Wednesday Q & J, April 12, 2023
Q: Sometimes you write only poetry for a while and not any prose. Or the other way around. Is there a reason for this?
J: I cannot explain how sometimes I am in poetry mode, sometimes prose. It is one of those deep mysteries of my writing life. It has nothing to do with weather….but rather whether or not I feel pome-ish. Often I feel that one poem tumbles into the next. But with novels, if I am on a roll, it is one sentence, one long idea, which some call a plot but I do not.
Distinguish between plot and ideas? Sure…one is linear and the other is not. One builds up steps for the main character to fall down. The other puzzles over the steps, decides to paint them green or gray, or make the steps into a sidewalk instead, or just sit for a while on the step and contemplate the local fauna, or fall into a great dream, or…. Yep, not at all alike.
Then why is plot–which in my summary sounds so easy, as easy as…well….falling down those stairs… so difficult for me while
the pantsers way–fly into the mist–is the way I make my plots a piece of cake? If I knew the answer to that, I would sell it on the internet and rise a billion dollars. It just bloody well is what it is.