February Blues

Hello all dear Insecure Writers and those who love us. The IWSG meets the first Wednesday of the month so here we are. I'm not really blue despite the title, just a wee bit flat of spirit perhaps but it'll come back. It always has. 

 I don't wish to discuss authoring today, only writing. I've been swapping teaching with a pal on our street. She's a talented oil painter who is working on a novel. At least once a week we get together and paint and talk writing. She's a generous teacher and I think I am too. Obviously we talk about the crossovers in our disciplines. I'm doing an edit on her novel this week and it strikes me that figuring out the mechanics of the plot and structure are a lot like composing a painting. And the diction, the actual word choices, the metaphors, similies, and so on are a lot like the brushstrokes a painter uses. We both seem to have a good handle on composition or plot, we know what we want to say and even when we want to say it, in order to lead the viewer (or reader) to the focal point (crisis) but we both need help loosening up our brushstrokes, being more confident and even daring in that department. I want her to stretch and try to say things freshly, cut out hackneyed phrases for surprising ones, and I think she'd like me to be bolder with my mark-making. I know once she starts she'll get what fun figuring out just the right word or phrase is. And I sometimes get a fleeting moment of grace and joy when I let loose with my brush. And isn't that it? Isn't that the real reason we do this crazy highwire act?

Hope you are all well and using these winter days to go deep into your work with verve and joy!