A commitment to Tendril

[vaneramos]

Morning glories in Edwards Gardens, Toronto


Last week I mentioned it's time to reconnect with my literary children. Today while working out at the gym, I chose Tendril.

She was conceived two years ago during National Novel Writing Month. I had a fun romp, but the first draft demanded complete rewriting, and has sat untouched ever since. Now I must reconvene with Tendril. The main plot I'll keep: a teenaged girl enters cyberspace to rescue her father. Alice in Wonderland inspired it. Last week Danny and I watched the Czech film version, Neco z Alenky by Jan Švankmajer, which extrapolates the story's dark surrealism. Tendril's voyage will be a quest for adult knowledge.

I won't post it in blind_king. Two reasons:

1. To transcend my desire for immediate attention and explore the writing impulse that has filled dozens of handwritten journals in nine years. I want to see how my intimacy with pen and paper nurtures Tendril.
2. Writing on paper will free me to work in parks, cafés, libraries, Toronto.

Work starts tomorrow, 3 to 5 pm six days a week until it's written. I have a world to design and research to do, beginning with a review of Lewis Carroll and my own manuscript.

Comments

[mattcallow.livejournal.com]

You going to give NaNoWriMo another bash this year?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I'm going to give this project priority. I feel the need to approach it by giving myself time and space to work (rather than a word quota!) even if it takes all winter or a year. This means I might not be able to do NaNo this year, but I don't have to decide that yet. NaNo has given me one great idea (Tendril) and one workable manuscript (Pilgrim), so it would be a fertile undertaking.

[mattcallow.livejournal.com]

Sounds ideal... :)

[thewindrose.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous photo, as usual. I love the richness of the blues.

I'd be interested in hearing how your rewrites go. I haven't had much luck with pen and paper writing - as far as big pieces go. But it is something I keep thinking about trying again. I just really love the flexibility of the computer screen, of course, then the problem is that I spend so much time editing and playing around with the text, that I don't spend enough time actually writing it.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

It's true, the computer can hamper creativity because it encourages the inner editor. I've given myself a lot of practice with pen and paper the past few years, so now I'm using it toward a larger goal. I'll let you know how it goes.

[thewindrose.livejournal.com]

Great!

I do my daily journal writing with pen and paper - 3-4 pages a day over breakfast, but that is more stream of conscious writing. I never, ever go back and read any of it. I use it more as way to reflect on what is going on and to work out internal issues. That's why the pen and paper writing keeps intriguing me - I already know I enjoy writing that way - and yet it keeps scaring me off, because I have such a strong dislike of rereading.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I rarely reread, but it's not a dislike for me, just a matter of laziness. Old journal entries can be fascinating when I get around to them.

I use that stream-of-consciousness tool when I want to write a story or an essay. It helps me put down all my thoughts on a subject without worrying about whether they're accurate or even true, and that gives me fertile raw material.

The past couple of days I've felt bored and frustrated with my journal. That happens a lot of course, but I've learned to stay with the process.

This morning I took my boredom as signal to stop dwelling on my problems. I wrote a short story instead.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a good plan. Of course, I'm still waiting to find out what happened to Trent, but I guess I can wait a while longer. :-)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Don't worry. I have no intention of leaving him on the back burner indefinitely.