Mind if I ramble for a bit? If you do, too bad—that’s what blogs were made for.
I always love the beginning of a writing project. Raw ideas spilling out so fast that my pen can’t keep up. Getting to know characters like they’re strangers you’ve met by chance. Piecing together a puzzle while cutting and painting the pieces. Writing is like going insane for a while—but I enjoy it.
I have a pocket-sized notebook that a friend gave me for Christmas. He didn’t know what else to give me (aside from candy penguins), and he knew it was perfect because he always sees me jotting down notes. I took it along one Saturday in January on a couples date, just so he could see that I was using it. But in reality, I wrote the first note right then and there at that booth. More than a month later, that little book is half full. It somehow gives my project life, almost as if I can see and hold the actual book itself.
But this will be an ebook. With the publishing industry as it is, it makes sense to strike out on your own and cut out all the middlemen. I think getting this story out there is more important than earning cred. In an era where industries are easily bought out by corporations and the main goal is money, the indie scene will thrive.
I wouldn’t mind being part of the “obscure and underground”. There’s an excitement to it, like we’re returning to the times when poets and writers would hand out chapbooks or self-published books.
But it is fun to imagine the finished project. A complete ebook or a hefty paperback. Downloaded or having its pages flipped by a reader who’s given herself up to my words. I do hope I have the kind of power to bring people into the worlds I’ve imagined.
Right now, I’m enjoying the power of the writing spell. Every idea is magical and so full of potential. That’s the wonder of stepping into a new project, the utter “newness” of it all. The anxiety of not knowing where it will all go, the thrill of uncovering the path that will lead you to the end. Every little note, every brainstorming session uncovers more of the path.
Yes, it is a tragedy when parts have to be cut out. A part of the story that was and will never be is lost. The book you’ve imagined is gone, replaced by something you never originally imagined. But the magic is still there. You just have to wrangle it every so often.
