“You’re not an English major. You don’t have any formal training in creative writing either. But you read a lot. You can tell a good book from a lousy one. Also, you love telling stories. You make up stories in your head all the time. You can write a great book too, right?”
“ Of course not, foolish girl.”
That’s the conversation I was having with myself recently, when I got stuck … again, at describing the setting for one of the scenes in my story The Promise. If you think I’m kidding, you’re wrong. I actually do talk to myself a lot. In my mind, of course, which makes me look completely normal from the outside. People only get a taste of my insanity once they start talking to me …
I’m not going to talk about my mental health today though (or lack of it). I’ll talk about how writing down a story is very different than making up a story. As a new writer, I’m “struggling with language”. It gets in my way. What do I mean by that? Here, let me remind you what Ray Bradbury said about it.
Telling a story is “limping crude hard work for many, with language in their way.” You have to get past that block. You have to let your emotions move you. When that happens, “the fuse, after sputtering wetly, flares and the fireworks begin.” The Subconscious will say its say, “untouched, and flowing off your tongue.”
– Ray Bradbury
I love Ray Bradbury’s writing. I definitely get inspired by it. I still feel like a fuse, sputtering wetly while trying to describe the moon, the lake side, and my two characters who make impossible promises, but I’m hoping that, with enough practice, I’ll overcome the language barrier. I’d like to be able to make beautiful fireworks.
I know exactly what I want to say. I just can’t find the right words for it … yet.
Ada Ireland is a pen name I came up with for myself. Unashamed Writing is a name I came up with for my blog.