After hearing feedback from several people that The Oak Lovers is reserved, even quiet in tone, I have come to see my manuscript as the sketch before a painting. The lines are all there and I see the finished canvas clearly in my mind, much as my great-grandfather had before he reached for his brush. To borrow his words, “I know what I want and how to get it now.”
Writing, like painting, has become a sensual act. Messy and exhilarating.
I have become the woman in this photograph that my mother created for me. Carl and Madonna’s spirits are with me all the time. I don’t want to know just their story anymore. I want to feel Madonna’s jealousy as she watched Carl return home to his wife. I want to write it in a crimson splash across the page. Their reunion is a sunburst of yellow. Carl’s constant physical suffering outlines everything in black, but dabs of cobalt blue joy always shine through.
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| Photo by Deborah Downes |
The words have never flowed so easily.
Wow, Kim. What a magnificent post. For me, writing on the computer makes the act very "black and white", as if there is a right or wrong. The red and green squiggles in Word add color, but color I dread since it means I have made a mistake. To "write in color", I have to put pen in hand. Something about the ink spilling on the page, staining my fingers, unleashes the story inside me. I love this: "I want to write it in a crimson splash across the page." Beautiful colors abound!
ReplyDeleteI love this analogy, Kim. Keep splashing that color on the canvass. I rooting for you! (Love your mom's photo image, too.)
ReplyDeleteOops, 'canvas' not 'canvass.'
ReplyDeleteHi Heather,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for stopping by, and I agree. The ink on my fingers seems to be helping a lot. There's a lot more intimacy involved when you actually hold the paper and pen, I think.
Vaughn,
I love that photo, too. I was with her when she took the original and I almost cried when she handed me the enhanced version. You've already seen the 'sketch' version. I look forward showing you the 'painting.'
Oh it's beautiful! I feel the need also to get away from this computer to parks, to the river, to museums... I went outside and watched the sky when writing Claude and Camille. Thanks you and to your mom!!
ReplyDeleteStephanie,
ReplyDeleteThe other day I took my manuscript and went to a local cemetery. I wanted to edit The Oak Lovers while sitting beside a pair of actual oak lovers. I found the tree a couple of years back and that's the spot I always go to when I need to think.
I'm glad you liked the post!
I can't wait to show you what I've done with the novel.
And now that I've taken in about half of your completed canvas, I can say wholeheartedly you've created a work of art that's worthy of hanging in a national gallery if it were in fact a painting. I'm picturing your muses clapping and crying. So happy for you. Also happy you love this photo:)
ReplyDelete