What
if I take another tack on the idea of identity creation, and use a diary to
recreate scenes from a woman’s life? Looking through the lens of her own words to
“see” her life—a sort of fictionalized biography. Giving a larger life to a
woman who, in her own time, was voiceless except for her writings that may
never have left home during her lifetime.
I’ve
been rethinking my thesis idea. Although it still appeals to me—both the topic
and the format—I’ve been considering what it is I really want to do after I get
my degree. Maybe I don’t need to write a thesis. I mean really, what are the
odds that I’ll get a PhD. or teach writing at either a community college OR a
university? And if I could, is it really what I want to do? I don’t know the
answer to that question…
But
the one thing I do know is that I want to write. I love research. I love the
sense of discovery that comes when I learn something new, or find some new idea that I want to learn more about. I’ve always been this way and nothing will
change that.
What
has become new for me is the craving to commit ideas to paper. To discern the
story in the everyday. To write.
To
write a book? Hmmm, the thought appeals to me… a lot. I've had this niggling little thought, that I had a book in me, buzzing through my brain since I was about 25.
Even
at this moment, as fingers fly across keys (ok, they don’t really fly. I’m not a great typist), I can feel
thoughts form through my fingertips—and I am entranced. I could honestly do
this all day! But this new thought is something I’ve always said I could never
do—to “make up” a story—and I want to find out if that’s really true. Is
writing fiction really any different than writing anything else? Isn’t it
really just having an idea and following it? Fleshing out an incomplete story
that allows your imagination a little freer rein?
Do
fiction writers truly come up with their stories completely out of thin air, or
do they just take the everyday and fill in the blanks a bit? I’ve seen enough
movies and read enough books to know that there is no such thing as a truly
original idea. Someone else has already done it (and usually better when it comes to movies). I read once that the world is
made up of a limited number of story forms, but a good storyteller can take one
and re-write it dozens of different ways. I want to understand the structure
behind the story—but I want to learn it by doing it!
I’m
thinking about taking a fiction writing class next quarter, to explore this idea a
little further. Talk about stretching myself…
(Meanwhile
I’m on the hunt for a good 19th century woman’s diary. Any
suggestions?)
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