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.