I've been working on the M- book for a few years. Which is the way of some books, I hear; some take longer to write than others. The truth is that this book didn't start as a book and I was against writing a memoir. I thought it was silly for someone who wasn't famous or hadn't done anything of significance to write a memoir. There had to be a reason to write the book and a bigger reason for someone to be willing to read the book.I didn't qualify.
Then I started reading memoirs. I met memoirists who were young, who were "ordinary" in that they weren't famous. They had stories to tell and told them well and people listened and read them. And I listened - to my writing mentors and other authors and to myself. The stories started coming and I started writing them down. Sometimes the stories didn't come easily and sometimes they were rough and not ready for others to read. But, over time, the stories started coming together and I accepted that there was, just maybe, a memoir in all of those words.
I discovered that I was writing a memoir. Or an M-book as I call it. I'm not sure why I still balk at "memoir" but I do. I pull back from more writing; I get blocked; there are still gaps in the overall story; I write new pieces; I think I have something important to say and then I think I'm full of shit; I find a new angle or a significant new piece of information; I wonder if I'm writing it just for me or if anyone will be interested. Right now I'm hovering on the line of this book being for my personal healing/self-expression and that there is something in it worth sharing with others. I sometimes think the goal is just to write it and then see what to do with it. I have considered turning it into a novel.
In November I finished a very rough draft of a novel and I like it - NaNoWriMo Novel #6. It obviously needs much revision and rewriting and some parts need a lot of work. But it's worth working on and I want to do that.
For the past couple of months I've been writing poetry, as well. I took an online poetry writing workshop/"playshop" with Daphne Gottlieb and that sparked more poetry. And the poetry sparked some prose. Which sparked some poetry. And so it goes.
I've also been wanting to write a script. I spend time with theater and scripts and I've had ideas popping into my head about writing my own script. I've written a few short skits and have thought, off and on, about writing a full length play; or at least a one-act play.
I met with one of my writing friends on Friday and we talked about writing. Along with other things, but we spent a lot of time talking about writing. He suggested I write a script - a radio script. I think I will. It has a timeline. Yes, a short script will be one of my writing projects.
That same friend, several years ago, was the person who introduced me to idea of having three writing projects in process at a time. The topic came up again today and I realized that a script is the missing writing piece.
Recently I've had several writing project ideas and I'm taking notes. I won't run out of things to write for a while. It feels good to have my creativity flowing.
