My current work in progress, ‘Mute’, has been a slow
meandering process. I have been
side-tracked by real life and so a lot of the time lately I have had lots of
thoughts, notes and mini meltdowns but just not enough energy and/or time to
get everything down on paper. What’s
more, this story is not unfolding like any of the others I have written in past
months. I am writing sections all out of
order and while I find that to be a daunting task, it’s been a fascinating
challenge. This story is also requiring me,
courtesy of my characters, to write outside of the box. I have written a few different things that are
important to the scope of the story (at least that’s what my characters are
telling me). It’s coming in small
parcels and not in a linear fashion which requires me to ponder and ask them a
great deal of questions. There are
always surprises. I love that about
writing, the unknown. It certainly keeps
me on my toes. I do look forward to when
this one comes together and I am able to share it with you. For now though, they remain all mine. I can say with all honesty that I don’t mind
that so much either. Or maybe it’s more
accurate to say that I belong to them?
It’s Friday. After
a long work week, I hope to regain my lost artist date from last weekend and
get out somewhere tomorrow in the sunshine, settle somewhere with my pen and my
fictional friends and see what else comes up.
My artist dates are my saving grace, they truly are. I also have some letters to return so my pen
moving in that regard will also fuel up the creative tank, it always does.
I could have shared a poem today but it’s not the
polished diamond I want it to be yet so I will save it for another day. I may even tuck it in my writing book for
tomorrow and polish it while out in the wild (so to speak). No written words today save the bloggy ramblings
but it’s a new month and I’m plugging away carefully at my current project,
careful to not let the weighty elements of real life stifle my flow. The characters are still with me so that must
be something, yes?
In other news, I reserved tickets for Matt Epp’s return
to Halifax at The Carleton on June 23rd. I
will be accompanied by two of my dearest friends and my sister for this
show. I look forward to this show
because it’s his CD release and he’s coming with a great artist called French
Press to open for him. I hold Matt’s
work in the highest esteem and regard him as one of the most tender and enlightened
artists in Canada. His shows, for me,
equal certain inspiration, absolute spirituality. His work is uplifting and I’ve really enjoyed
watching him soar from his early beginnings in Winnipeg to being so well
respected and received, working with other world class talents and sharing his gifts,
his love for music and his eternal goodness with us. In addition to Epp’s show, I have Old Crow
Medicine Show on May 31st to look forward to, The Standfields at
Casino NS the very next night and Matt Mays will be rocking the Halifax
waterfront on June 8th with the Red Bull Tour Bus. There’s nothing like a good dose of live
music to whip my creative senses into a wild frenzy. What makes it all that much more amazing is I’ll
be dancing the nights away with some of my best people. That makes my heart happy.
It’s Friday. The
sun is shining. The evening ahead will
be spent with some of my other best people and then hopefully a restful sleep
for my artist date adventure tomorrow.
Maybe I’ll even see best people tomorrow if I’m lucky.
Keep calm and weekend on!
You can tell
everybody this is your song …
In propinquity,
Nic
Oh, and a BIG birthday shout out today too to Jeff 'Wise One' MacNeil, UBER talented musician and all around jovial guy. Sure do miss seeing him play.
Nice sentiment, Nic. Sounds like this week has sucked on both coasts, lol.
ReplyDeleteI like that you're being challenged by this new story. There are no rules in writing (except for proper punctuation in dialogue, of course); what you're doing with Mute is as much play as production. Even if you don't use the bits and pieces you're writing outside of the story's scope, the better you know them, the more real the characters will become.
I LOVE you saying that perhaps you belong to them! That's how I feel about most of mine - particularly the new ones. We don't choose them; they choose us. I wonder if they ever regret their choice?
I hope they'd never quit me. I'm a keeper! As are you. :)
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