LOST
It’s always on the weekend when the panic strikes. A few self-induced deadlines I set in the days before loom over my shoulder, half-done or not done at all. I start eying up the clock, wondering how I can stretch out the day so that I can write something. Anything.
It happened as such last Saturday, but it wasn’t until after 10pm when I finally sat down with an open document. For almost an hour, my fingers clipped across the keyboard. I wrote with one eye open so as not to force it, cranked out “garbage” and then “decent” and – “finally!” – the good stuff. I was going to call it at 11:00. Then, seconds before I saved my work, I blinked. Maybe I shifted my weight.
Whatever, my hand hit a rogue key and the document vanished. All those words, all the good stuff, disappeared somewhere in cyberspace.
When it’s that late at night and an hour’s worth of writing flitters off into the vapors, all you can do is laugh. “Okay,” I said, to my muse or to the ghost who roams our house late at night or to whomever might have been listening. “I get the hint.” Maybe the words read well, but the timing was wrong. Could be, that I was writing too much drama (I’ve been known to be quite dramatic in first drafts). Either way, the message was clear: got to bed, sleep on it.
FOUND
I won’t lie, I half hoped I’d wake up the next morning with full memory of the prose I lost. While that didn’t happen, I did uncover a gold mine of ideas later in the day.
Digging into research for a historical novel I aim to write, I zipped through microfilms of a newspaper dated in the late 19th century. This was my first foray into the research (and my first microfilm experience since, say, 1989), so I read through the sheets aimlessly, not sure of what I needed. A few things jumped out at me, though, and soon enough, I discovered more than just details about a particular time and place.
- Personals: The personals in 1885 read a lot different than they do now, with news like Edward Gaynor, Esq. is down again with his old dyspepsia. There’s no fear of his passing — he’s too ugly to die. While entertaining, what’s even more great about the personals is that they’re full of names. Great names for characters that are in line with the times. My pencil went crazy making lists.
- News Summary: This section reads much like an early form of gossip magazines, and hints at domestic life and odd characters. A woman named Hattie Thorton sets fire to a hotel, “so she might have the chance to use the firescape.” And, a doctor, accused of attempting to poison his wife, “skipped out. The evidence was too direct and conclusive.” How’s that for prompting ideas that could add spice to your story?
- Weather: The microfilms I searched were full of simple charts about temperatures an wind gales and brief accounts of unusual meteorological events during that time. I could probably find information on climate in other resources, but, because weather will likely play an important role in the story I want to write, reading about those events from the perspective of the people who lived through them is even more exciting.
Writing is often a give and take, depending on your perspective. What I’m reminded of, again and again, is that all I have to do is show up. Bad days turn to good days soon enough.
What do you think? Tell me about your week of great finds.
Oh, Christi, I could feel the disheartening whoosh of those words rushing out into cyberspace. Your perspective, though, is inspiring.
Your historical finds are awesome! ‘too ugly to die” (!!) I love this kind of sleuthing. My find this weekend was that a fourth grade class is using some of Hattie’s diary entries on “her blog” to study history. It gave me the nudge I need to give poor neglected Hattie some needed attention.
Lisa,
How cool that fourth graders are studying Hattie. I love that! I’m so glad she’s getting the attention she deserves.
I have more microfilm to look through, too, and I really can’t wait to see what’s up in the New Summaries. That’s where the flavor of the area really shines through!
I have not done historical research lately, but I had the same experience – browsing through the old micro-fiche in a library in eastern PA. What fun stuff, the old newspapers. And I hadn’t used that sort of machine since the 80s as well!
Karen,
Definitely fun. I just wish they had the old papers in paper format. That would be doubly delicious.
Ahhh! How frustrating to lose that hour’s worth of work. But you’re right– all you can do is laugh. It served its purpose, got your juices flowing, and led you into some pretty creative territory for your WIP. I’ve definitely had to learn that not everything I write will be “good.” But it doesn’t even matter if it is or not…the point is just showing up– after a certain point, like you said, it pays off.
I’ve been happy over the past couple of weeks to delve more into the blogging world and find writing blogs I enjoy (including this one of course). It’s nice to have a constant feed of new, thought-provoking material to mull over.
Sarah,
I just returned from listening to Eleanor Brown speak (author of The Weird Sisters), and she mentioned the same thing: how we learn something from everything we write. It’s so easy to think a bad day of writing is a waste of a day, but that’s my inner editor taking over.
I’m so glad you stopped by!
Christi – what a great attitude you have. Many people would have slunk away, or cried, or kicked when those words vanished — you laughed and moved on. Good for you! I’m going to try to remember that. Hope to see you in Chitown on Sat. 🙂
As I type this, you are basking in the fun of AWP. I hope you’re having a blast, Pam, and yes, hope to see you Saturday!
Sorry for your loss, Christi. Maybe it’s a good time to add an external hard drive that is set to back up every day. Mine is set for 11pm every night. I get so crazy worrying, that I often stop myself from doing “new work” after that time.
Great finds are magic. It was in a random search for a subject that I came across an article in Playbill magazine. That one article not only changed the entire focus of one book, it has inspired a series. One find can be like the diamond in the rough.
Also, a friend recently told me you can purchase old handwritten letters from eBay. I haven’t tried it yet, but it sounds intriguing. She said someone bought two dozen letters written in the mid-1800’s. She works in historical fiction. I wonder what treasures are hidden in the letters people find in their granny’s attic?
Florence,
Recently, I met with a library friend of mine who is an archivist. She said to me that research is often full of serendipity, that – like you said – the one article that changes or inspires or makes clear the story is often found by chance. I thought of her when I was flipping through the microfilm, thought just zip on across, and see what you land on.
And, those handwritten letters do sound cool. I hope to get my hands on some family diaries that are stored in archives. That’s going to take a little doing, but if it works out, woo!
Great post! Inspiring. We need to remind ourselves that good days follow bad.
Thanks for stopping by, Darlene!
The microfiche! Oh, the old reliance on the internet is nothing compared to the funny blue lighted microfiche and its stunning timeliness. I’m sorry for the work you lost, I’m all too good at that, but the finds in the library, tremendous indeed.
Victoria,
Blue lighted and “stunning” is right. Only, they were hard for me to read at times. I felt like I was two inches from the screen, and that a good magnifying glass would help. Kudos to those printers back then, and all their Linotype machines!
This post made me nostalgic for the days I did genealogy research. The newspapers were my favorite.
I blogged about my “find” today. In short, I found that I’d subconsciously completed a story I’d written three paragraphs of a few weeks ago. When I sat down to work on it, it simply poured out. Nice surprise.
Enjoy your big weekend. 🙂
Linda,
I’m getting back to the newspapers again today. Can’t wait! And, how exciting, to open up a paragraph and find the opening for a whole story. Cool!
How wonderfully entertaining those clips are, Christi! Thanks for sharing. I’m a year into my historical novel and really want to channel that old-fashioned humorous sound while making the story still resonate with modern readers. Today, for research, I watched a few short videos about bobbin lace making and was struck by the sound of the wooden bobbins. Sort of like wind chimes.
How fun, Laura, watching videos like that. I love your description of the sound!
Oh my, Christi. I love this post for so many reasons. First I love that you “laughed” when your words disappeared (I fear my response would have been MUCH different – like throwing my laptop, screaming, cussing …) Secondly, I LOVE the treasure trove of information you uncovered. What a GREAT reminder that simply showing up can equal success; it’s the showing up part that counts. I need to remind myself of your story on the days when nothing seems to be flowing.
Melissa,
Laughter is my best medicine, which is good and bad. I’ve caught myself gaffaw-ing at inappropriate times, too 🙂 Oh well….
I tend to be up late as well, lending me to be exhausted and cranky. For you to laugh at losing what you wrote shows your graceful spirit. I don’t know what that even looks like. Like Melissa, some very ugly words would have spewed from my mouth.
I love reading the historical papers as well. I haven’t ventured into microfiche but dig around the Kansas Historical Society’s web site quite a bit. There are so many great tidbits out there just waiting for us to weave them into a story! I love that you have found your gold mine.
Glad you stopped by, Hallie. Historical websites is another great suggestion! I plan on hitting a small historical society up north this summer, one I’ve heard has a wealth of information and documents. I can’t wait!