Serendipity
I love the word serendipity. Because in my writing life, I am fortunate enough to have it happen all the time. Definition?
Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely.
It is usually atrributed in word origin to a Persian fairytale about the Princes of Serendip, and I know that because when I was first training as an editor when I was 20, one of the people you "interned" with for a two-week period was an old-time, ancient proofreader named Bill, who seemed to know the origin of every word there ever was--and always had a story about it. And cookies in his file cabinets. So I liked visting him.
Anyway, I have had a character I want to use in a book--all her own. But I have enough things in the works that I felt it was unlikely I could get to it for a while. And while talking to my new editor, he suggested a "really strong" female character for a mentor for my main character in my trilogy. I said I'd think about it. A month later, here I am, saying my prayers this morning (side note, especially prayers for patience as Monster Child was in RARE form this a.m. and had been "painting" with his peanut-butter sandwich on the coffee table and walls). And my iPod was playing. I have DAYS of songs in my iPod and I always hit shuffle. The first song that came on today was Benny Goodman's "Sing, Sing, Sing." This, inevitably, made me smile because that's my daddy's song. So I was contemplating calling him and saying, "Guess what, I'm thinking of you," but it was 8:00 a.m. and he sleeps until 9:30 most days. So . . . I just smiled and lit my candles and continued my prayers. But then I started thinking about weaving jazz into the storyline of this trilogy. But I knew Benny Goodman wouldn't fit, so NATURALLY, I started thinking of my all-time jazz love, Django Reinhart, and I thought Django, a noted gambler, could win the item of the title of the book in a card game. And then--out of nowhere--the female character who I wanted to have in her own book popped into my head--because Django was a gypsy, and she reminds me of one--and suddenly, I knew not only would she be in the triology, she would have a MAIN and HUGE role.
Okay, so this wacky story of the inner workings of my nutty brain is really to show you that serendipity works all the time in writing. I wasn't "forcing" it. I wasn't looking for how to fit her in the trilogy. Had I done so . . . I would have probably failed. I didn't even yet connect that I could use her in someone else's book. But I just let it roll around in my brain and sooner or later, it eased, serendipitously, into being because of just the right combination of thoughts, music, life.
And that is why it's nearly impossible for me to describe my process. To teach my process. Because so much of writing is happy accident.
Or am I the only one?
Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely.
It is usually atrributed in word origin to a Persian fairytale about the Princes of Serendip, and I know that because when I was first training as an editor when I was 20, one of the people you "interned" with for a two-week period was an old-time, ancient proofreader named Bill, who seemed to know the origin of every word there ever was--and always had a story about it. And cookies in his file cabinets. So I liked visting him.
Anyway, I have had a character I want to use in a book--all her own. But I have enough things in the works that I felt it was unlikely I could get to it for a while. And while talking to my new editor, he suggested a "really strong" female character for a mentor for my main character in my trilogy. I said I'd think about it. A month later, here I am, saying my prayers this morning (side note, especially prayers for patience as Monster Child was in RARE form this a.m. and had been "painting" with his peanut-butter sandwich on the coffee table and walls). And my iPod was playing. I have DAYS of songs in my iPod and I always hit shuffle. The first song that came on today was Benny Goodman's "Sing, Sing, Sing." This, inevitably, made me smile because that's my daddy's song. So I was contemplating calling him and saying, "Guess what, I'm thinking of you," but it was 8:00 a.m. and he sleeps until 9:30 most days. So . . . I just smiled and lit my candles and continued my prayers. But then I started thinking about weaving jazz into the storyline of this trilogy. But I knew Benny Goodman wouldn't fit, so NATURALLY, I started thinking of my all-time jazz love, Django Reinhart, and I thought Django, a noted gambler, could win the item of the title of the book in a card game. And then--out of nowhere--the female character who I wanted to have in her own book popped into my head--because Django was a gypsy, and she reminds me of one--and suddenly, I knew not only would she be in the triology, she would have a MAIN and HUGE role.
Okay, so this wacky story of the inner workings of my nutty brain is really to show you that serendipity works all the time in writing. I wasn't "forcing" it. I wasn't looking for how to fit her in the trilogy. Had I done so . . . I would have probably failed. I didn't even yet connect that I could use her in someone else's book. But I just let it roll around in my brain and sooner or later, it eased, serendipitously, into being because of just the right combination of thoughts, music, life.
And that is why it's nearly impossible for me to describe my process. To teach my process. Because so much of writing is happy accident.
Or am I the only one?
Labels: serendipity
posted by Erica Orloff at 8:16 AM
6 comments
