Shift In Status

This was one of those good days where the novel finally switched over from something that felt like work to something that felt like a story again.

It’s something that I think all writers have to come to terms with when it comes to creating something as large as a novel. I think artists have to deal with the same problem when it comes to creating a comic, or directors when crafting a full scale motion picture. Whenever you do anything that’s longer in form, it’s impossible for it to always be riding the muse, firing on all cylinders, in a frenzy of creative joy. At some point that inspiration (or at least the manic, hyper-accelerated version of it that creative types live for) will die, and you’re left with what separates real artists from wannabes; the ability to forge on ahead and keep working the craft even when you’re not basking in the light of the muses. Which means also that you’re more likely to actually finish the damn thing, as opposed to referring to it as a work in progress for the rest of your dilettante life.

I think that working when you’re inspired is a grand thing, but I also believe that when it comes to something bigger, like the long form pieces of art mentioned above, you’re going to experience a massive attack of inefficiency if you ONLY work under the condition that inspiration is burning with nova-like intensity. Writing is part art and part craft, and one of the things about any craft is having the discipline to stick with it and see it finished (or at least worked on) even when you’re not feeling particularly peachy about the whole thing.

That’s what’s been happening with Lost In Loveless lately where it was… well, saying it was a torturous process would be too much of an exaggeration, but it was pretty slow going, getting those words out and even though it didn’t feel like writer’s block, it was still a bit discouraging to watch the words come out one by one, veeeeery slowwwlyyyy and think “Well, it’s not bad.”

The dam finally broke again today though and I got some decent momentum with about three pages cranked out, compared to the paragraph or two that I’d previously been working with. Speaking of which, back to work…