; from waiting to doing.
So, until I have the energy to make a more concerted effort at writing (once this bloody cold with it’s bloody awful lethargy) is gone, I’m “marking time” and making notes.
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