Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Rituals for Writing a New Novel

©2011 Odilia Rivera Santos

I have been toying with the idea of writing the definitive codependent relationship novel for a couple of years, and finally, the time seems perfect to dive into the abyss. The main characters will chase crazy down a crazy rabbit hole and undergo a transmogrification to put Mary Shelly to shame. I am writing the character dossiers tonight and unpacking their brains in the morning: the neurosis of past events, childhoods, relationships and betrayals will be lain across a cloth on a table like the remains of a crime scene. The tone for this novel will be very conversational, unlike the novel I completed in June of 2011 -- which was very formal and contained an epistolary section. This novel will be imagery punctuated with the words of two people who are seeking salvation in the wrong place, in the wrong ways, and with the wrong person. Their conversations will delve into what I call the suffering olympics. The suffering olympics is a special competition in which people don't listen to each because they are too busy telling their story over and over again. It is a comedy, even though it sounds a little heavy duty. I think there is comedy in the search for a love approximating one's first love, which I believe romance really is all about. How do you, as an adult, recreate the feeling of being safe, fed, protected and wearing a dry diaper?
I enjoy creating deadlines for myself and hope you will keep me company during the writing of this novel. The novel will be completed on July 31st, and I will do a public reading. Please stay tuned and feel free to ask questions about where my characters are and what they're doing.
My rituals for writing a new novel include lots of bottles of water in the fridge, long walks or runs to sort out the thousands of details flooding in, meditation, a daily word count goal, and lots of dancing. I need music and movement as a balance to sitting still for hours per day.

I will keep you posted on what happens with the two novels currently floating in the ether.

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