Letter To The Leaves: Every Novel Begins With A Few Lines

My Fellow Contributors,

I must admit something that I have been reluctant to tell many. I am a victim of our modern technological era. It seems in our time of status updates and tweets I have become trapped in writing in 150 character thought blocks. My ability to write long cohesive stories has deteriorated. Or perhaps it would be more accurate stated this way: my motivation to write long cohesive stories has eroded.

William Winfield Wright stated last week during the Q&A section of his reading that he loved titles and endings and that short poems let him get to both quickly. Short poems are like Polaroid snap shots. They capture one scene in all its glory. Every minute detail is allowed to rise to the surface. There is truly something to be valued in how much can be said in just a few lines.

But as a good friend of mine reminded me the other day, there is also something to be valued (if not more) in a long sustained novel. This friend said that it was amazing that someone could concentrate and manipulate ideas over the course of three hundred pages.

I suppose I agree with her. It is quite the feat that a writer could spend the amount of time and thought necessary to produce such a work. I might even go as far as my friend did and say that it is more impressive than say a collection of poems. However, I'm not one for sitting down for long sustained periods of writing. I find it hard to sit down and write papers for school let alone sitting down to write a novel. And the thought of developing a story that could last over two hundred pages is intimidating. But even with these reasons, I still haven’t been stopped from trying all together.

You see I have been keeping a journal since 2009. It’s not a diary but more like a common place book. Most of it is reflective prose, but there is some poetry interwoven that breaks up the narrative. My hope for this book (and subsequent journals) is two-fold. First I want to keep my thoughts and experiences written down so that they do not get erased with time. And second, I hope one day to pass these books down to my future children and grandchildren. I often write pages and phrases as if I was addressing them. Giving them the advice I learn as I make my way through life.

So I guess in a sense I am writing a long sustained book. And in the course of writing this blog I have discovered for myself the way to write a novel. Just as my common place book, a novel grows day by day, line by line.

There is something to be valued in both short quick poetry, and long methodical novels. Each gives its artist a medium to paint the world as they see it, each with their splendor, each with their beauty.

As Always

Undoubtedly Yours,

Bermuda

P.S.

If you haven’t already please go start following and reviewing Alli’s blogs on Building Your Writer’s Toolkit. These are great for any level of writer and will help you lay the foundation for later success in the world of writing.

Here’s the link to Part Four: “Building Material for your Material”,

http://afewlinesmagazine-theblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/building-your-writing-toolkit-part-four.html