tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11539948.post116555864958869337..comments2024-03-01T03:58:21.808-05:00Comments on Marly Youmans / The Palace at 2:00 a.m. / poems, stories, novels: More snailsMarly Youmanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02377938366750387442noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11539948.post-105008665850354762016-09-15T11:31:30.856-04:002016-09-15T11:31:30.856-04:00No worry. I don't seem to mind if I speak with...No worry. I don't seem to mind if I speak with terrible honesty about my writing! Maybe I should. <br /><br />I'm looking forward to a few pages today--starting a new section. I hope it is special, as you say, and am glad of your confidence. Just wrote a review and have one more to do before the end of the week.<br /><br />Yes, well, there are certain things a writer has to live with--oneMarly Youmanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02377938366750387442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11539948.post-71620426804257803362016-09-15T02:15:04.260-04:002016-09-15T02:15:04.260-04:00Thanks for what you describe as terrible honesty, ...Thanks for what you describe as terrible honesty, Marly—I was worried I might even be overstepping with the question. But of course, I understand what you're talking about. When you know you're doing good work, it's frustrating to see how transparently other books get press because a publisher hustles or because there's a "hook" about the book that makes life easy for a Jeffhttp://www.quidplura.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11539948.post-73413607954778083112016-09-13T21:14:00.573-04:002016-09-13T21:14:00.573-04:00Oh, it's different for every book. Dreams, som...Oh, it's different for every book. Dreams, some niggling image or phrase, an overheard story, another work... I usually daydream for a while before I start, though sometimes I wake up with something in me and just jump in (Thaliad was particularly that way.)Marly Youmanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02377938366750387442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11539948.post-29529856501016183932016-09-13T21:12:30.666-04:002016-09-13T21:12:30.666-04:00I have noticed that difficult conditions and pushi...I have noticed that difficult conditions and pushing oneself forward doesn't make the difference one would expect. For example, I started writing very late one night (well, early one morning) when I felt that I was too tired and couldn't get going. I went downstairs and got a clementine and slowly peeled and ate it. The next thing I wrote was about Agate eating her first orange. I've Marly Youmanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02377938366750387442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11539948.post-15964475415432826022016-09-13T19:42:17.990-04:002016-09-13T19:42:17.990-04:00A question for you, Marly, because it's one I ...A question for you, Marly, because it's one I grapple with: Are you worried that the quality of the writing will suffer if you write according to the difficult conditions of the present? Are you worried you won't get it written at all? Or are you concerned that you simply won't <i>enjoy</i> writing it?<br /><br />That last question is the big one for me. Occasionally I find the Jeffhttp://www.quidplura.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11539948.post-83872786112284837732016-09-13T14:26:39.733-04:002016-09-13T14:26:39.733-04:00I have no idea about when words flow best for me. ...I have no idea about when words flow best for me. I've had crazy days when I wrote more than 20 pages, I've had crazier days when I stayed up all night. My life has never been particularly convenient for novels, and I didn't start writing fiction until later, anyway--that is, I waited until I was really, really busy! But who has a life convenient for novels? Only a proper invalid, a Marly Youmanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02377938366750387442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11539948.post-73770956131313075072016-09-13T13:13:51.098-04:002016-09-13T13:13:51.098-04:00And here's the paradox - in writing the post y...And here's the paradox - in writing the post you may in effect be writing the novel. Not of course in bits that can be cut/pasted to the MS but in bursts of inventiveness that might (should) have been re-directed. Because - alas - doing the blog is far easier than addressing that great blob of jelly, half distant speculation, half flakes of usable dialogue, half lapis lazuli <i>aperçus</i>, Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11539948.post-18176459267845910812016-09-13T10:11:37.323-04:002016-09-13T10:11:37.323-04:00And what is -- can you pinpoint -- the catalyst fo...And what is -- can you pinpoint -- the catalyst for the starting point? Does the idea slowly move in, snail-like, or does it swoop down upon you like the hungry wolf? I've often wondered about the starting points for writers. So, I ask. And I wish you smooth sailing among the heaving and churning sea of words. Onward!RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.com