Writing time; Lady of Shalott

[pegkerr]

I used to devote a block of time every night, 8:30 to 10:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday to writing, when I was working on my last two books. But then I was badly blocked after finishing Swans, and gradually, in the years since then, that writing time was given up to other things as stuff was added to our schedule and time got squeezed out. Monday night is family night and also the night Rob and I do our weekly money meeting. The girls are staying up later now. I’m getting up earlier now to exercise, so I’ve been going to bed earlier, too. And I’ve gotten on the Internet since writing my last two books, too, and the delights of LiveJournal, etc., have also eaten into my time.

But I’ve added the sliver of writing time in the morning, and now I’ve decided to re-devote at least Thursday nights to writing (after the girls are in bed). No LiveJournal, or at least not until after 10:00. This is a step in the right direction, and I hope to gradually add more. I’m starting to feel like a real writer again. It may sound funny to hear that someone who had written two books and seen them published might doubt that she’s a real writer, but that’s what the block did to me. It is such a relief to feel that things are moving in the right direction again, and that I’m regularly sitting down to write and sometimes, sometimes words even come out of that mysterious place where my imagination resides. Some of them are even pretty good.

I was listening today to Loreena McKennitt’s rendition of "The Lady of Shalott" on her album "Live in Paris and Toronto," and it occurred to me today for the first time that here is another story about heart of flesh/heart of stone. When the Lady looked at Lancelot—allowed herself to love, in other words—the "mirror crack’d from side to side." I think of A.S. Byatt’s essay on ice=glass=stone. Becoming human means daring to love. Unfortunately, her daring only brings her death. (How depressing!)

Isn’t that what I’m writing about in this book? Becoming human/choosing the heart of flesh/loving means accepting impermanence/death (like the fact that the ice palace will melt). Lois McMaster Bujold said (was it in Barrayar?) that bringing a child into the world means bringing in a new life--and a new death. Rolf hopes to cheat death by living forever. Solveig (and later Jack) opposing him, know better. They live and love, but that means accepting that they will die.

Hmm. (Goes off to think some more.)

Peg

Comments

Loreena McKennitt

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

It was a picture of Loreena McKennitt that sparked The Wild Swans, although I had never heard her music before. The description of Eliza, my main character, is entirely based upon her, albeit at a younger age. I mentioned in the author's afterward the dream I had that started the book. In my dream, I saw a woman dressed in black sitting on a park bench on a gray day, watching swans swim in the pond in front of her. The woman didn't speak, but I thought she looked beautiful. I was trying to decide what book to write next, and the swans, and the woman's silence, made me think of the Hans Christian Andersen story "The Wild Swans."

A few days later, I was paging through the newspaper, and saw a picture that made me pause. "That looks like the woman in my dream," I thought. Long, wispy hair, a face that was unusual, rather than classically beautiful, with eyes that looked right through you.

A few days after that, I was listening to the radio, and heard this gorgeous soprano voice I'd never heard before singing "The Bonny Swans." I had swans on the brain because of my dream, so I stopped to listen, spellbound. "That was Loreena McKennitt," the announcer said. "Tickets for her concert are now on sale."

Loreena McKennitt? Wasn't that the name of the woman I'd seen in the picture in the newspaper, the one that looked like the woman in my dream? I dug the newspaper out of the recycling stack and checked, and sure enough, it was her. Obviously, the universe was trying to tell me something. I went to the phone, ordered the tickets and went to the concert. I went out during intermission and bought every single one of her CDs and have listened to them ever since. I borrowed "the look" in the newspaper picture for Lizzie (Eliza's modern doppelganger) in the magic shop scene. I particularly listened to "The Mask and the Mirror" compulsively while writing The Wild Swans, and I use bits of her songs for chapter epigraphs.

Peg

[ajodasso.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that either Loreena almost never tours in the US, or I'm cursed as far as my location is concerned. I've lived in the northeast my whole live, and not once in all my years of living here in proximity to Pittsburgh or in New England has she ever come close. Of all the singers I've ever loved, I want to see her the most, and I'm beginning to think I'll never get the chance.

"Live in Paris & Toronto" is probably my overall favorite album, but then, it's an unusual item: completely and totally live. As the standard-recording albums go, I'm fondest of The "Mask & Mirror" and "The Visit". I have some favorite songs on "Elemental" and "Parallel Dreams", though--"Ancient Pines", "Dickens' Dublin", "Annachie Gordon", et. al. She's simply too amazing. "Dante's Prayer" and "Lady of Shalott" would have to be my all-time favorite songs, though. With a possible second-place--"The Dark Night of the Soul".

I've never read any of your books, I'm afraid to report *wry grin* I noticed about a month ago that you had friended me, and I thought, Who's this? So I went and took a look at your journal, and after reading through a few pages of entries and looking at your info, I thought, A professional writer? Well, this could be fascinating! I've just been watching quietly; I'm an aspiring writer myself, but I'm not yet out of college, and this is largely because I've switched majors. I'll have to look into you, though. LiveJournal's such a strange phenomenon; it's everything from an extension of fandom to a mass communication system. Never ceases to amaze me:)

(Sorry, the first time I posted this, the ending was cut off!)

[ajodasso.livejournal.com]

(Ye gods, but LJ is being difficult today! I hope we're finally straightened out. My re-post of that comment managed to triple itself.)