Monday, July 28, 2008

Journey

Writing is a journey down many different roads.

The process of writing is itself a journey. The story, book or article may begin with a quick idea when hiking in the hills or waking from a dream or during a concentrated search for inspiration or information when siting at a desk. The story takes form and changes over time, following a hard journey to completion and its end.


Training to become a writer is a journey - on the long route from the first earnestly written lines of a child to a complete novel of an adult, from learning basic grammatical and writing skills, reading and reading, keeping journals, writing and writing, polishing language, working at the craft, to mastering plot, and setting, and breathing life into voice.

The character, brought into being by the author, takes his own life journey through the pathways of the story. Through trials and tension, strength of character, or lack of it, he is propelled along the road of plot to the climax of the story and to journey's end.

During the journey of actual writing frequently the author's trail is arduous and difficult. But at other times, the immersion in the creative process is joyous and the road turns exciting when a satisfying story end is reached.

5 comments:

  1. Sometimes the detours on this journey prove to be the most fruitful.

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  2. If it's not about the journey, then what's the point?

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  3. Most of the time I love the writing journey (just like I love any good trip!). But oh how scary those detours can be, when you're just not sure you're going to end up on the other side. (But I agree with Gale, some of those "scary detours" can lead to some of the most exciting writing!)

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  4. And those annoying road blocks can be a real doozy, lol!

    Nice post!

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  5. These days I feel like I'm on a "Stay-cation" rather than a journey. My writing these days is not going anywhere. Can you tell I'm in the middle of a novel?

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