Writing feels like magic sometimes, when the words are streaming through my fingertips, effortlessly, and I'm huffing and puffing to keep up with them. I marvel at how I have been chosen to be their conduit, and I give thanks to whatever deities of creativity deemed me worthy to have custody of these delightful characters.
But then there are THOSE days. . .the ones where the characters are clearly demon spawn, sent to torment me for crimes against creativity I did not know I had violated. Magic doesn't happen then. It disappears, in a puff of acrid, toxic smoke, with an evil cackle accompanying it. Does it have to sound so happy to cause me misery?
Yet I know I'll have those magical days again. I never know exactly WHEN, but they do return, and I'm still just as filled with awe as the last time it happened. I try to figure out exactly what I did to cause it, but I've come to think there is no "cause". It just is.
And the logical side of my brain has a hard time accepting that. It wants to organize, and renovate, and move stuff around to make the creativity feel more welcome. If only it worked like that. But it doesn't seem to have any correlation.
Creativity can be corralled, but it can't really be confined. It will allow itself to be molded into a certain form, or format, something recognizable, like a story, but it doesn't really want to follow any of the rules we try to force onto it.
If we're frustrated by this, imagine how it must feel. I can just see it throwing its hands in the air, gritting its teeth as it says, "Again? When will they learn?", just before it dashes out for a vacation from us.
Since I don't know how it happens, or why, I just try to enjoy it while it's here. On those days when the words flow more easily, I offer my gratitude and then sit down and try to write as much as possible, not knowing when the words will slow down and then finally fade away.
On the days when the magic is gone, I still write, but I know it will be a little tougher, kinda like when a key sticks on my laptop and I have to press with a little more vigor than usual.
The funny thing is, the magical days don't always produce the best work. Sometimes it's the hard-won words that win my heart when I go back to read them. Magic is unpredictable that way.
Or maybe the magic isn't in what happens, it's in how we see things.
Today I'm including an excerpt of something I may self-pub in the near future. It's something that I consider magical, because it got me back into writing, after almost a decade of being too discouraged to write. When I wrote this story, it felt like I'd harnessed some kind of magic, because I'd just discovered I was a pantser. Once I figured that out, I was able to write the way I wanted to.
Talk about a magical experience.
Your extract is magical Donna.
What a wicked sense of humour to lead us on like that, right up to the last line.
How on earth will you get them back together after that!
A real test of your magical powers. *grin*
I hope you do self pub. I think it's really good.
Posted by: Quantum | September 09, 2011 at 09:18 AM
Thanks, Q. You're the first "public viewing" of the excerpt, so I appreciate your kind words. (Only my agent and a trusted beta reader have seen this so far.)
I've got to finish some revisions and then hopefully it'll be available in its full-length form. If only the revisions would MAGICALLY do the work themselves!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | September 09, 2011 at 09:31 AM
The following post copied from Lexi Revellian's Blog may be of interest as regards self-publishing.
Regards Q
8 September 2011 20:56
OpenID markwilliamsinternational.com said...
The returns offered are indeed paltry, but at the same time some writers find it hard going on their own, or simply do not want the hassle.
A lot of authors are put off trying self-publishing because of the costs (not massive but still a lot for some) of formatting, getting covers, etc, and lack of confidence in SMP to market their book.
Which is why we are launching MWiDP - mark williams international digital publishing helping new and existing writers get into digital.
We believe that our experience and platforms and innovative approach give us a better chance than many small presses already out there to improve an author's prospects.
And we'll be offering an 80-20 return in the author's favour from whatever the payout is from the e-distributor.
Lexi, you are cruel and heartless to quote from that book blurb. But thanks for the laugh! :-)
Posted by: Quantum | September 10, 2011 at 03:35 PM
Q, that's interesting info -- thanks for sending it along. I am not quite to that point yet, since I'm still editing/revising, but it's good to keep in mind for when I am ready. :)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | September 10, 2011 at 06:37 PM
I think those rare days of magic are when we're most open to the surprises our characters come up with or even getting that clear moment of one-up-manship when it's us who gets to throw the character a curve. (Obviously, I'm never sure who is in charge. LOL)
Like in your "Bad Karma" excerpt, I love the twist! I love the little moment of guilt when she thinks letting him down easy with a refusal will be a tough blow on the heels of the morning's bad sex. :) Just a thought, but I'd also love it if she thought from the start he was going to propose, which would be logical with it being their anniversary and all. I could see she might have THOUGHT that the bad sex that morning might have been from the added pressure of expecting the proposal...but little did she know what he was thinking, right? :)
Posted by: Melissa | September 10, 2011 at 10:28 PM
Melissa, I think you're right about not being sure who is in charge. LOL I like the thought of getting to throw my characters a curve, but I suspect they do it to ME more often than not!
And I love your suggestion about her thinking earlier he was going to propose -- that does make the end of the chapter an even bigger surprise. LOL Thank you for mentioning it. :) I will definitely find a way to incorporate that!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | September 10, 2011 at 10:55 PM