Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Why I Write Spooky, Literary, Metaphysical Fiction

I used to be a newspaper and TV reporter, covered politics and school boards, one motorcycle gang shootout, a few fish kills, a lot of other odd occurrences. Then as a travel writer for magazines and newspapers, I tended to accidentally turn up wherever events were about to explode: in Israel for a war with Lebanon, in India in a city where riots broke out, in Poland in time for the second round of Solidarity strikes.

As a novelist, I still fancy myself a reporter of sorts. I'm interested in "things unseen," the shapes and stirrings in our deepest recesses, in mystical experiences of the divine, in the paranormal and the barely conceivable.

MY METHODS: I meditate, though not very much
I write a fast see-what's-there chunk of story
I revise to develop-what's-there
I get feedback from the writing group/class I've been a member of for
22 years
I do more exploratory drafts and more polishing drafts
Maybe get more feedback
And all the while I count on what floats up into my consciousness, the
unexpected connections and images

GETTING THE DEEP IMAGES:
The surprise thoughts rise to my mind usually after two things have
happened: I've prepared the ground by writing about whatever it
is I'm currently most drawn to, and then I've taken a break and done
something physical like exercise, taking a shower, sleeping, raking.

EXAMPLE: In the case of the the novel I'm working on now, COBALT BLUE, the deep connection came to me while I was doing something rather quietly
physical: sitting out on my porch with Bob on a summer night,
thinking about nothing but the slight stirring of the damp air.

What came to my mind on that porch was the phrase: "it's kundalini." I
knew that the "it's" referred to the major event in my novel. In COBALT BLUE, the main character Andie has a sudden mysterious inner rush, followed by a blast of creativity as well as some rather extreme sexual episodes.

There were psychological reasons for this of course. But then this word
that I didn't know the meaning of showed up. I had overheard it
once but didn't know what it meant.

Kundalini, I learned, is a concept of unused life
force stored in every person. When the kundalini
spontaneously "rises wrong" a person can get more than they can
handle. The word is Sanskrit, but the idea exists in the history of
many religions.

I felt the idea slide into the story as if the story had been built
for it in every detail.

So I think of myself as a reporter, doing a sort of reconnaissance. I'm watching for what shows up and,in my way, reporting it. I want to know what's there.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wish you were going with me to weymouth - would be fun to do the walk between writing times together and talk about synchronicity and kundalini!

:)

Anonymous said...

That sounds lovely, Billie. The walking and talking part does. I've never been off to a quiet retreat center to write because I like noise around me. Comes from starting off in a newsroom. Maybe I could just show up for the conversations. I wish you a fun, productive time at Weymouth.


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Anonymous said...

If you're ever in need of some good old-fashioned noise, head on over to our house! I am having to adjust to the rise and fall of childrens' voices, dogs barking, phones ringing, music, computer games, movies, etc. while trying to stay focused on the words on my computer screen.

It's being a bit of a challenge.

I love Weymouth but have found it's more fun when other writers are there - the accidental/unplanned meetings in the kitchen for food and drink almost always fuel the next bit of work.

I don't require dead silence but the absence of interruption is so very sweet!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the invitation to your raucous household. I can see why you like to get away to write. I like noise that is background, that(mostly) isn't calling my name.

Anonymous said...

You nailed it - it's the noise that calls one's name that doesn't quite work...:)

I am quite pleased with myself... I managed to get to the end of my ms edit so I can print out a fresh copy to take to weymouth.

I had set a hurdle for myself and thought the past few days I wasn't going to make it. Which would have been okay, but it's nice that I did.

Anonymous said...

in healing emotional pain, it's often useful totell someone the true description " i think u'r up to something Big! ", when they're scared , or we dont understand why logically, or a choice or feeling or behavior seems bizarre or senseless--framed as important, folks can often stop running from their power & discover other ways to get where they want to go.