My project?

[dampscribbler]

I've begun working this week, prompted in part by something Maggie said a couple of weeks ago.  I don't know yet exactly where it's going, but it feels great to be working, and I want to share some things that have come to me.

-- If I don't take my work seriously, no one will. 
This looks obvious, but for some reason I possess a profound lack of confidence, which I've been expecting would be resolved by other people telling me how great my work is.  Except I can't work because I'm not taking it seriously.  Even after people I respect read my work and tell me how great it is.  It turns out, duh, the lack of confidence is not an obstacle, it's an irrelevance.  If I do take my work seriously, others will, too.  I may have to find them, but I'll worry about that when I have a finished product. IF I need to.  Now is not the time. 

-- I am writing a fairy tale. 
I began it yesterday as if it were for a child a bit older than my daughter.  But as I've been meditating, I've realized that several of my recent projects are, or involve, fairy tales.  But the average adult in this culture doesn't believe in fairies.  Fairy tales worked in Europe for centuries because people believed in fairies, brownies, trolls, ogres, giants, and all the rest. They used them to explain the world.  Today we believe in biology, physics, internal combustion engines, politics, pollution, and all the rest.  Magic is still an explanation for children: "Every stick is a magic wand, every puddle is a crystal ball."*  Fairy tales for children may still contain magic.  Fairy tales for (most) adults may not.  So, what?

-- I thought there was a third thing, but now I can't find it.  Maybe later.





* From "Wintersmith" by Terry Pratchett.

Comments

[wordsrmylife.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite books! Pratchett's got a huge fan base here, too. I live with two of them and am one myself. I figure it's a sign we here need magic, too.

Good for you for finding a project you can get invested in! I've been where you were. The trick for me came when I started writing a weekly news-ish column. (I describe it as everything that's too small for an individual article, but too big for the events calendar.) It takes an hour, maybe an hour and a half of my week and over time it helped build my credibility in my community. So now, if I say I'm writing, people nod. Now, I may mean I'm working on fiction and they may think I'm doing my tiny column, but they know I am a writer. It's validation.

Good luck with your fairy tale.

[lastwater.livejournal.com]

A derth of credulity regarding your topic is no obstacle. Have a good time!