Thank You, Paul McCartney
I've been working on what I think is an awesome proposal for a while. It has humor; it has murder; it has great characters. But "something" was missing. Like a soup that is bland . . . it needed spice. Needed more duplicitousness. Needed edge.
My agent loved the title. He loved the synopsis. Loved the characters. The chapters, however, were "flat."
This problem has been driving me nuts for weeks. I tried sleeping on it. I tried "forcing it." I tried a vacation at the beach. I tried two martinis. I tried music. I tried coffee (soon, as you regular blog readers know . . . I am bidding bye-bye to coffee). I tried talking it out in my head (not aloud . . . though that was coming soon, and I am always fearful the men in the white coats will come to take me away--which always does get me to wondering . . . do they REALLY wear white coats when they take you away? But I digress.)
The problem was I didn't know what the problem was. What should have been working wasn't. My agent said I'm too "nice." That what the book needed was some of the edginess that made THE ROOFER a great book. I wondered . . . have I gone SOFT?!?
Ahhhhhhhhh, but the Universe has a way of knowing precisely what I need. JUST when I needed inspiration, the marriage of Paul McCartney to his gold-digging (I'm sorry . . . I think she is) wife not only went sour . . . the divorce proceedings got ugly. I mean REALLY ugly.
Now, I'm not saying that the Universe invented these accusations just so I could have inspiration. But it served as a reminder just HOW ugly a divorce can be. How low-down, how heart-breaking, how hideous (even when children are involved). It stripped the veneer off of a couple that generally tried to present themselves in a positive light (though she always struck me as mercenary), and shined a light on the creepy-crawly ugly stuff they had under their rock.
And like a tidal rush, my proposal (which centers, partly, on a vicious divorce) came pouring out!
What it also showed me is sometimes you can't rush the process. If I had gone with a so-so proposal . . . I don't know that it would sell. It still may not. But at least now I know it has what it takes.
I wish I knew a shortcut to get to this point. But I don't.
So how about you? Have you ever struggled with a so-so something, and then . . . the Muse came and tapped you on the shoulder when you least expected it? It doesn't even have to be writing!
Well, it clearly did for me. So thank you, Paul McCartney. Thank you, Gold Digger. Thank you, Muse. Thank you, Universe. You've reminded me just how ugly the world can be.
And for a writer, that's a good thing.
And your Muse?
My agent loved the title. He loved the synopsis. Loved the characters. The chapters, however, were "flat."
This problem has been driving me nuts for weeks. I tried sleeping on it. I tried "forcing it." I tried a vacation at the beach. I tried two martinis. I tried music. I tried coffee (soon, as you regular blog readers know . . . I am bidding bye-bye to coffee). I tried talking it out in my head (not aloud . . . though that was coming soon, and I am always fearful the men in the white coats will come to take me away--which always does get me to wondering . . . do they REALLY wear white coats when they take you away? But I digress.)
The problem was I didn't know what the problem was. What should have been working wasn't. My agent said I'm too "nice." That what the book needed was some of the edginess that made THE ROOFER a great book. I wondered . . . have I gone SOFT?!?
Ahhhhhhhhh, but the Universe has a way of knowing precisely what I need. JUST when I needed inspiration, the marriage of Paul McCartney to his gold-digging (I'm sorry . . . I think she is) wife not only went sour . . . the divorce proceedings got ugly. I mean REALLY ugly.
Now, I'm not saying that the Universe invented these accusations just so I could have inspiration. But it served as a reminder just HOW ugly a divorce can be. How low-down, how heart-breaking, how hideous (even when children are involved). It stripped the veneer off of a couple that generally tried to present themselves in a positive light (though she always struck me as mercenary), and shined a light on the creepy-crawly ugly stuff they had under their rock.
And like a tidal rush, my proposal (which centers, partly, on a vicious divorce) came pouring out!
What it also showed me is sometimes you can't rush the process. If I had gone with a so-so proposal . . . I don't know that it would sell. It still may not. But at least now I know it has what it takes.
I wish I knew a shortcut to get to this point. But I don't.
So how about you? Have you ever struggled with a so-so something, and then . . . the Muse came and tapped you on the shoulder when you least expected it? It doesn't even have to be writing!
Well, it clearly did for me. So thank you, Paul McCartney. Thank you, Gold Digger. Thank you, Muse. Thank you, Universe. You've reminded me just how ugly the world can be.
And for a writer, that's a good thing.
And your Muse?
posted by Erica Orloff at 6:50 AM
11 Comments:
I have this theory that Idea equals to Concept (to the power of how many I've combined) multiplied by Character (to the power of how many I think are integral to the book).
And in chemistry, there's a little something called Collision Theory. Basically, it says that for particles to react, they have to collide at each other with enough activation energy and at the right angle to react.
So Characters and Concepts are the reacting particles and the Idea is the product.
By the way, you said that a therapist would run from you. I was in therapy on and off for 4 years, and now I RUN from them. Not the other way around. LOL.
I’ve been struggling with finding the right title for my wip. I needed to call it something, and I needed to be able to visualize it in book form. I went through some mystery-series titles that seemed a bit too cozy (my book is hard-boiled), and some titles that made sense to me but were too obscure in general. Last night I stared at the computer screen for two hours and, without prompt, came up with what will probably be the final title. It’s perfect, I think. My muse finally came through for me.
About McCartney: One of my all-time favorite entertainers. He wrote my favorite song, after all. :) The first time I saw him and Heather together, on Charlie Rose’s show, I said, “Paul! What the hell were you thinking?” She was being rather obnoxious, and Paul just sat there with this dubious look on his face. And this was WAY before any talk of divorce. I just knew she wasn’t right for him, and wondered why he ever got involved with her.
May:
I love your "Physics Approach" to writing. I tend to think along those lines, too.
As for therapy . . . I am sure it helps a great many, but there's a part of me that likes my dysfunction just the way it is. Ne messing with this brain, thanks.
:-)
E
Jude:
The muse is mysterious and elusive.
As for Sir Paul and Lady Heather . . . you know what sort of awes me . . . you have a man with every wealth, amazing talent and so on, and EVERYONE around him, including his beloved daughters who he is very close with, and friends and so on, ALL, to a person, saw that woman for her true colors . . . and the power of denial. Astounding.
E
I've struggled. The gut knows when it's not right *sigh* but sometimes the answers are slow to come. Part of the problem for me is I don't multi-task well with wips and proposals. I've also been known to turn a problem over to my subconscience and tell it to give me an answer when I need it. I think sometimes we don't trust our instincts as much as we should--I know I'm totally guilty.
Only two martinis? What restraint :P
Glad you had your 'epiphany', Erica.
Enjoy!
Hi Amie:
I'm a big one for letting the subconcious tell you what to do--but sometimes, it's hard to be patient!
E
Lainey:
Yes, a great deal of restraint! :-)
E
A totally off topic snippet - well sort of off topic. I listen to UK radio and it seems there is a journalist with the same name as HM and in the past, before she became Mrs PM, she would impersonate the journalist HM in order to get free lance work and other things. It's all been documented and has been pubbed in the Sunday papers yesterday!!!!! Hmmmm.... once a liar.....
Sara:
More reason to dislike her!
LOL!
E
You got it, Erica!!
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