I told myself that I wouldn't do NaNoWriMo this year. But somewhere in the middle of October, Joel asked for a novel about a kid who becomes a mythical veterinarian, with the additional caveat that the kid had to be a gnome.
It's why I've been away from Twitter (for the most part) and why I haven't blogged here. I miss my edu-teacher-friends. But I'm loving writing fiction.
It's been a slower process than NaNoWriMo. It will take three months or so with the first draft. But I'm realizing that I write best when I write for a deadline and when I write for a person. I have no idea who will read this. I have no concept of an audience. All I know is that my three kids are going to bed with my voice and with my stories, or rather, our stories.
People call fiction "an escape." I used to see it as an escape from the difficulty of life. Now I see fiction for what it does best: it's an escape to the difficulty of life. It's the place you go to make sense out of what is too deep, too painful, too optimistic for a world of "hey, did you see the Cardinals game yesterday?"
I'm not sure what will happen with this story. I might self-publish it. I doubt that I will even try and send it out to an agent. But I know this much: it's led to some great conversation and some great thinking and, more importantly, some great story-telling. If nothing tangible happens, that's okay. I'm writing a novel with my kids and that's good enough for me.
I absolutely love that 4th paragraph, John. "Too deep, too painful, too optimistic" - exactly. Beautiful. I hope you are well, my friend.
ReplyDeleteI am well. This whole writing fiction thing has been good for the soul.
DeleteMaybe I should try it then. My soul could use some good.
DeleteWe miss you on Twitter, John. But what you're doing is awesome. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm excited about it. It is admittedly whimsical and therefore not very publishable in an age of angsty YA novels. But honestly, I don't care. I have two kids who love it and one who might someday love it when she's old enough to get it.
DeleteDebbie shared an article with me this morning from School Arts magazine. The article is "Mythology Matters" and it made me think of you and this post. David Gran, the author, starts the article with the following quote from Joseph Campbell:
ReplyDelete"Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical. It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth--penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words. Beyond images...mythology pitches the mind beyond that rim, to what can be known but not told."
Your kids are impressive. It's interesting how hard it is for me to come up with something like a "mythical veterinarian". As a writer I really struggle with the magical, the fictional, I suppose. I'm writing a children's book with someone right now and it's hard to create something magical. I usually need another person for it - to bounce ideas off of. An your son sounds like a great co-writer. I love your fiction and your story telling, I hope we all get to read it.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea you were writing a children's book. I'd love to see it when you're done.
DeleteI don't have a hard time with ideas for fantasy. I wrote a short story about an abandoned house where kids pain the walls and then they enter the land that they have created.
My issue is being fantastical, even whimsical, without being hokey, trite or goofy.
Hi John, I just nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award and I've linked to your site. You can see what it's all about on my site - www.liatbehr.com - I hope you keep it going!
ReplyDeleteIs so as to my three children are leaving to bed with my voice and with my story, or somewhat, our stories term paper topic.
ReplyDelete