Isn’t
that what all creative writers want … to have crafted a passage so powerful and
compelling that the reader physically trembles at the emotional memory or the
sudden insight triggered by the words on the page.
The
first time I heard that phrase was last week in a workshop run by one of my
fellow trekkers in Nepal. A full-time teacher of creative writing, Yasmina has
taken on the daunting task of getting each member of the trekking group to
share his or her experience in written form. Many in the group have little
experience with creative writing and struggle with how to even start to record
their thoughts and feelings.
Yasmina
walked us through a series of exercises that were thought-provoking even for an
experienced writer. But when she threw out that phrase— “a shiver of
recognition”—as the goal of our scribbling, it seemed a moment of
synchronicity.
I was
meant to be there.
I was
meant to be there because my “job” for the foreseeable future is to complete
the final draft of my novel, A FITTING PLACE.
I’ve had great encouragement from beta readers, who connect with my
characters and love the plot. But as Yasmina’s phrase echoed in my brain, I
knew what is still missing from my story.
My two primary characters are interesting because they are more than a
bit out of the ordinary. But if I cannot write their out-of-the-ordinary story
in a way that causes my readers to have that shiver of recognition, I should
stop now.
I will
not stop. I will write it so that my
readers tremble. The question is how do
I do that.
And what
about those of you who are writers? Do
you struggle with that “how”?
Keep working toward that goal, Mary. Your story gets better with every rewrite. And I think that's the answer to your question of "How?" to do it. In the rush to publication, I think some authors are willing to settle. I'm glad you're not one of them.
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