From: Gerry
To: Emma
Date: August 16, 2009
Dear Emma,
Hello! Let me first
respond to this essay about Ollie the dog.
You took a true-life occurrence and mined it for the deeper meanings
present in the moment, and also applied those lessons to further, more
abstract, realizations. Often allegories
are just fables and fairy-tales used to illustrate lessons (such as my Jack
Frost story). Yet you took a REAL
occurrence and in a way, turned it into an allegory for a deeper and more
universal message. It wasn’t just that
you found the “moral” or “lesson” of the story.
You found the next level up, the universal principle which was embodied
in the specific example. You did this by being attentive to your deepest emotions. I imagine that as you wrote it, you went back in time to really feel the experience. This essay also shows your ability to perceive life and its lessons deeply. Many people would have either not noticed the dog, or else just thought to themselves, “Oh, I guess he is following me, ho hum” and gone back to their day. But you recognized the sanctity of the moment and saw all that the story implied. If we only could open our understanding more, I think we would find dozens of such stories each day; in every occurrence, there is magic and a lesson.
It seemed at the end of the essay, you were beginning to
talk about the connection between author and reader. I would love to see you develop that more, as
it seemed the essay ended too early. It
reminded me of a wonderful poem written by Robert Louis Stevenson called “To My
Name-Child” which was written for his wife’s nephew (named “Louis”) when Louis
was just a baby. He tells the child to
enjoy playing on the beach in Monterey and then informs him, in the poem, that
for years, other readers have been reading about him, thinking about him, and
wondering who he is (by reading that very poem). They were “with
him” just as Ollie was with you, though he never perceived them. This came to me particularly at the end of
your essay. Of course, at the time Stevenson wrote the essay, the readers had not yet read the essay and so had not been thinking about Louis for all those years. There is that principle of "Time doesn't matter" that you mentioned in your essay. Stevenson wrote as if the other readers had already wondered about Louis for years, because he knew that by the time Louis grew out of babyhood and read the poem, it would be a true statement. It's time travel. Writing is always time travel. The part Stevenson left out is that the readers' thoughts of Louis continued onward into the next century. Here we are, you and I, nearly 100 years later, still wondering about little Louis.
I am also so pleased to see the system of drafts you use in
your writing! And how wonderful it is
that you are still getting ideas and inspiration from my essay “The Water in
the Well.” Yes, please feel free to
build on any of these writings. I would
love to hear some Jack Frost stories from you as well! Our conversation can continue not only in the
real world but also in the world of allegory where Jack Frost lives.
I also like your ideas about how the writer must feel the
story as he/she writes it. I could
identify with your topic about reviving old stale notes. I myself have often put aside ideas and then
come back to them later. When I do come
back to them, I have to take them as a starting point and see what they bring up
in me NOW. Many times, I have discarded
old notes and ideas because by the time I got to them, I realized that they
were already outdated and I had already grown and moved past those problems in
my life. They were like old coals that
had burned out. At first, I mourned and
regretted these old ideas, and wished that I had written about them when the
coals were still hot. But as time goes
by, I feel that it may be for the best
that I did not write about those things because now I am older and wiser, and I
worry that those writings may have been… unenlightened and simplistic. Of course, I am not saying that younger
people cannot also be wise and enlightened, producing interesting and
groundbreaking work. It’s just that many
of my own notes were never really meant for finding their way into a polished
work. They were just my own musings and
realizations as I worked through issues and expressed myself. To be honest, I really do not know if they
would have turned out well if I had written them at that time. And yet, I still have no regrets because I
realize that the ideas which do need to be written will keep coming back to me
again until I do write them. They stick
around. I shouldn’t worry too much about
forgetting them because they will come to ME.
So I agree with your decision to keep the scraps for now. One thing you will probably notice (I did) is
how many of your ideas and beliefs started much earlier than you would have
thought.
About the series of drafts: I think that’s marvelous that
you developed something that works for you.
I guess my process is similar, but it’s not as explicit as being in
those kinds of named drafts. I expect
that you developed this structure as a way to overcome the paralysis of “What
do I do now?” when writing and as a way to prevent being overwhelmed with the
chaos of all the creative ideas floating around in an unorganized blur. It makes me think of a sheepdog herding
animals into an orderly fashion so that they don’t run amok. Perhaps as time goes by, this structure will
change or you will find that you don’t need it so much anymore
About my own process, well, it has changed over the
years! I used to write longhand on legal
pads in the ‘70s and most of the ‘80s. I finally joined the computer revolution with a desktop computer in 1988. (I won't mention how much I spent for it!) Green letters on a black screen, dot matrix printer, you would not recognize it today. The computer did change
my life significantly and let me organize my thoughts so much better. I think it also might have changed the
finished product. Before getting a
computer, I did less revising. Each
chapter would stand alone more. I would
scribble on the sheets and then cross out and revise with arrows, asterixes… I
don’t know how I was ever able to read my own writing! And hand pain was always a very real
problem.
Once I got the computer, I still wrote in the same way, but
just revised by typing instead of writing by hand. So here is my method, if you can call it
that: I start out typing just to
myself. It’s not bullet points as you
describe, but it’s just a discussion with myself, like, “I would really like to
try writing about a planet where time flows backwards” or something like
that. I then write ABOUT the book
instead of writing it. Somehow it morphs
into writing actual sections of the book (not always in order), and… it just
sort of takes shape. Sometimes I have to
write a timeline to keep it all straight.
I guess my point is that the book just emerges and I don’t think so
overtly about the specific drafts. I do
make liberal use of the “Save As” button so that each time I write a new draft,
the old draft is saved under a different name (usually just by adding a
different number to the title). This
lets me be completely free to revise, delete, etc. because I know I can go back
to the old draft if I want something back again. I almost never do.
I think it’s very interesting comparing methods, but I’d
never presume to say anyone has to use my specific method. I actually never really thought of it as a
method, to be honest. I mostly just let
the book come through me, and it seems to organize itself. It may be that you just need a little more
external help to get your thoughts organized in preparation for the
writing. It’s wonderful that you know
your own mind well enough to have developed this system.
Talk soon!
Gerry
From: Emma
To: Gerry
Date: August 22, 2009
Hi Gerry,
And thanks for your great email. You always have a way of making me feel good
about my accomplishments, even when you see things differently (like how your
system of writing differs from mine).
I wanted to let you know, I will be meeting soon with a
marketing coach who will help give me ideas about making the transition to
professional writer. I think that would
be so amazing because then I could still consult, train, or use my MBA in other
ways, but I could give up my more rote job of Office Manager and still have
enough money to support myself as I continue writing. Let me tell you a little about him. He does this as a freelance business and has
several clients. I had a free initial
session with him earlier this summer, which went very well. Basically, his model is to meet with clients,
discuss with them what they write about and what they could write about based
on their background, and then try to pinpoint and focus that for the
market. He said that there are many
people who are very talented writers, but they just need to spin or slant their
message (and choose their message) to make it marketable. He has recommended some writing books to me
that I am looking at. He was away for
much of the summer, but he is back now, so I will see him in early
September.
So that’s it! Just a
short email for now. I am preparing
some materials for my next meeting with him, filling out questionnaires,
etc. I will let you know how it goes!
Emma
From: Gerry
To: Emma
Date: August 23, 2009
Dear Emma,
Very interesting about the marketing coach! I really look forward to hearing more about
this once you connect with him.
I am glad you are also exploring some writing books. Remember, books are there to give you
ideas. Always feel free to reject any of
those ideas that do not fit you. Even my
own emails and stories are just to give you ideas and help you to build on your
own inner journey. Listen to yourself,
and don’t ever feel bound or pushed by others to create in any specific sort of
way. I hesitated to even write this,
actually, because I don’t want to imply that you would not know it for
yourself. I decided to include it,
though, because I would say that same thing even to the most advanced of
writers. You would be amazed at even the
most accomplished and oldest of writers who don’t subscribe to this view. And if I have overstepped, I sincerely
apologize!
Talk soon,
Gerry
From: Emma
To: Gerry
Date: August 23, 2009
Dear Gerry,
Thanks, and please don’t worry at all about giving advice or
warnings or anything like that. I
totally appreciate it, and I also know that you don’t mean any lack of faith in
my own perception or abilities by it.
Just the fact that you even mentioned to me that you were hesitant to
give such advice, for fear of seeming to put me down, means a lot and actually
proves the point that you are really do respect me and see me as very
capable. Please don’t ever edit yourself
or hold back on giving advice for this or any reason!
Big smile!
Emma
From: Gerry
To: Emma
Date: August 24, 2009
That email you just sent sounds just great to me. Yes, I will continue to advise without worry
about overstepping or insulting. And if
I ever do, then please tell me!
So in that vein… I will continue with my thoughts on
reaching out into the world of writing.
Finding your voice is the first step. As you write in an exploratory fashion, your
voice will emerge. The essay about Ollie
the dog was just one such foray. You
will find your voice will change naturally as you yourself change and
grow. The phrase “finding your voice”
doesn’t even fully explain what I am talking about. It’s about opening the conversation with the
world and finding the point where you can enter that conversation. It’s not a matter of “figuring it out.” No one could ever have that much conscious
control over it. Well, you probably know
what I am talking about anyway, so I will leave it there for now. I know this topic will come up again because
just like in a skein of yarn, the tangled line always leads back again to what
came before.
Take care,
Gerry
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