“You definitely have talent as a writer…”
What does that mean? Writing isn’t an adventure for the faint of heart, it demands discipline, courage, fortitude, ingenuity and the commitment to truth. I’m more often a discouraged and undisciplined young woman. I have grand dreams but dreams alone go nowhere.
Such brilliant characters: Jo March and Elizabeth Bennet. And such brilliant writers: Louisa May Alcott and Jane Austen. How did they do it? How did they pour the truth of their own lives into their novels? Each story rings with the faint hues of reality. Knowing some about the authoresses’ real lives makes it evident that they used their own experiences, situations, acquaintances and revelations to write. They formed fantasy but it was fantasy molded with actual traits and ideas, molded with the world.
I don’t need to write the next great novel (though I admit it would be nice). What I want to write probably wouldn’t even be considered great by today’s audience if Twilight and Eragon are anything to tell by (I say this slightly jealously and also with a reproof at my own unwarranted judgment). What I want to write, what my heart cries to write, are stories that reflect reality in all of its absurdities, joys and sorrows. I want to write characters that are real, that could live next door, but that still inevitably belong in their fictional worlds, for their worlds would be hollow without them. But I haven’t discovered how to do this yet, the craft eludes me. And while I enjoy an entertaining read, fantasy novels (whether half-baked or not) don’t quite reach my goals.
Am I called to write? Do I know the ending? Of course not. As with all stories, I must wait and see.
Ahhh… don’t you sometimes, MANY TIMES, want to just crumble up, stomp on, and burn that annoying four letter word “wait” so it will never show it’s nasty little letters again?
Love reading your blogs niece, I can’t “wait” to read the next one :/
And I love your comments Aunt Shelley…can’t WAIT to read the next one