Away, away

I’m off tomorrow for a writing residency. Almost a week in a beautiful, quiet area, just me and this new manuscript and a few good books in a house. I’m feeling nervous about going—leaving behind the joy monster and the Loving Scientist makes me sad. I know I’ll miss them, probably the dog and cat, too. It’s also a busy part of the semester and it’s a good time to be around to help students with final papers.

But I’m also excited. I like listening to audio books on long car trips, and I’ve been thinking for a week or two about what book I want to hear for the 8-hour drive there and the 8-hour one back. Once I’m there, I’ll have a few books with me, like pals to spend the off-hours with: the first two books of Jon Fosse’s Septology; ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King; The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itaranta; Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany; 10 Innings at Wrigley by Kevin Cook; The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar. I won’t read them all, of course, but I like overpacking books for trips of any length. Who knows; maybe I’ll add in a few more before I leave tomorrow.

Ultimately, I’m looking forward to spending big, uninterrupted chunks of time falling deeper and deeper into this new project. For me, I have to write and rewrite the opening of a new story (short story, novel, doesn’t matter) to find my way into it. Part of that is about getting to know the characters and the story, getting a feel for the atmosphere and style, getting a sense of what big plot elements are on the way and which ones are way down deep. But it’s also—and more importantly, for me—about self-mesmerism. I need to spend enough time with the story for its hooks to sink way down in me, for some kind of obsession to take over. That’s the thing that powers the early research and drafting, yes, but it’s also the energy that gets me past the inevitable saggy middle, where things aren’t working out and I’ve written something too messy for my dumb head to easily work through.

I’m hoping that somewhere in that big, empty house I can find the wind to turn my little spark of obsession for this new book into something bigger and longer lasting.