Epiphany's Eureka

While I sit and wonder about the holes in my novel, I try to think of ways to fix them or great ways to just ignore them. The problem I've faced for a while is that Jeffrey is a back up Christopher and that's not what I wanted. I want Jeffrey to stand alone. As in he doesn't need to be a back up battery for Christopher or some sort of comedy relief. He needs to be a character that can be liked, understood and appreciated.

That's when I realized that the reason why Jeffrey seemed so distant is because he doesn't talk about his life. He speaks of nothing but what is going on at present. It will not alter too much if I go back and add some Jeffrey life stories to a few parts of my first novel. It will enhance it and probably make him less similar to Christopher who is just a computer with an attitude.

That was my Epiphany's Eureka. I was sitting at a Starbucks waiting to hand over wedding pictures I took for a person on the internet and I was reading over the notes I got back from my Wednesday night writing group. Something someone said snapped in my head and I thought that Jeffrey needs a past. He has one, I just never really allowed him to speak about it and I think that's muffled his existence. The person who sparked that wasn't even commenting on that. Others have and it's stuck in my mind for a while, so it's good I've come with this.

Sometimes when I sit and think about a story in a semi-quiet area, I come up with great ideas. I don't do it often because I don't like sitting in quite areas. I don't have a lot of sitting and doing nothing moments. I guess I need more of that to fix my problems in my writing. Probably in my life, too. Ha.

I'll try to do that from time to time. Sit down with my writing and just think of a problem I'm having and maybe the quiet (no music, no TV, no other phone or internet to distract me) will be enough for my characters to have the balls to say, "Ummm...I am not really myself. Care to allow me to be me? You know, by allowing me to speak about my past." And maybe, just maybe I'll have another Epiphany's Eureka and fix another problem I've been thinking about.

What problem is that? Well....I guess I'll tell you...Writing a query letter that's cliche and boring just because that's how it's done. I don't do boring. I took pictures for a wedding of a person I met on the internet and I bought them a card to congratulate them. I never met them before that day and I bought them a card and wrote a simple poem in it. Had I proceed in that instance with a cliche manner, I wouldn't have even agreed to do anything for someone online. I would certainly NOT have bought them a card. So it's difficult to do things like everyone else does them when it comes to writing. Which is why I'm on a hunt for an agent that isn't into being safe and cliche ridden. That's a difficult hunt. A hunt I have to make because my novel is so far off the beaten path that Holden Caulfield would want to see the film after reading the book because it would most likely be the only film (if done right) he'd ever enjoy.

That is my problem. I'll see if a moment of silence during the weekend can solve it. Here's to another Epiphany's Eureka.

Write your dreams. Dream your words. And may your soul inspire the ages. 

Uh, Holden that Thought

I am reading “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger because someone told me that Jeremiah Jericho reminded them of Holden Caufield. I have heard about the book for years. I didn't have to read it when I was in high school and I don't think I'd appreciate it too much if I did. Right now I find it amusing and it fits. I'm writing Jeremiah Jericho with a pinch of me in him. And I can go off on tangents, so when I read that Holden does this, I feel in love with the book right away.

When people read what I have written and they dislike the tangents I don't edit them out. I might edit them down, but I won't remove them. There is character in each of the rants or tangents that happen with Jeremiah that if I remove them, his character might get lost in the voices of Christopher and Jeffrey.

Initially when I started “Jeremiah Jericho: Allowance” I wanted there to be only one voice: Christopher. As the story progressed and I decided to have Jeremiah as a reason for why someone committed suicide, I realized that Jeffrey could become an intricate part of the story itself. Which is how I like to write. I like to write with a bare bone idea of where the story is going and allow the story to flow out of me like people go through life. They don't have a writer directing their every move and even though my character does, he doesn't have to have me dictate everything. He can dictate some of what goes on. Only a writer can understand what I'm talking about there.

I understand he's not real, but when you write and your characters are speaking and acting and you think on the cuff of what they'd do, you're treating them as a real person. Giving them a life of their own without planning their every step. That's how I like to write. That's how Jeffrey came to be. If I didn't do that, it would be just Jeremiah and Christopher. I would feel that there was something missing.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I like Holden Caufield.

I am enjoying writing my second book that's part of this trilogy. I'm writing fresh thoughts and ideas down. I think that it's coming about well. You always have to give a lot of humor to soften the blow of a evil moment and right now I'm laying on the humor because Jeremiah is headed back to NYC to attend a funeral. It's going to be a powerful moment for him and his mother.

That is a bit of me in there. Humor it up before something sad or, even, during something sad. I'm always allowed to be angry, but I cannot stand others being angry. I have to make them laugh or feel better.

Better stop before another tangent jumps out of me.

Write your dreams. Dream your words. And may your soul inspire the ages.