A Light Through the Darkness
July 29, 2002
7:22 a.m.
The creative process continues to astound me. I started work on Sunday with one goal in mind--go back to a book I wrote a year and a half ago, and see if I still thought it was publishable. Despite thinking it was okay back then, I hadn't marketed it because of some ideas I had about my career. I wanted to get some other things done first, then move out on all fronts at once. Now the other things are done, and I wanted to scan this book and see if I still thought it was good. So I read it all afternoon. Overall, I liked it. The character was fun again, and the story moved. I wouldn't have said it was a "classic" because, what the heck do I know? But I liked it...though I have to admit I thought the last few sections were starting to lose a little focus. I made it though a hundred or so pages, then stopped for dinner. When I returned, I made more progress, making changes up and down the first hundred pages, and then pressing onward. I was starting to get that feeling that I was on the edge of discovery. Then, of course, the power went out. Boy howdy let me tell you, I was really peeved. Two years, I'm thinking. I wait two freaking years to work on this manuscript, and then I get to where I'm starting to understand it afresh, make some really valuable changes, then I lose it all to the danged power company? Now there's a CEO that should be shot. I mean, what are the odds, huh? The power goes out for one hour over this two year period. What are the odds of it being right when I'm getting a grip on my two-year-old novel? I'll tell you the chances--100%, them's the chances. So Brigid, Lisa, and I played Aggravation (as if I needed the help) by candlelight until the lights came on. It was nearly bedtime, but I wanted to see what might still be on my system, so I powered up again. The good news: I lost only a couple minutes of work. The better news: I think the break actually helped. I was sitting there, breathing a sigh of relief and quickly skipping through the chapters of the book, loosely thinking about the storyline. For some reason I started thinking about Joseph Campbell's mythology theories (which I have to say right now, I'm nowhere near an expert on), and it struck me that I've got a lot of that in here ... then comes the series of inexplicable synapse firings ... the convergence of opportunity and reading and effort and pure chance that makes this such an interesting world to work in ... if an engineer were plotting the process, this is where he would put "And then a miracle occurs." I knew exactly what I needed to do. I knew exactly what was missing. As I explained it to Lisa later I said that I knew I was right because I got that little clicky thing happening inside my head. So this morning I "fixed" it. This morning the book is signing. Maybe it's still not a classic--what do I know? But it's gained velocity and tension in places that used to just fit the story niche. I'll have to spend another full day probably reading through it again, just to make sure I haven't thrown something out of whack someplace else. But this morning I'm feeling pretty smug. This book works. Pretty danged cool.   Now, of course, I just need to convince an editor. [grin] Have a great day.  Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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The effects of a positive attitude can be staggering, eh? |
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