Writer interruptus

Writer interruptus

Or should I say - Life interruptus.  Life has not been too terribly conducive to working on my latest WIP.  I had the choice of reading Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain" (a German classic) or Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (Latin American classic)  for my Nobel Literature class.   Most people would have probably looked at the page numbers,  720 versus 448 and gone with the smaller book.  Me, I went with the one that sounded more interesting which was "The Magic Mountain."   Have you ever read a book that totally takes up all your brain cells and leaves them as limp as a wet noodle when you are done?


Little did I know when I started the book I was going on a two week, mind filling journey full of philosophical and intellectual debates about humanism, communism, progressiveness, spiritualism, concept of time and life and death.  Needless to say, my brain was so full, my imagination totally consumed by this book, that it was impossible to work on my WIP.   I'm enjoying the Nobel Literature class, however it is taking up much more time than expected.  Plus we've been more busy than normal with webelos stuff, 2 weekend campouts in a row, and life in general.   This week we have something planned every single day, next week is looking to be just as busy and we are all looking ahead to Memorial Day weekend, closing up the shop and just vegging for three days.   


My brain is slowly filling back up with thoughts about Eyes in the Ashes and finishing the story.  This particular story seems to be taking forever to write for some reason.  I love the characters and the story line and know how I want it to end, but it's unfolding slowly.   The desire to write and write and write just isn't there. The passion for it seems to have disappeared.  I still enjoy it, but writing has to fit into my day and not consume my day.   I was wondering what the problem was when I came across Natalie's post "When the honeymoon ends."    She went from being madly in love, passionate about writing to not sure if she loved it or not. When she realized:


"It's not passion and obsession and fire anymore, but it's still there, like a dear old friend I can't imagine my life without. I knew deep down I still wanted to write; I just had to believe in my love for it. Even if that love has become quieter outwardly, it's grown deeper and stronger inwardly. I don't have to prove it with crazy writing mania anymore. I know it."
She is so right - burning, intense passion changes to quiet, comfortable love over a period of time.  Just like a marriage - your love grows and becomes a part of you, not all consuming, but comfortable...there...always with you.  I can see that happening with my writing, but  I don't want to take that comfort for granted.  

Then, Sarah of Confessions of the Unpublished asked an interesting question over the weekend for Wannabe Writer's # 15:

Would you be disappointed if 5 years from now you still wrote 500 words everyday and weren't published? What then? 

Mercy!  I would be extremely disappointed in myself if I had not progressed past writing 500 words a day in 5 years or tried to get published. To me, that would be like standing still, treading water.  I enjoy writing...the process, imagining, the characters, surprising myself and the aha moments as the story unfolds.    5 years from now, I want writing to be as necessary to me as breathing, like reading is now. If I don't read, I get cranky.   

Hmm!  Maybe that's why I've been a little cranky lately - I haven't been working on my WIP. 



“The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike.”  -- Ralph Ellison




3 comments:

  1. I have wanted to read The Magic Mountain ever since my friend in college who was studying German philology was raving about it and yet I somehow never got to doing it. I will though and soon too.

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  2. Your Nobel Literature course sounds divine!

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  3. Gosh -- I read that ages ago and barely remember it -- maybe I was too young and blocked out all that philosophy!

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