[HPforGrownups] Re: I have a problem

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 5089

Peg Kerr wrote:

> I have to think I'm doing SOMETHING by immersing myself in Harry's world,
> something that feeds that mysterious part of my back brain that creates
> fiction.  I'm chewing over big themes: morality, heroism, betrayal, trust,
> the nature of friendship, etc, esp. by working on my 7 deadly sins/heavenly
> virtues essays.  I can only trust that all the analysis I'm putting into
> that hopper (or as Tolkien called it, that story stewpot) in my unconscious
> mind will brew and bubble and stew and ferment . . . and something good will
> emerge out of it someday when I get back to creating my own fictional worlds
> again.

I think you're right. In my experience, for the gifted, in any area, there is no
steady hum or pace; I've never met anyone who didn't do their particular area of
expertise in fits and pauses. And sometimes people just operate on different
internal schedules, too. I really, really wish I had been taught, way *before* I
was 28 and in college for the second time, that a legitimate part of the writing
process is cogitating, thinking about it. I'm evidently the type of person who
can't actually put words onto paper (screen?) until a couple of days before the
deadline, no matter how much preparation time I have. I spend a lot of time with
things mulling inside, consciously or sub-, and if I'd known that it was not
only legitimate but necessary, I would have spent lots less time sweating blood
and trying to fit myself into the "work a little on it each day" mold.

So don't worry. And definitely enjoy the ride.

--Amanda, who's a bit depressed that for most things, she *can* do the
slow-n-steady gig....