Writing doesn’t always come easy to me. I fight with words a lot. I’m talking major combat. I wrestle, grapple, struggle, well, you get the idea. Sometimes the battle is so tough that I’m ready to ditch the writing gig and try my hand at herb gardening. Instead of sitting in front of a computer, I imagine walking through a meandering path lined with rosemary and mint and filled with butterflies. The truth is I can’t grow a single flower. If there was an association for abused petunias, I’d be featured in an exposé in their monthly newsletter.
Thanks to Twitter and Facebook, I’ve realized I’m not alone in my writing angst. For many of us, it’s part of the process. I stick with it, because the payoff is big. There are moments of discovery that make the whole thing worthwhile. A plot emerges. A character does something surprising. A theme becomes clear.
They’re called ‘eureka’ moments and they transform us. Somehow, after the experience, we’re different. The discovery changes the way we think, how we feel about ourselves, and how we view the world around us. The Greek scholar Archimedes is fabled to have been the first person to utter the phrase ‘eureka’, which is Greek for “I have found it.”
Scientists have learned a few interesting facts about these illuminating moments. First, they never come at the best times. Archimedes had his moment when he noticed that the water level rose after he stepped into the bath tub. Mine usually happen when I’m driving, walking the dog, eating dinner or working at the library.
They’ve also learned that these moments are not pulled out of thin air. It probably wasn’t the first time that old Archimedes contemplated volume, measurement and water displacement. If it was, I doubt his discovery would have made him leap out of his bath tub and race into the streets of Syracuse. There’s an incubation process, a time when your conscious and subconscious start working things out and making connections. For me that process involves wrestling with words.
I’m not ready to head out to the herb garden just yet. I’ll stick with writing. I’ll wait for those moments. If I have a good writing day, perhaps I’ll find a new meadering path — and maybe even a few butterflies.
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Comments
1 C. Lee McKenzie // Sep 2, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Ahhhh! That’s a good sigh that I’ve left here. Another person who doesn’t have those butterflies to launch can cultivate the petunias. You’ve made an excellent choice to stick with the writing.
2 nanmarino // Sep 3, 2009 at 5:48 am
With apologies to my flowers outside, I’m writing. Some days that herb garden is tempting, especially since I’m such a huge fan of basil and cilantro.
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