Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Y is for Yin and Yang

As I stare out the window at work writing this (my break people!) I see the top edge of the motorboat peeking out above the snow banks. I've never seen it before. I started working here in October but not in this office until March - so my view has always been snow and more snow. Occasionally a pack of dogs will trot by and there is a wee squirrel I've been seeing quite a bit of - but no - mostly snow and tree tops - a bit of a mountain far off. But I know something! I know that soon - in the next couple of weeks or maybe even sooner - I will see Little Lake through the trees. If I stand up I can see it now - all frozen and white. It will be lovely to look out and see that body of water shining away.

And that is what I want to talk about today in your revision process. We've gone through so many stages and you may have noticed that it has been very little nuts and bolts - just small tips and reminders for the most part. But what we sometimes forget when we are beavering away is that there will be a day when the obstacles will have melted away and you will see your ms shining - whole and beautiful. Although, unlike my view, you and I will have to do something to get there. Metaphors must by their very nature break down at some point - otherwise they wouldn't stand for the thing - they'd be the thing!

In Chinese philosophyyin and yang (also, yin-yang or yin yang) describes how apparently opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.

Your manuscript from this point of view is already finished. It lies complete and shiny under the ice and snow. It is our delusion that it isn't there until we hit that final -30- (do people still do this or is it just me?) 
Believe that and work away to free it. 

And there is Little Lake from another view point!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's so true, Jan, about perception v reality. I think it's important to be able to see one's manuscript from more than one perspective. That's the only way to really be a little closer to objective about it.

Tamara Narayan said...

I thought my manuscript was done, but now I considering a rewrite. It will be tricky, but if the idea works, it could become the strongest part of the story.

Susan Scott said...

What a lovely analogy Jan thank you .. to see/feel the ice melting and the water appearing .. and the ms is almost finished. In depth psychology too opposites are not exclusive to each other but are complementary, each needs the other to arise again ...
What is -30 - the no. of words left? I don't think so?

Jan Morrison said...

Susan - the - 30 - is the symbol that journalist used to use to signal the end of a press release or story. My dad was a PR fella for the Canadian Armed Forces so used it all the time. So I guess it is normal for me but not everyone else.