The Mind's Eye
There are two things about writing that annoy me to no end. The first is that my muses seem nearly always to be most awake when I have neither paper nor a computer close at hand for jotting down ideas. The second is my severe inability to transfer the stories in my mind onto paper in a way that pleases me.
I am sure that all (or nearly all) writers understand both of these. I have often heard my friends (especially fellow Wrimos) complain that their best ideas come in the shower or on the bus or in the middle of the night. Although I doubt how amazing those three-in-the-morning ideas really are, as I have read many of those scenes, including my own, and nearly all are so tangential to the real story that you have to wonder whether the author was in fact fully conscious at the time.
With regards to the path from mind to paper, I’ve realized I’ll never fully capture my image and place into words. In my mind I know every detail: the precise way he moves his head or the exact tone of voice in which she replies, how the trees sway in the breeze, how the colors play across the sky as the sun sinks lower. I feel the piercing of her soul or the joy in his triumph. I hear the songbirds in the forest as clearly as I hear the voices of the characters. I smell the sickly aroma of the burning village. I taste the first meal in days.
I dare not write so much detail in my books for fear that it will be too much, that it will read like stage directions. I do not consider myself an untalented writer in any way, simply lacking experience. Like any skill it takes practice, and a patience which does not come to me easily. Perhaps when I have gained experience I will be more satisfied with my descriptions.
For now, I hope your world is as vivid as mine.
Labels: Musings
