This morning, lying in a quiet shivasana at the end of my yoga class, I realized that I had just gotten through the entire hour and fifteen minutes of class while mentally wandering the rooms of Emily's house, plotting out scenes for my novel. It was a perfect example of NON-midfulness. (Please don't tell my teacher!)
In the 2 weeks since I got home from Iowa, I've entertained out-of-town company, had a wisdom tooth extracted, tried to organized the thousands of pictures and scans I took of Emily's diary and her farm in Manchester--and written nearly 60 more pages of my novel (in addition to the 50 I had written before I left). Inspired doesn't even begin to describe how I feel!
The book is humming along, and has nearly taken over my thoughts--both waking and sleeping. Although I haven't yet dreamed about Emily, I have dreamt about plotpoints and settings. I watch TV, and consider the construction of dialogue. I read, and take note of description and setting. I had no idea that the process of writing a book could be so all consuming!
Today, I had the very great pleasure of speaking--not quite face-to-face, but on the phone--with the woman whose writing about Emily inspired my whole project. Dr. Judy Temple studied Emily's diary as her PhD project, publishing it (and multiple articles about Emily and her life and diary) in 1989; nearly 25 years later, it found its way into my hands. We talked for almost an hour and a half, sharing stories about our trips to Iowa, our visits with Wilbur--and particularly sharing stories of Emily Gillespie, the person who brought us together.
I took notes about ideas Dr. Temple floated past me, things she suggested I look for in the diary, and lines Emily wrote that she thought might have been inspired by the 19th century novels Emily loved. But mostly we talked about Emily and her desire to imagine her life on her own terms in a time when few of the choices women today have about their own lives were available to her. Dr. Temple told me the story of one of her young students--the first time she taught about Emily's diary--who asked why Emily didn't just go back to school and get a degree, so she could get a job and get away from her abusive husband. We had a good laugh over that one, but I must admit I've had the same sort of reaction a few times, wondering why she didn't just leave him when she claimed to be living in fear of her life. Times were certainly different 150 years ago!
But we also talked about the fact that Emily's diary offers only one side of the story. She painted a picture of her husband that reinforced the image of herself she wanted the world to see--a suffering saint married to a harsh and somewhat unstable man. What was the truth? Well, in her diary she's proven herself a gifted writer with a good imagination--the facts are likely somewhere outside of the story on the page, in a tale not yet told.
But wouldn't I just love to find it?!
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