Driving Through the Storm...
Thoughts on novel-writing and airplanes
I love Neil Gaiman.
Whenever I can, I watch/listen to him talk about writing.
In his Masterclass, he uses an analogy that hit home. Hard.
Gaiman altered it a bit…
“Writing a novel is like driving through a storm.”
For a while, it’s only mist and clouds, but every so often the fog thins and you catch a glimpse of something beautiful and clear.
—until the clouds come back to greet you.
Sometimes while writing I feel like, as a friend of mine says, “un pollo sin cabeza.” Like a chicken with no head, and zero say in what my characters are doing.
But then as I “gain control” over the story that feeling always passes
… and comes back again.
Now that the book is coming out, I think I know what Gaiman and Doctorow mean. Writing is a constant tug-of-war — sometimes you get the upper hand, sometimes it gets you.
So I’d like to add my own.
Moral of the story. It’s all pretty terrifying.
Yet still we fly …
As always, thank you for reading and supporting the journey…
Next week I’ll share COVER ILLUSTRATIONS.
Stay tuned and leave a comment below :)
—Jeremy