Persevering through Intimidation
A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be able to venture to Patagonia in Argentina to cross off a big bucket list item: see Mount Fitz Roy. My sister, husband, and I hiked Laguna de Los Tres, a there-and-back, 14-mile trek to a pool at the base of the Fitz Roy. It was awesome, but it was also awful. But this isn’t a blog post about hiking.
After the hike, I suggested we re-watch “A Line Across the Sky.” It’s a documentary of Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold climbing the entire Fitz Roy Massif. Pretty epic. Those are two humans that constantly make me reconsider what human body can endure. In the film, Tommy writes a letter to his son. One of the things he says is something along the lines of “whatever you choose to do and work for in this life, go all in.” It reminded me that the best things in life are usually intimidating at first and a pain in the ass to achieve. Fulfillment comes from dedication, regardless of what you decide to do.
So, with that, welcome to “Seena Writes a Novel: Part 2.” Yes, I’m writing a new novel because though I have a love/hate relationship with writing, there’s no way writing a second novel will be as painful as a 14-mile hike on few calories and a belly full of Pepto, and definitely nowhere near as painful as what Tommy and Alex have managed to do on their many adventures.
What the novel about? I don’t know yet. I have two ideas floating around, and these ideas have to translate into scenes, plots, and themes. This is where it’s easy to get stuck and procrastinate, like I’m doing now writing this blog :D. Once you figure out the plots and the themes, the scenes sometimes(if you’re lucky) fall into place. Other times, you’ll find yourself writing a scene about a character eating breakfast. Then you’ll wonder, “well, what’s the point of this?”
Writing is like wandering a maze: repetitive and infuriating. You think you’re getting somewhere only to find yourself back where you started. There’s no payoff until your project is done, which is totally parallel to the linear work I used to do in healthcare tech, where I could check things of daily and see progress. My goal for this week is to really dive in, make rough outlines of both of my story ideas, and see which one I vibe with more. The frustrating thing about this is, I know I’ll spend days outlining only to completely throw out the outline when I start actually writing, but that’s part of the process.
The first idea is a mystery/crime wrapped around juicy interpersonal relationships and drama. This idea is pretty fledged out. I have the whole plot surrounding the interpersonal relationships and drama, but I’m missing a key component: the mystery/crime piece. It’s ironic that it’s such a big part of the plot, but it doesn’t actually exist yet. I don’t have the experience to write mystery/crime as of now. I’ve written two short stories in that genre, but they were pretty awful. I want this crime to be complex. I’ll have to read a few good mystery/crime novels before I fully dive into this one.
The second idea is a paranormal/haunted house-type novel, but all the “ghosts” are metaphors for some greater idea. Think of the show “The Haunting of Hill House.” I read the book for inspiration, but it was nothing at all like the show. It honestly wasn’t very good in my opinion. I lean towards this idea, but it’s harder to start than the first idea because I have no ideas for the actual plot. I have some characters in mind, but that’s about it.
The best things in life come from hard work. You don’t reach the intended destination, but the hard work will have gotten you somewhere, and that’s what’s important. To quote Frank Herbert - “To compete is to prepare for failure. Do not be trapped by the need to achieve anything. This way, you achieve everything.”
