Rewriting ourselves...myself..
Uppington left me an interesting comment this past week on my last blog post...a comment I've been thinking about ever since. She said, "we can rewrite ourselves, just as we rewrite our characters. And when we rewrite our own character, then our 'life plot' changes as well." Wow.
I have to admit... I've been thinking about that ever since...
Can we...should we...rewrite ourselves? What are the consequences...?
My immediate response is...Yes! Rewrite yourself constantly...making yourself a better and better person all the time. And that's what I've been telling myself all week. But here's the kicker: that seems like such a deliberate process, and as soon as you become deliberate in any task, you lose creativity...
Now, maybe my interpretation does not match Uppington's intent (so my apologies in advance..!), and I think what she meant was just to keep improving yourself. "Hear hear" to that! I guess I took it to the next step and asked myself how to do that.. deliberately with a destination in mind... or rather... should we organically evolve. Is that different than rewriting ourselves? I think it is...
Stu had a post the other day about how closely to follow a "plan." I know when you write, everyone says to have an outline. I probably should... it would definitely help my foreshadowing. But I have t admit...I don't. And I find my characters evolving in ways I never expected...it's an incredible experiment in creativity. In my second novel, a minor character became central to the plot...I never saw it coming...but I loved it! I remember before I started writing people would say, "the characters write themselves," and I'd think, "yeah, right." But it's so true. Being a man (with no kids) it's the closest thing I can imagine to childbirth and watching a baby grow...it's just amazing.
So if I just let my characters evolve (for better or for worse)...shouldn't I let myself do that same (for better or for worse)...? Either way, my life plot...our life plot...is going to change.. which I love... It's just a question of how much we try and direct the path..or let the path choose us.
I started a novel last year called REM about lucid/directed dreaming. I'm about 15,000 words into it.. but lost the muse for the moment. I hope to get it back and finish it soon. But maybe my consternation was that I liked the dreaming part, but haven't been able to relate to the directed part. Maybe I should just let my characters dream instead...
Years ago, a friend told me, "we always end up where we want to be." Having gone through a divorce and come out the other side a better person, I think that's true. I hope life is always taking me somewhere that I want to be, even if I don't realize it while I'm being dragged through the broken shards of my emotions...
I guess this week I've just been wondering how active I should be in deciding where that place is...
I wonder...
I have to admit... I've been thinking about that ever since...
Can we...should we...rewrite ourselves? What are the consequences...?
My immediate response is...Yes! Rewrite yourself constantly...making yourself a better and better person all the time. And that's what I've been telling myself all week. But here's the kicker: that seems like such a deliberate process, and as soon as you become deliberate in any task, you lose creativity...
Now, maybe my interpretation does not match Uppington's intent (so my apologies in advance..!), and I think what she meant was just to keep improving yourself. "Hear hear" to that! I guess I took it to the next step and asked myself how to do that.. deliberately with a destination in mind... or rather... should we organically evolve. Is that different than rewriting ourselves? I think it is...
Stu had a post the other day about how closely to follow a "plan." I know when you write, everyone says to have an outline. I probably should... it would definitely help my foreshadowing. But I have t admit...I don't. And I find my characters evolving in ways I never expected...it's an incredible experiment in creativity. In my second novel, a minor character became central to the plot...I never saw it coming...but I loved it! I remember before I started writing people would say, "the characters write themselves," and I'd think, "yeah, right." But it's so true. Being a man (with no kids) it's the closest thing I can imagine to childbirth and watching a baby grow...it's just amazing.
So if I just let my characters evolve (for better or for worse)...shouldn't I let myself do that same (for better or for worse)...? Either way, my life plot...our life plot...is going to change.. which I love... It's just a question of how much we try and direct the path..or let the path choose us.
I started a novel last year called REM about lucid/directed dreaming. I'm about 15,000 words into it.. but lost the muse for the moment. I hope to get it back and finish it soon. But maybe my consternation was that I liked the dreaming part, but haven't been able to relate to the directed part. Maybe I should just let my characters dream instead...
Years ago, a friend told me, "we always end up where we want to be." Having gone through a divorce and come out the other side a better person, I think that's true. I hope life is always taking me somewhere that I want to be, even if I don't realize it while I'm being dragged through the broken shards of my emotions...
I guess this week I've just been wondering how active I should be in deciding where that place is...
I wonder...
Hello Peter,
Ever wonder why things always come up just when you need them the most... this was one for me.
Suzette
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Hey Suzette.. glad it was useful for you..
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I completely understand your point of view. I've a novel I've been pecking away at off and on like a frantic chicken, for two months. It's frustrating. Maybe we not only end up where we want to be but also where we're supposed to be. I'm a great believer in synchronicity and the existence of perfection in those things that appear imperfect.
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I 'm really worried about you, you seem to have the courage and the strength to do things others really only dream about, but you seem so sad. So, are wondering how YOU can evolve, a character evolves, or how organisms evolved? Thoughts of evolution soon end up centering on thoughts of God, or lack thereof, depending upon what conclusion you arrive at. Maybe you should be wondering about what it takes to reach Nirvana, or a simple state of peace here, in this moment. When I think of evolution, I end thinking that this is all just a fluke and we were just a random event, like a meaningless thought: "All the sausages that dance like Ray Bolger on the hood of a car in a traffic jam". Finding solace that there may be a purpose, a finish line, a goal, like Heaven and meeting God and all that stuff is simply more comforting to believe, yet, I'm not quite there myself.
I think I have decided that morality, that so-called "moral compass" (that religion is supposed to “provide” ) is simply hard wired into our genes, and that immorality can pay off for some people at a certain percentage of the time. That's why evil people are around. They managed to reproduce and maybe in a morally unacceptable way, like out and out rape. Believe it or not, believing that this too was an evolved trait, this gives me comfort because it makes some sense out the seemingly inexplicable. Then I end up meandering into new areas of explorative thought, like we are God, because it's in us (our brains created that Holy existence)and well, I am lifted by such a notion. I think they had some fascinating ideas in India with Hinduism, same as with Buddhism.
So, yeah, evolution is always a weird thought to ponder, especially after 3 Long Islands, but also before coffee and with a headache. Good Luck to you.
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More pensive than sad... although sad is part of pensive...
Thanks...
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Let me try to clarify... I am the last person to crush any sort of spontaneous or creative growth. And I never (well, hardly ever) outline either. And I have an unshakeable belief that one of the things we are meant to do in this life is become as completely the selves we were born to be as we possibly can. So I don't mean we should try to change the essence of who we are. When I talk about rewriting ourselves, and therefore our stories, I'm talking more about rewriting the tape loops that often run inside our heads, half heard, and always acted on. The ones that say, "you're not good enough, there's something wrong about you, this is too hard, if you try you'll fail, you're hopelessly flawed..."
If you change the 'plot line' of 'I'm horribly flawed and a failure because I haven't yet been published" to "I'm heroically pursuing an adventure on a road where there is bound to be danger" you've completely changed the kind of story your in. Does that make any sense?
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That makes a lot of sense.. thanks..
I shall continue to ponder this...
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