Something tells me I've had this title before. In any case, I'm sure I've had this thought before. I'm revising. Why is revising so SLOW? Writing is the strangest endeavor you can imagine. Here I am, I want to write more than anything else. And today I had a whole day stretching out before me, a nice blank page, if you will, for writing and nothing but writing. I've been kicking away at this revision, or at least at trying to envision the revision, for the whole week. All I've come up with is that pretty much everything in the original needs to be scrapped.
The piece is called "Finishing the Story," and an underlying theme is the way we complete our parents' stories. This one focuses on my mother, whom I, of course, love. Suddenly, I have no idea how to write about people I love and know. As a writer of memoir-style non-fiction, I know that writing about her is really (or at least also) writing about me. Anyway, I'm having the opposite of an aha moment. I'm having a "huh?" moment instead. And it's painful. And so the day has been somewhat tortured as I try to figure out what matters in this piece.
What do you do when you're stuck?
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2 comments:
That's interesting that you're having trouble writing about your mother/people you love. Do you think there's anything in the subject that's making you get stuck?
I ask because sometimes exploring why I'm having trouble writing a scene/story/whatever helps shift something that unblocks me. In some cases, it might be that I realize the scene or character isn't necessary to the story and that's why I was reluctant to write about it. Other times it's that the subject is really charged emotionally for me and I have to think about that before I can write.
I wonder if there's something in your emotions that are blocking you. Are you nervous about writing anything not entirely positive about your mom? Or maybe are you picturing your mom reading the piece and are trying to write something she'll like? Have you tried journaling about being stuck?
I love the idea of people finishing their parents' story--very meaninful. Hope you get unstuck soon.
Those are good questions. I don't think I'm nervous about writing anything negative in case she reads it, but I should journal about that possibility... you never know. I think she's pretty solid anyway, and the fact is our relationship is so great now and it's hardly controversial that we had our difficulties along the way. Thanks, Bug. I hope to be able to report, in person, that I'm through the huh-moment!
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