Someone Else's Voice Is In My Head
It is impossible to work on one story when you have another playing in your head.
I'm in the midst of reworking a book and all I can hear are the voices of Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist. Even as I write, words from the book whisper in my ear, leaving me in helpless despair as my work pales in comparison. My dialogues seem like
thin broth, my scenes like cardboard cutouts and my characters like paper dolls. This always happens when I read a God's-gift-to-mankind book.
It's tough going back to your own writing after being moved by someone else's words. Some writers are able to admire and learn from another's elegant prose, but for me, once my breath is taken away it's a long time before I can catch it again. When that happens, I have to turn to one of my favourite sayings and mentally repeat it like a mantra.
"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."
Old Wordsworth said that. Perhaps he too was wrestling with a mind that was stubbornly hanging on to someone else's writing? Probably not the case, but it's a comforting thought and I shall nurse it while I try to finish this damn book!
I'm in the midst of reworking a book and all I can hear are the voices of Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist. Even as I write, words from the book whisper in my ear, leaving me in helpless despair as my work pales in comparison. My dialogues seem like
thin broth, my scenes like cardboard cutouts and my characters like paper dolls. This always happens when I read a God's-gift-to-mankind book.
It's tough going back to your own writing after being moved by someone else's words. Some writers are able to admire and learn from another's elegant prose, but for me, once my breath is taken away it's a long time before I can catch it again. When that happens, I have to turn to one of my favourite sayings and mentally repeat it like a mantra.
"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."
Old Wordsworth said that. Perhaps he too was wrestling with a mind that was stubbornly hanging on to someone else's writing? Probably not the case, but it's a comforting thought and I shall nurse it while I try to finish this damn book!
posted by starlight at 6:28 PM
2 Comments:
but once you have such voices in your head, you will know the moment when something you've written really is good ... and it will happen
you're absolutely right. have had those moments before and they're lovely. i just wish they'd visit more frequently! :)
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