This ongoing account of my current writing journey has spent a lot of time on the bits where I’m not writing. That’s because the act of writing in itself – like any kind of creation – does not film well. A one-shot of me typing and frowning and deleting and typing some more.
Creation is dull and repetitive. The Bible does everything from the formless void on out in a couple of dozen verses. A page or so. (And the repetitions! And God said … and God made… and the evening and the morning … it was good). Human deeds and misdeeds are way more interesting to read about, and consequently take up way more space.
In comparing myself to, you know, God, I may be blaspheming. I am certainly being bombastic. But there is an element of truth there. Writers create worlds inhabited by figures who act and react according to their own desires and fears, resulting in complications that lead onward towards who knows what? A little planning, a little free will, a mix of inspiration and technique. Sounds pretty much like God to me.
Today’s entry has to do with another aspect of the writing life that does not involve writing.
I am waiting.
The story is on the desk of my editor (sounds like a phrase from a French phrase book, doesn’t it?). It’s been there for a few days now. War has been described as long periods of waiting punctuated by short bursts of panic and activity. That description applies to writing as well. Herman Melville says that a writer needs four things above all others: time, strength, cash, patience. Is it a big stretch to see God needing at least three of those qualities? (I don’t know how Heaven is organized, financially.)
Right now I am making use of my patience.
Comments