Writing from the gut

[pegkerr]

Another 400 words of snippets tonight.

Have been mulling over the concept of "writing from the gut." Agnes, in particular is going to be a truth speaker. Have been reading kijjohnson's Fudoki which reads like an arrow straight through the heart. It's always exhilarating to read something that inspires you to want to do your best (but it can be a little intimidating, too).

Anyway, more in general: I want this book to speak from somewhere deep inside that's true. From the gut, to the heart, as it were. That was, perhaps, what I was struggling to put into words a few nights ago when I said that I didn't want this to deteriorate into a standard romance novel. Now I'm not foolish enough to dismiss all romance novels as being unable to speak from the gut. Lois McMaster Bujold says that she writes about identity in all of her books ("Stand up straight and speak the truth" she wrote in "The Mountains of Mourning" and Memory). Standing up straight and speaking the truth: that's want I want to explore with Solveig, too. One of my favorite novels dealing with identity is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, because the events of the novel force Elizabeth Bennett to examine her own heart, until she discovers "Till this moment, I never knew myself."

That should be a new sign above my desk, I think, or a text for the screen saver on my screen:

Write from the gut. Speak the truth from the heart.

One caution for myself: I must be careful not to spend so much time writing about the novel in this LiveJournal that I actually fail to write it.

Peg

Comments

[kijjohnson.livejournal.com]

Jim Gunn says in his classes that one interesting way to analyze a writer's work is to finish the following statement for the author: "The world would be perfect if only _________."

Heinlein might say, "The world would be perfect if only the fools got out of the way and let the smart people run things."

For me, the world would be perfect if only we all really faced ourselves. "Speak the rude truth" is as likely to be about oneself as about others -- and can be far more painful. I hate facing myself, but I hate lying to myself more (not that I don't; I just try not to).

I am so grateful you are liking the book. Strange how we all need encouragement, huh.:g:.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

"One caution for myself: I must be careful not to spend so much time writing about the novel in this LiveJournal that I actually fail to write it."

That would be a shame.

B