Melissa’s Kirsch’s NYT newsletter, The Good List, had a piece about Dean Stephenson “sits down each morning to write a new piece from scratch. At 4 p.m., a string quartet arrives to play whatever he has written.” Kirsch ended that piece in the newsletter with “It’s fascinating to watch art come together in real time, to witness the composer and musicians wrestling with it and sit alongside them as they arrive at the final product. And to know that they’ll start all over again tomorrow. How exhilarating to be reminded that creativity is not finite, that each morning we can decide what we want to make of the time available.” (You can subscribe to The Good List here.
So I thought that might be interesting, to sit down each morning and write a scene at a random; that’s the way most of my books have started, just people talking in my head. And I have to pay more attention to my scene work anyway, I’m getting very very sloppy. And then I could post it in here and let some of the best readers (and writers) I know have at it, working on it, too. That’s balm for my ego, people paying attention to my work.
And then sanity reappeared. Every freaking day? No. No no no no. But maybe once a week. Or whenever I felt like it. Just to stretch that muscle, work on those particular skills. And then at 4PM, a string quartet (that would be you all, stretching the meaning of “quartet”) would take it out for a spin, arguing (politely as ever) what works and doesn’t, etc. Nothing at stake, just talking about this scene, scene structure and all it entails.
I think that’s a good idea. Should have thought of it on Good Monday, but I’m still having troubles with days of the week because they don’t really matter to me. Time, as Bob will tell you, is relative. And irrelevant. And I like the idea of not attaching it to any specific day, given my ineptitude with specific days.
Of course tomorrow I will think that’s a terrible idea and probably not post this at all (it’s four AM on Thursday morning, and as we all know, Thursdays are set in stone for one kind of post), but I need to get off this three-goal rat race (book, apartment, taxes) and slow done. (Somewhere Bob is screaming in his sleep.).
So if you’re reading this, I’m seriously considering doing this. Maybe.
37 Responses
I am always happy to read what you write Jenny, a scene, a rant, a novel 😊. But not if it involves you putting more pressure on yourself, life is hard enough on us all right now, we do not need to self impose more trouble.
Yesterday I tried to think of a historic time that would have felt less stressful for folks than today, and struggled to come up with one. So there is that – it has always been hard to be alive and sane in an insane world! There was some peace in that conclusion.
World War 1. World War 2.
The flu pandemic. The bubonic plague.
This is a terrible time but we are not completely unique. Totally agree about being alive and sane in an insane world. There have definitely been much better times including just a few years ago.
Even my undergraduate years. Vietnam including threat of draft and boycotts and sit-ins, race riots (one only a few blocks south of my dorm), assassinations, Cold War simmering in the background, local bomb threats. (And from what I learned in my courses, I saw parallels with the 1890s.). Soon to be followed in my grad school years by Watergate and the Nixon scandal, ineffectual Gerald Ford, etc.
Yuval Harari , the historian and futurist, might be helpful. He has an easy to digest kid’s book, some deep adult books, and great lectures online where he tries to orient modern man to their place in history.
He points out the positive conditions in which we live today versus in any previous time, and it always surprises me. Also, Neil de Grasse Tyson has some great videos on statistical facts about life span, etc. We only moved from living from age 30 to 35 in something like 1,000 years. Wowza! All the best as you find things to help you make sense of these wild times.
For a dose of realistic optimism, I suggest Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature (2011), although it has some flaws and, I think, gives too much credit to the Enlightenment for human progress.
My daily source of news is Heather Cox Richardson on Substack. She’s a history teacher from Maine and puts what’s happening today in historical perspective. It’s happened before.
I still find the best way to say sane is to avoid the news unless you’re watching Saturday Night Live. There’s a new one tonight.
And find Joy and the little things that are here now.
Heather Cox Richardson is a goddess of thought. It is wonderful to listen to someone without pretense and to hear someone’s always clear and logical thought, especially since she is reasonable AND kind. And sometimes very funny. Love her online comments, and her blog always lifts me up, no matter how horrible the news of that day has been.
Sounds like fun for us Arghers. Instead of thinking of it as a series, you might try a one off. See how close it comes to what you imagined.
Yeah, do a trial run and see how it goes, a pilot, if you will. Looking forward to reading whatever you write, Jenny!
I love taking writing for a spin. Chacha1 lets me do it sometimes and it is super fun to see the writing process in action.
In line with Christine’s very perceptive comment re this being a unique historic time, the most similar public period domestically I can think of is the 1960s and early 70s, with major culture wars over sexual freedom, racial issues, etc., the unwanted Vietnam War going on, and a corrupt Republican President forced to resign or be convicted if impeached (because the Republicans in congress then had backbone and respect for the constitution).
But Nixon was polite in public, did not try to alienate our allies nor upset NATO (major difference internationally!), started the EPA, expanded affirmative action by the feds, and threw on price controls during high inflation: much, much better than our current political leader(s).
I nominated the same period without reading down to this, but I strongly disagree that price controls solved anything. They just created scarcity (not being able to find at all rather than being able to afford less of), and attempted to paper over the fact that you get inflation when you figuratively print too much money (actually by more complicated action by the government). I agree that Nixon did a lot more good before turning to the Dark Side than the orangutan ever did. Evidently the latter has been in the Dark Side’s employ for his entire public life.
I think you get to have a complete orchestra take your work out.
Or a flash mob.
I couldn’t find the NYT piece on him but I found this Guardian piece.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/jun/23/i-had-to-be-taken-out-of-the-museum-the-artistic-challenge-that-almost-broke-dean-stevenson?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
And it convinced me that every day would be dangerous. I also loved the idea that art is never finished —only abandoned at an interesting point.
I completely endorse the idea that you should try it once first and also that you should do it episodically, as you feel the need, not on a regular schedule. Maybe call it a workshop day.
I’m still waiting for the next novel to show up in my inbox. Mind you, I’m still waiting to actually work on my own novel…so there you are.
How about a chain novel? 😁 seem to have a lot of writers here!
What a lovely gloriously insane idea. I have read mysteries by a collection of famous mystery writers in the early part of the 19th century. There is a library in New York called the manufacturers and tradesmen‘s library and it turned out. It was $30 a year to join and they had things I’ve never seen before wonderful mysteries and books of all sorts that I wanted to read. But seeing a group of well-known writers get together and write together was really fun. I can’t imagine anything more fun than doing that. Well I can. Jennie putting out a story for us to read and do the orchestra bit.
As someone whose life is relatively uncomplicated and yet who, of late, responds to even minor infringements of my time with deep resentment, I rarely feel energized or inspired by even a self-imposed and malleable creative-production goal. I haven’t submitted a single thing to my publisher yet this year. I know that I feel better when I write regularly, so I keep writing, but I’m writing whatever I want, whenever I want. And it is keeping me productive, without the dangling sword of Goals. Does this sound familiar, or is it just me?
“Scenes at random” are one of my favorite writing things too, often kickstarting a session of true productivity. I know we would all adore the chance to kibitz over a new piece of Jenny writing. Throw one in the bowl whenever you like, and your goldfish will delightedly nibble on it. 🙂
FWIW, I decided sometime last year that I was old enough (past official retirement age) that from now on, eff it, I’m writing for myself, publication be damned. So, yeah, like you, I’m writing whatever I want, whenever I want. I can’t do scenes at random (brain doesn’t work that way), but I can choose to write weird little stories, and not worry about marketability.
Can’t say I’m being as productive as I’d like, but I AM still writing, and it makes me happy (or at least less unhappy) in this depressing era.
“As someone whose life is relatively uncomplicated and yet who, of late, responds to even minor infringements of my time with deep resentment…” I love that. I live that. Thank you for identifying it/me so well!
I really resonated with this, too!
Since this post is in place on Monday, I will mention that I did finally get my self-eval done and turned in. Now with that major goal done, I find myself drifting. I have low energy and not much ambition. However, I found out there will be a baby shower at work next month, so today I’m going to start on a baby quilt. It will be a simple design so I can get it done quickly and not care that the child may pee, poop, or puke on it, if not all 3 at various times.
If this is also good intentions Saturday, I did not get my much delayed day job projects done. But I may have helped save a daughter from her potentially fatally abusive mom so definitely counting it as a win.
Next week: those tasks, find more witnesses for protective Services, plant some annuals, sort the papers on my desk, get my uncle limited access to my mom’s Fidelity account so that he can trade for her without withdrawing funds or trading my dads trust by using mom’s password (do I think this is a terrible idea ? Yes. Can I stop it? No. Am I worried? Not once I get the limited access set up and get mom to change her password as it’s a small share of her total assets and her relationship with her brother is important to her.)
And make our long term house guest, foster daughter’s boyfriend’s mother who we have never met and could be here through the end of June, welcome.
Someone clearly laid a Chinese curse on me.
I like the idea of a random scene once a week. So many good stories start this way for me – a random scene unfolding into much more.
How about a name for the creative scene series? Once a month seems less pressure.
The books, the apartment, and taxes sounds like a lot!
Yesterday was the last day for my kid’s house assessment by the realtors who are going to sell their house. I explained to my SIL that it was so much work! After a week of creating near fifty boxes into my garage we were scrambling cleaning the house and when the realtors were viewing their home office, their sweet bichon-shitzu mix pooped on the carpet right in front of them all! Hopefully the the estimate of value didn’t drop….
For good intentions, I’ve got one for the entire month of May, which is to prepare for the Romancing the Vote auction. The event is in July (first to fifth), but the submission info needs to be uploaded in June, and it involves taking a bunch of pictures and writing descriptions, and I’m nowhere near as good or patient about photography as I am at making quilts. https://www.romancingthevote.com/
I think that Jennie and Bob offered a critique for that one and I won it.
This is a good cause I’ll have to do something.
Off topic: As a way of avoiding the Saturday afternoon opera on the radio, I’ve been listening to a recording of “Wellington’s Victory” by Beethoven. It uses “God Save the King” to represent the British, but “Malbrough s’en va-t-en guerre” rather than a national anthem for the French. Since that has the same melody as “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” the connotations for me are not what Beethoven has in mind! On looking it up, I learn that the victory commemorated was a fairly minor one in Spain in 1813 (same year that the symphony was composed), not Wellington’s big one at Waterloo in 1815. There seem to be several classical works that do commemorate the latter, but none popular enough that I’ve ever heard them. Nor is even the ABBA song about the battle.
I am a subscriber to the good list and I read the same post. Jenny, I think that’s a wonderful idea.
I look forward to reading a random thing from you. Actually I look forward to reading anything for you. Do you follow Sarah Addison Allen?
Every week on Facebook, she posts a Sunday story based on a picture that caught her interest. They are short and so much fun.
Is she still doing that? Damned algorithm. I used to see those. I think they were on Instagram too.
Thanks for reminding me about Sarah’s short shorts. I found her on Instagram again (I’m already following her, but you know…algorithms…) and liked a bunch of her posts, so hopefully they’ll start showing up for me again.
I had a quick look at Instagram for the first time in a long time earlier this week—probably been at least a year, maybe two. And it has gotten so much worse than when I stopped looking at it! Felt like only maybe 10% of the posts were from people I follow.
I only look at Instagram via my web browser. (I loathe the app.) The instant they insert a ‘suggested post’ or an ad in my timeline I pounce and tell them I don’t want to see it (I just choose the first option, ‘it’s irrelevant’). This keeps me free of intruders most of the time.
Thanks for this Susan. I just found her on IG. AND IT SAYS SHE WILL HAVE A NEW BOOK OUT IN SEPTEMBER. The title is Paper Ghosts!
Another update.
I was trying to find more witnesses for Protective Services and I googled the names of some of the fellow mold believers. Omg. I found an article by one of the fellow mold believers that Betsy relies on about how another fellow traveler committed suicide in the author’s backyard in 2023. The article appeared April 3 —right about the time I believe mom daughter decided daughter should starve to death. It’s the NYT Modern Love piece . I have to believe they knew about this.
Life has really been strange for the past 10 years. Everything is fraught and dangerous. And, at the same time, everything is just so mundane and normal.
one minute I’m walking the dog planning my day and errands and the next I’m carrying signs in a crowd of people or going to a meeting promoting democracy and speaking out in opposition to our voter suppression friends. There’s not a lot of middle ground. Still, I’m fairly secure, fairly healthy and not in a war zone.
Yes, throw out a scene or two. Whenever you need to. It’ll be a nice little surprise for us.
Great idea, Jenny! I love finding out how your mind works.
As I was reading, I was feeling so much building anxiety and stress at the idea of producing some new creative thing every day. Then I realized how very much I would not like people coming to my house every day, either! Any people, but especially people expecting a creative project that they would then pick apart. Every. Day. Sounds like hell!