inspiration

Twists and Turns

24 October 2012 by villia Leave a Comment

It’s been oh so quiet around Under the Black Sand recently. I blame it on rebuilding a whole attic and full time job. A kid helps as well. But enough of that.

Today I managed to get back into the story. The original screenplay took place in Iceland. As the novel progressed, the story was moved to the UK. One of my feedback-readers suggested I move it back. After thinking about this, I decided to dive back in and rewrite. It would be a lot of work. Many things that apply in the UK, don’t make sense in Iceland. We have no construction companies with a history stretching back to the early 19th century. We never had any railways to speak of. We didn’t take any serious part in fighting during the two world wars. – Yes, this book is something of an epic. – So, a lot of things had to change.

I saw this as a two-edged sword. In some ways, the story would make more sense in Iceland. It was originally based there and a few things were a bit of a stretch in British context. But there were so many things that would be uninteresting and flat in Iceland, compared to the rich history of the British Empire. Or so I thought.

Before I could start rewriting, I had to figure out what would replace the 200 year old firm, the gothic cathedral, the conflicts in Europe. I reintroduced a few twists from the original screenplay and thought up a few new ones to make it all work. And guess what? The story is now tighter than it ever was. The conflict between certain characters more intense. On the whole, the story seems to be even deeper.

Funny how other people can sometimes force you to rethink things and come up with something completely unexpected.

Now it’s just a matter of getting it all done. Write, write, write until the book is the best it can ever be. I will have to finish it one day. Decide, this is it. Now, go out into the world and live your own life.

Posted in novel, personal, thoughts, writing | Tagged black sand, church, inspiration, novel, personal, thoughts, writing

State of Mind

20 September 2012 by villia Leave a Comment

It is a well known misunderstanding that inspiration will come to the artist like a divine light from the heavens, and he will create his best work when sprinkled with the magic stuff most mortals don’t have. Talent, combined with the magic dust is what makes an artist. The untalented masses are merely consumers of the arts and will never fully understand the minds of the creative geniuses.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, sometimes an idea sparks a fire in the writer’s mind and a masterpiece is born. Most of the time though, it’s keeping at it. Having a schedule and not neglecting your work.

Paul McCartney once said that the reason he went straight to the studio to record his first solo album after the Beatles, was to keep going. He was afraid that if he’d take a year off, he wouldn’t be able to get back into it. This state of mind an artist finds himself in when on a roll.

I work a lot and we are rebuilding the attic. I haven’t touched my novel in over two weeks. It’s work and DIY. This morning, I had around two hours to play with, so I fired up Scrivener and got ready to write. I sat there, looking at the words I had written previously. Nothing happened. It was like a boring school assignment. I just couldn’t get into it.

It’s not that this part of the novel is boring. It is a turning point, a confrontation. I have gone through it a few times and I know it’s one of the key moments in the book. The scene wasn’t the problem. I was.

I had allowed myself to float to the surface. I couldn’t dive deep into the mind where the magic is found. I have been thinking only of work and screws that needed to be drilled into wood. I had lost contact with my creative self. I had become one of the supposedly talentless masses.

Talent isn’t a gift. It is a state of mind. I slipped out of it and will have to work on getting myself back into it. That’s all there is to it. Talent and inspiration comes to the open mind and it’s up to us not to close it.