The Burro Way

I have to admit....there was a lot of reading for this week. Halfway through I found myself doing this to let my eyeballs take a break:

  

Then when it came time to write something down, I found myself doing this:

 

Needless, to say, my mind is ready for Spring Break. BUT since school is still session, I best get my writing cap on and get to work. There is a lot I got out of the Janet Burroway's readings. Writer's block is nothing new for me. I thought Burroway had an interesting way of explaining why these things happen. According to her, either 1) the piece has a hairline fracture, or 2) the book will explode if you continue. (pg. 23)

The way she talks about the latter is almost like an act of Wyrd. Fate says no, shuts the brain down and aborts whatever you had in mind to create. I never really thought of it that way. Maybe it was my destiny to write this and that. I'll have to keep this in mind when I'm banging my head against my desk, trying to slam the words out onto the page. "Calm down and try something different. You don't want this book to explode, do you?"

Another thing, mentioned on the previous page is Burroway's advice to revise. The example she uses of the aspiring photographer is very relatable to me. When someone tells me to revise a piece that I have worked very hard on, I sometimes get distraught. I climbed my mountain to take this picture and want others to see the value of my struggle to get it, even if it isn't perfect. But Burroway encourages me. Every artist has to go through it, leaving behind the bareness of the rough draft and revise, reshape, and re-imagine something better for a story. She writes, "In those early pages and chapters anyone may find bold leaps to nowhere, read the brave beginnings of dropped themes, hear a tone since abandoned, discover blind alleys, track red herrings, and laboriously learn a setting now false." Hard truths to admit, but in order to go to the next level of writing, I have to accept this and move on.

In the chapter on "The Active Voice" on page 64, she also teaches me the importance of using active verbs vs. passive verbs. I've never really paid too much attention to these things but after reading through her examples, I see the importance of paying attention to diction while writing. "Be aware of the of the vigor and variety of available verbs." (Nice alliteration, Burroway!) Using linking verbs like, "was" and "just" make a story bump along rather than flow smoothly.

Alright, that's all for now. Peace, love, and a happy white dove,

~Michelle