The Freedom in Wandering

"So we follow our wandering paths, and the very darkness acts as our guide and our doubts reassure us." -Jean Pierre de-Cassaude


I've found I write most effectively when I don't have any expectations of myself. I can plan a novel out in detail, but sit down to write, and only manage to tick out a few sloppy lines. It is the time that I spend letting my mind wander that I am able to write dozens of pages in minutes.

This is creative wandering. I like to use the analogy of a kite. On a windy day we may take our bright red kite out to the fields to see it fly. The kite strains against the string, eager to fly higher, but we have anchored it to the ground by a string. We fear letting the string go and losing our beloved kite forever. But if we toss the kite into the air and let the string go, the wind will take the kite on the most glorious journey it ever hoped for.

Those flights are the stories that beg to be written. They come to a writer's mind when it is most relaxed. While I was writing my first novel, some of my most convincing material came straight from a dream I had the night before. Dreams are so nonsensical that they make perfect images to create stories from.

If a story is forced, the language will be forced and the story will become a burden. When I find myself in agony during my writing time, the story will lack every sense of passion except for cynicism. So I set aside that storyline and imagine a story could be it's exact opposite.

Sometimes these wanderings turn out to be nothing more than exercises that get my words flowing. At that point I may return to my original story with a new drive. Other times these secondary stories blossom into the most successful stories I never knew I wanted to write.

Like the red kite flying over new landscapes.

The Story that Writes Itself

As part of my MFA program I am required to send packets of my recent writing and documentation of my reading to a faculty advisor mentor. Along with these packets, I must include a coverletter. Although I am becoming a fictionista, my advisor is encouraging me to become an all around woman of letters.

This blog is primarily for my thoughts on the writing process and my perspectives of the craft. If you are interested in my fiction work, or my commentaries over other works, please see my writing page on my Creative Wanderings site.

Dear John Rember,

A few weeks ago I had a revelation for a sequel to a YA novel I had written last year. In a matter of minutes I had a complete outline for my novel, chock full of supporting characters, villains, and plot twists. Yet, every time I sat down to work on this piece, the ideas seemed too big to get onto the paper. It just wasn’t ready to be written.
I was once told that a story will sometimes write itself. As a writer, it is possible to produce an entire story and not realize it’s meaning until after I have written it. I am a strong believer in realms beyond my own understanding, so I was open to this idea.

While I waited for my YA project to materialize I revised a microfiction about a homeless man that I wrote for the June residency. This exercise gave birth to another idea. I set out to write a story that began as a simple explanation of the life and misfortunes of homeless people.

I have spent several years heading up volunteer groups that cater to the needs of the homeless people in my community. Through my experiences I developed friendships with several homeless people whose lives inspired this story. I churned out several pages of a 3rd person narrative that I later changed to 1st person, a technique I’ve never used.

I set the story in Germany, a place I’ve neglected to visit in my travels. While I was revising the story, the idea of a supernatural twist struck me. I had originally named my character Ilse just for it’s German sound. Later I thought it might be a nice touch to add something to my story about legends or patron saints, something fitting for the location.

On a whim I looked up patron saints of beggars. I found several, but Saint Elisabeth of Hungary seemed to parallel my story nicely. It wasn’t until after I integrated Saint Elisabeth elements into my story that I found out that Ilse is the German form of the name Elisabeth, and that there is a statue for that particular saint in the actual city of Dresden, which I based my story in.

It seemed the story had written itself despite my ignorance. I’m finding that one story really leads to another, and another, eventually to the story that needs to be told.

The last few weeks I have read several great books. The two books I chose to write a commentary over each dealt with the role of individual belief with respect to culture of the community. I have just started reading a book that perfectly complements this commentary. I chose not to send in a commentary with this packet because I would like to include this last book. I will send it with my next packet.

I have also begun to nurture my credo file. I began this file during the residency so I would have an idea of my expectations from the MFA program as well as my personal goals as a writer. I’ve already seen things on this list take new shapes in my writing. I see the improvements I need to make, and its both exciting and scary.

Discipline is something I’m learning in all aspects of my life, but mostly in my writing and reading habits. I’ve always been somewhat of a free and scatterbrained sort. Routines, schedules, habits have all mostly been absent from my life. I’m learning to focus and work on my writing and revisions daily.

This is exciting because it’s spilling over to my other interests. I’ve always been good at things like language and painting and photography, but never great at any of them because of discipline. I’m learning a lot about my potential over the past few months. I even sold a painting recently! All this to say, I’m excited about things to come.



Regards,
Kristen M. Jackson

Why I Write

Joan Didion wrote an article that appeared in the New York Times called Why I Write.
I have been trying to get a hold of this article over a month, but ordering an archive from NYT online isn't particularly easy.

I have begun what is called a "Credo File" in which I keep updated lists of the reasons I write, the goals for my writing, and the influences of my writing through the years.

This is a rough list of my vison for my writing.

My Writing Goals

1. Children’s and YA Literature
I have a passion to write literature for children and young adults that sparks an interest in the cultures of the world and travel.

2. World Literacy
I believe world literacy should begin with raising generations of children who love reading. Therefore I want to write beginning-reader stories and books for kids that are relevant to kids across national lines. I would like to write books that entertain and educate children from all cultures and backgrounds.

3. Publishing
I would also like to work in publishing and take an active role in helping spread this literature across the globe.

4. Historical Fiction
I also want to utilize my history and political science degree to write historical fiction for high school aged students. By reading about historical events in a creative framework, young adults gain knowledge of the world and learn of history in a fun way.

5. Anthropology and Travel
I would like to live and write abroad studying cultures as an anthropologist-journalist to produce first-hand creative accounts of the people of the world. I feel that the first step to peace during our ever-increasing globalization trend is education. Aside from the regular news accounts of the world’s activities, I would like to personalize the characters to the readers. I want to bring that Shiite Muslim to the home of Mary American Homemaker, and that Chinese rice-field worker to that first-class French businessman.

6. Business Venture
I’ve also toyed with the idea of starting up a business later in life that would attend to the needs of local writers. I envision it as being a lounge-type venue for writers to utilize creative exercises, an ongoing workshop if you will.