National Library, New WashingtonThe Writer's Guild: A Blog on Writing
March 2, 2008
Been readying a book put together by Mexican Novelists on the art and state of the Mexican Novel. After all, I wanted to know what is going on in the market. And I come across a Mexican Author who lives in London and recently started writing in English. She found that writing in English was like writing in a whole new genre. It was a revelation to me as I have been dabling my hand in Spanish.
Why you may ask? You see, after doing some hasty market research I found something interesting. There is no Fantasy or Science Fiction Mexican fiction. Let me correct myself, there is, but not in the category.
You see there is plenty of fantastic and paranormal writing. In fact, the form of Fantastic Realism started in Latin America. But... the fantasy category and the science fiction category is filled with the usual suspects, in translation of course.
Anyhow, I have been trying to get a short story together in my mother tongue. Yes, English is NOT my mother tongue, and as the joke may go, neither is American. But, I have not tried to write seriously in Spanish for decades, so the facility in the language is not there. Oh and it goes beyond that. I have a hell of a time thinking in Spanish. You may ask, what the heck are you talking about? It is a different way of thinking. Not only have Noam Chomsky and George Lakoff covered this, but now it is obvious to me at a more visceral way. Writing a story using the elements of Fantastic Realism in Spanish is different than in English. I cannot explain it, but it is. This has actually opened my eyes to a whole new world. After all, who amongst us has not created a new world where language is not different? We might be lazy about it, but reality is that it is not only the environment that determines how characters thing. So does what and how they speak.
February 12, 2008
SUCCESS!
Ok, let me explain. After the last two months I finally was able to get back to some of my writing. Yes, I came to my parent's home to help them still, but nevertheless I have more time to write. I went back to the novel, and it felt distant and stale, partly because I have not seen anything in a while. I also knew I had a short story to write, for the fantasy section of this web site. On the flight to my parent's home I managed to knock off part of draft zero. In the last two days I did the rest of the work, and now I have draft zero printed, and staring at me...yes with all the ugliness a first draft always has. But it is done.
I also discovered something else (beyond the fact that I will have to give my mother's printer quite a bit of maintenance). I wrote each scene in a different color. It allowed me to keep each scene as an organic hole, and also to better appreciate what needs cutting, severely cutting, and what needs expanding. Oh and most importantly it allowed me to finish something.
Most writers will appreciate this sooner or later, but finishing something allows you to get back in the writing groove. In this case it also allowed me to see maps and to see characters and to see the world anew. After all, the world of Kir is quite large and expansive and has many factions. The short story also added several small factions, and the factoid that the place might be on the crusp of a scientific revolution. And for the record, how do you call Keppler's equations, when they were developed by somebody else, who is physically over one hundred and twenty light years away from Earth? Things to mull in the coming rewrite...
January 20th, 2008
I must say when life intervenes in a writer’s life, it can be hard to find time to write. This website took very long to put together. No, not because I had writer’s block, or any of the myriad of maladies that affect the working writer. I wish I had THAT excuse! In fact, we had an accident in the family. My dad fell and broke his hip two days before going home. So we did what you do in those cases, and called 9.11. That was December 14th, and it was the beginning of a marathon.
These days I have time to write for a solid half an hour when I am lucky. For the most part I spend time helping my mother, she is seventy-eight years old, and could not do a lot of the physical work. Believe you me, I had forgotten how heavy a wheelchair is. I also had to remember, ok, how do you move a patient in a safe manner? After all, the last thing any of us needs is for me to throw my back.
This means that as a writer finding the time to write can be a real chore. I manage. This new website for the new year is exactly that. Oh, and out of this experience there is a book in the future. I came to realize, as we have been going through the process, that my experience might help others. Admittedly, I spent ten years as a working paramedic, so I knew how to navigate some of the system. My brother is a doctor and my sister is a dietitian. You could say we have some advantages. That said, I started outlining a book, and started doing the research… since I realize that this information will be invaluable to other children of elderly parents.
There are several things that you must take into account. One of them is to take time for number one. Taking care of an elderly parent can be stressful. Especially when this parent is stubborn (many are) and is trying to get away from his therapy. Physical therapy is needed in these cases. So we have had a couple situations where he has gotten very angry, but he is STILL doing therapy.
So how about the writing? As writers time is of a premium. We don’t have the time we wish we had. So we have to make time. When you find time, you need to take it. Write, a minute here, a minute there. Get the juices going. It will also help you to relax and find a place for yourself. This is what writing (and painting) have done for me over the last month or so. Even if I cannot do this as much as I wish…
It looks like I will be able to go back to the novel set in the world of Kir. Here is the problem though. I will have to re-read what I have. I have completely lost tract of where the novel was. This could be a problem, but in the end it will have to be done. I hope that in a couple of days I will be able to go back to work and start producing some text. As is, I also know that I have to write a short story for the other side of the website, and that alone might bet my creative juices flowing…
And that folks, is life… sometimes we have to do what needs to be done… and the marathon is not over… but we are closer to the end of that one!