I know, you
read that title and thought, what—is she
kidding? Well, maybe. In my humble opinion, the road to
enlightenment is paved with laughter!
But hear me out.
You may have
heard the old adage, “Before enlightenment:
chop wood, carry water. After
enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.” I’m not a Buddhist, but I’ll venture they’re
saying that the mundane necessities of life go on, despite flashes of spiritual
insight.
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| http://amzn.to/2jGl5Dj |
Now allow me to
amend this bit of wisdom. Before
Nanowrimo, write. During Nanowrimo,
write without attachment. After
Nanowrimo—well, we can get to that later.
Since high
school, I’ve considered myself a serious writer, and hey, serious writers want
to write big things like novels. But I
was bogged down by that infamous internal editor who sat on my shoulder as I
scribbled in my notebook, telling me to re-write that last sentence, throw out
the first paragraph, or wait a minute—you stop writing right now and go do more
research, because, honey, you are not qualified to write what you are
writing! Give it up!
I did continue
writing despite this nagging voice. I
published poems and short essays. But a
novel remained an elusive goal.
Then I heard
about Nanowrimo, that crazy month when we would-be novelists challenge each
other to write a 50,000-word novel in thirty days. I thought, sure, I can write 50,000 words in
thirty days. But will it be a
story? I didn’t know. But I went ahead and took the leap.
In Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg
says, “Sit down with the least expectation of yourself; say ‘I am free to write
the worst junk in the world.’” Nanowrimo
gave me that freedom. I wrote long exaggerated
descriptions and didn’t worry if a discerning reader would find them
boring. I let my characters run wild on
the page, saying outrageous things to each other, taking enormous risks with
their physical and emotional safety. I
let the words have their way with me.
And guess what? I discovered that
my imagination leaned toward story. I
had no idea on November 1st how the novel would end, I didn’t even
know if it would have an end, but by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, I had
a big messy but beautiful manuscript and yeah, it was a storyteller’s
dream. It was filled with intrigue and
passion and crazy magical twists and turns.
I was happy.
After
Nanowrimo? I now believe in the wisdom
of writing practice, of sitting down with your notebook or your laptop and
letting your hands dance. Natalie
Goldberg again: “One of the main aims of
writing practice is to learn to trust your own mind and body; to grow patient
and nonaggressive.” The practice of
Nanowrimo taught me this kind of trust, a trust in my own ability to open up so
I might put my heart on the page.
Is this
enlightenment? No. I have a long way to go before I get
there. But it’s fun, it’s exciting and
ultimately very satisfying.
I wrote the
three novels in my Avian Series during National Novel Writing Months, 2010,
2011, and 2012. Revision and editing
came later of course, but even that was fun.
Yellow-Billed Magpie, Red-Tailed Hawk, and the recently released Ghost Owl—three stories of spiritual
promise—are all available at Amazon and on Kindle. I hope they touch your heart.
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