Finishing that third draft, which amounted to a major structural revamp that required a lot of rewriting, was a huge achievement considering the degree of my anxiety about it. I’m pleased with myself, indeed I am. But the book’s in the hands of my writing group now, and I’m well-aware I’ll be facing another round of revisions, albeit less dramatic ones. And once I’m well and truly finished I’ll have to face the blurbs and queries and synopses and rejections…round after round of them. And they say the wise thing to do is to start that next novel while the carousel turns….
Frankly, I’m re-examining my ‘need’ to write fiction. In the pre-novel days – when I limited my literary efforts to the occasional personal essay or poem – the rewards weren’t as great. The heights were less lofty. But did I know what I was missing? Not a chance. What’s more, in those days, I didn’t walk around with an advanced case of the heebie-jeebies.
I’m well and truly hooked, however. No way I can quit. So what does that make me…a masochist?
The book that helped sustain me through the wrap-up is Art & Fear: Observations On The Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, by David Bayles and Ted Orland. It’s not a self-help book. It’s an exploration of “the nature of the difficulties that stop so many who start.”
Some excerpts:
“To make art is to sing with the human voice. To do this you must first learn that the only voice you need is the voice you already have. Art work is ordinary work, but it takes courage to embrace that work, and wisdom to mediate the interplay of art and fear.”
“What veteran artists share in common is that they have learned how to get on with their work.”
“In the end it all comes down to this: you have a choice (or more accurately a rolling tangle of choices) between giving your work your best shot and risking that it will not make you happy, or not giving it your best shot—and thereby guaranteeing that it will not make you happy. It becomes a choice between certainty and uncertainty. And curiously, uncertainty is the comforting choice.”
So, hey. I’m no masochist. Just playing the odds.
- Lois
Posts
3 comments:
Bock, Bock!
Oh, and I forgot, thanks for the link to this book. It seems to have some meaty, provocative stuff to say.
Lois,
I think we all have misgivings when the entire process loams before us. It is one thing to write a manuscript, it is quite another to make it perfect and salable and then a third thing entirely to sell it.
I like the carousel reference, so much classier sounding than merry go round, but it is the same thing after all.
Thanks for the info on the book. It is very appealing. and I need a reminder that writing is art.
Terrie
Post a Comment