I used to work in that mill in the 90's - the Smurfit years. I processed timecards for payroll and handed out checks. Also, my great grandfather (my dad's mom's dad) worked there (1920's) and broke his back. The men put him in a wheel barrow and rolled him up Singer Hill to his home, told my Grosmudder he was dead (he wasn't. Lived to see his 90th year), and left. AND my other great grandfather (my dad's dad's dad) was murdered at Willamette Falls arresting a poacher. The details are fuzzy on that one. He was a game warden and supposedly a police officer was involved? There's a whole book in here somewhere. But it's one of those unbelievable true stories, and I'm scared of getting it wrong.
I love the idea of rereading unfinished work and listening to it. Really listening for it's voice.
Vicki, this is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this. I agree that there is a BOOK in here! And I don't actually think you can get it wrong: whoever said "fiction is the lie that tells the truth" is right. I think you should write this down, read it out loud, and see where it takes you!!
I love W S Merwin. Just finished his collection “Garden Time” which was quiet and yet quite moving.
Billy Collins also is renowned for saying something to effect that poets start a poem and then spend the rest of the time trying figure out how to get the hell out. I’m sure if you watch his many Youtube interviews (while resting your hands/wrists) you’ll come across it.
For me, my best poems tend to spring rather automatically. If I get stuck, I almost never resolve them to my satisfaction. With prose, even if I have an end in mind, my characters carry me off. But I rarely am anguished with decisions, for me its more riddled with self-doubt. Once I make a decision, I second guess it. Another facet of the same thing, I suppose.
But I do think being in a state unknowing is very valuable to opening up our curious mind. This probably works as an antidote for grammar paralysis. If one can imagine an gnorance of all craft rules, it would be possible to just be free to chuck words onto the page. I’m not that loose, but like everything it’s a practice.
I agree that just writing freely without fear of critique or rejection is important (“If You Want to Write,” by Barbara Ueland,) but I do think grammar and craft are important IF you hope for your work to have a public readership. It’s incredibly competitive to be published. Self-publishing eases some of that challenge but one still must attract and hold readers. Craft are the tools that help to make writing compelling and engaging. Of course, they are merely tools. Every scene doesn’t have to be sensory overload. An occasional dangling preposition is okay. But abandonment of grammar and craft can make for some very challenging reading that might repel readers rather than draw them in. But if someone is feeling paralyzed by the rules, yes, they should eschew them for a while.
I love your photo of the mill at Willamette Falls. I take a lot of shots like that myself. There is a certain poetry in such a landscape. The yearning of the lives shaped by it, by the earth suffocated by poisons and paving, the desperation left in its absence.
“Main character moment.” Brilliant. Pat the kid on the back. (lovely photo too.)
This is great, Marjorie, thank you! Self-doubt and difficulty making decisions are often totally bound up together, I think, and so writing freely without fear is often the goal for me in early drafts. Any bad prose can be improved with revision!!
I really enjoyed, as a do with all of your posts, this post. I hope your your wrist and thumb heals quickly- not because I want you to keep writing posts (because I do) but it must be frustrating to not be able to do what you like to do, and get paid for, and to suffering pain. Happy healing (insert heart here :))
I used to work in that mill in the 90's - the Smurfit years. I processed timecards for payroll and handed out checks. Also, my great grandfather (my dad's mom's dad) worked there (1920's) and broke his back. The men put him in a wheel barrow and rolled him up Singer Hill to his home, told my Grosmudder he was dead (he wasn't. Lived to see his 90th year), and left. AND my other great grandfather (my dad's dad's dad) was murdered at Willamette Falls arresting a poacher. The details are fuzzy on that one. He was a game warden and supposedly a police officer was involved? There's a whole book in here somewhere. But it's one of those unbelievable true stories, and I'm scared of getting it wrong.
I love the idea of rereading unfinished work and listening to it. Really listening for it's voice.
Thanks for sharing!
Vicki, this is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this. I agree that there is a BOOK in here! And I don't actually think you can get it wrong: whoever said "fiction is the lie that tells the truth" is right. I think you should write this down, read it out loud, and see where it takes you!!
Thanks for the encouragement!
There was something quite lovely in your musings.
I love W S Merwin. Just finished his collection “Garden Time” which was quiet and yet quite moving.
Billy Collins also is renowned for saying something to effect that poets start a poem and then spend the rest of the time trying figure out how to get the hell out. I’m sure if you watch his many Youtube interviews (while resting your hands/wrists) you’ll come across it.
For me, my best poems tend to spring rather automatically. If I get stuck, I almost never resolve them to my satisfaction. With prose, even if I have an end in mind, my characters carry me off. But I rarely am anguished with decisions, for me its more riddled with self-doubt. Once I make a decision, I second guess it. Another facet of the same thing, I suppose.
But I do think being in a state unknowing is very valuable to opening up our curious mind. This probably works as an antidote for grammar paralysis. If one can imagine an gnorance of all craft rules, it would be possible to just be free to chuck words onto the page. I’m not that loose, but like everything it’s a practice.
I agree that just writing freely without fear of critique or rejection is important (“If You Want to Write,” by Barbara Ueland,) but I do think grammar and craft are important IF you hope for your work to have a public readership. It’s incredibly competitive to be published. Self-publishing eases some of that challenge but one still must attract and hold readers. Craft are the tools that help to make writing compelling and engaging. Of course, they are merely tools. Every scene doesn’t have to be sensory overload. An occasional dangling preposition is okay. But abandonment of grammar and craft can make for some very challenging reading that might repel readers rather than draw them in. But if someone is feeling paralyzed by the rules, yes, they should eschew them for a while.
I love your photo of the mill at Willamette Falls. I take a lot of shots like that myself. There is a certain poetry in such a landscape. The yearning of the lives shaped by it, by the earth suffocated by poisons and paving, the desperation left in its absence.
“Main character moment.” Brilliant. Pat the kid on the back. (lovely photo too.)
Thank you.
This is great, Marjorie, thank you! Self-doubt and difficulty making decisions are often totally bound up together, I think, and so writing freely without fear is often the goal for me in early drafts. Any bad prose can be improved with revision!!
I love to see the Willamette Falls! A main character setting for sure
I really enjoyed, as a do with all of your posts, this post. I hope your your wrist and thumb heals quickly- not because I want you to keep writing posts (because I do) but it must be frustrating to not be able to do what you like to do, and get paid for, and to suffering pain. Happy healing (insert heart here :))