2013, 2013, 2013…..I feel excited about the New Year. Â New possibilities, new directions, new goals: what does life have in store for me in 2013, where will my muse lead me in 2013: when, how, why and most importantly What IF?
Today I have reread my journal from last year. Â Many of those notes became blog posts, some became polished pieces of writing; some saved for the future.
In my mind, 2012 stands out in three positive ways.
- Organizing;
- Experiments in Writing;
- Dolls.
Highlights:
In the Organization Category, I threw away, gave away, recycled away things from my home. Â There was no question in my mind that if I was going to move forward I needed to let go. Â The oldest paper items trashed consisted of notebooks from a class I attended more than thirty years ago. Â That should give you an idea of what I was up against. Â It is amazing how much accumulation there is when a person has closets, drawers, and a garage. Â And if you are the kind of person who says to yourself, “I might need that some day”, then the situation grows to gargantuan proportions. Â I won’t bore you with any more of these details.
The most interesting part of the organizing evolved during the summer. Â I began to organize my childhood life on paper: Â time line of all the places I had lived with a list of ages and grades and schools. Â Then I filled in the blanks with as many memories I could remember: good or bad or indifferent. Â Lists of pets, favorite books, adventures, emotional moments, religious events, vacations, family, re-locations, friends, teachers, mishaps, holidays, relatives; I struggled to bring memories to the surface; to the surface for a particular reason.
Writing Category:
I experimented with writing as I wrote my blogs this year:Â sarcasm, travel, novel.
I explored my memory banks because I was looking for the voice of a child character for my story AND sad-to-say I couldn’t feel what it was really like to be a child anymore. Â My personal quest was to find my childhood voice. Â I actually found several voices depending on my age. Â The voice of wonder spoke loudest at ages 5-6-7ish. Â An angry voice at ages 13-14-15ish.
I focused my memory searches on the voice of wonder because that voice represented joy. Â Â A new character entered the novel I’d been building for a few years (with more research than actual writing) and that character was a six or seven-year old girl and the NaNoWri novel I wrote in October 2012 is actually that girl’s back story, a completely different novel than the one I had worked on. Â Hope that makes sense!
Doll Category:
I wrote a blog Post, Â Doll Memories, and mentioned that dolls have been a re-occurring thread in my life. Â Maybe its beginning to make sense why dolls resurfaced this year as a symbol of childhood wonder and joy.
Organizing, Writing, and Doll Making will all continue as goals in 2013.
Wonder…magic…awe…immense! Â I want to capture those abstracts in my novel.
Update: Â about my NaNoWri novel. Â I am typing my handwritten draft and have about half of my notes completed. Â Once I have a typed draft I’ll be making marks with the RED PEN and I’ll be rearranging the chapters for better flow. Â Then the real editing will begin. Â More updates to follows.
High five for getting stuff done! I know cleaning and getting rid of stuff can be draining for artists. Perhaps it is because we have ideas and dwell in possibilities. Here’s to a creative 2013! M
I’m going to call this stage: Pulling it all together! Because that’s what I’m doing. Ideas I’ve been fostering for years are beginning to bloom. Watch out world!
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You’ve been very busy! 🙂 Kudos for handwriting your novel – I tried that once and could not do it!
I had to handwrite so I wouldn’t analize, which is what I tend to do at the computer. I’m very excited about this project. Definitely the greatest leap I have taken so far in the world of writing. Where will this lead? What if? Yes, I’m curious to see where this leads and what I can accomplish.
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