Some answers and more questions

The girls were being veddy, veddy quiet for a couple of weeks, but they suddenly got busy this week and the attic has been a flurry of activity. They told me about some things that happen after the yucky scene that's been eking it's way along for much too much time, and I've been handwriting a lot for a couple of days. Haven't had time to transcribe because I had a kid activity to go to today and . . . I had to go shopping. I also had to work some for my contract customer tonight, and will have to put in quite a few hours tomorrow on that, too. So, I'll be excited to see how my word count goes up the next time I get to transcribe.

I never wrote stuff by hand until I took the Girls in the Basement class this year. Suddenly, I'm finding I can focus better and at least get a scene started if I do it by hand, then transfer it to The Brain. My handwriting is SIMPLY HORRENDOUS, so I have to do it pretty fast or I forget what I wrote and can't read it. Heh. I knew I shoulda been a doctor. I think there's just much more distracting me on the computer than there used to be when I could write pages and pages at a stretch. You know, BLOGS and things.

Something interesting we are talking about in my voice class this week (Barbara Samuel's online class). We are getting down to the last few weeks and one of the questions she asked today is (something like) "What question is it you're trying to answer in your writing?" In other words, what motivates you to write most everything you write--what question is answered when you get to the end of every book you write?

I think I know my big question, and it's been apparent in each of the adult manuscripts I've worked on so far, but I want to narrow it down a little more. More or less, I'm writing stories that ask the big question, "How far do you go for the people you love?" As a subset, "When do you let go, and when do you hang on, and HOW do you hang on, no matter where it takes you?"

But, what makes it more personal? What about my questions and how I answer them will stand out from the rest of the authors I perceive are trying to answer the same question? (People like Jodi Picoult, Jacqueline Mitchard, Alice Hoffman, and others.)

I will be thinking about this.