Different Strokes

Different methods and different modes for different means and different moods. Okay. I’m finished speaking in jive. I, forcing myself to Write, found various ways in which my thoughts flowed.

Sunny mentioned in class that her best ideas came on the edge of sleeping, and a day or so before that class, me, too. Paragraphs of the main character, Ryal, talking to his counselor poured from pen to the piece of paper I keep by my bed. Currently, I have two versions of the same story—one written in prose and the other laid out in speech bubbles with the promise of illustrations to come. The prose captures a lot of subtleties in descriptions that will have to wait to be expressed with illustrations by the latter method.

I also tried different writing processes. One day, I scared my cousin nearly to death. (The doctors say she’ll eventually be all right.) I found the best writing spot on that day to be on top of the dryer in our laundry room—quiet, warm, and few distractions. I wrote for a few hours there and translated from prose to speech bubbles. Even when my cousin came home, I did not stop to greet her, so when I emerged after she had been home for a while, I was unexpected, and she jumped.

I also talked some ideas over with a friend, but found myself hesitant to talk about it. Currently in the story, Ryal is having difficulties expressing his thoughts and feelings. I guess I’m too empathetic—I was having trouble expressing what I thought and felt about Ryal’s story.

I could not write with music playing earlier today. I wanted to work with noise. I found myself looking around the Internet, looking at my to do list, and not working at all. But, hey, there was music. As a solution, I spoke to my computer and myself about what I wanted Ryal to do, look like, feel, and experience in the span of the story while having background noise (Okay, I was playing a video game.). I thought about how his peers, teachers, and family would treat him and react to him, how he would handle conflict, how he would relate to others, what he thought about school, and what he did when he was not in school. I candidly discussed options for him. Now that I have these “notes” recorded, I can go back and listen to them whenever I want. I came up with ideas I do not think I would have dealt with yet had I not used this method. I might not use any of the ideas, but I kept thinking. It was a great exercise.

[Blurg. I tried, for about 45 minutes to post a video of me talking about the book. It isn't working right now, but I'll figure it out.] [Aha!! It took me until the next day, but for your listening pleasure, a snippet of my rambling:]



One neat truth about writing cannot answer it all.... Some techniques are appropriate at some times and some for other times. Every moment is different. Different things work. --Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones