It started as a simple read. My writing mentor mentioned she was reading it so I decided to do the same. After all, she is the author I aspire to be and let’s be honest, the woman has wonderful tastes in books.
This is why I started reading Chuck Palahnuik’s Consider This. I had no idea how this book would change my approach to writing. Half instructional, half stories of the writer experience, Consider This gives the reader new ways to look at our projects. And oh, did I take to his suggestions!
I made notes as I read, and then as I wrote applied my notes to my work in progress, the illusive Harlot’s Fire. Yet Palahnuik’s book did more than instruct the avoidance of specific words, although by eliminating just two hew suggested, the paragraphs where present came alive, the book sparked something else.
After finishing his book, I sit and re-read my notes. Alia Price has changed in my perception. There are things about her you, dear readers, and I, needed to know. Quirks and secrets jotted down on a napkin (I guess that was all I had nearby) that will make the story richer.
Had I only known!
Just like I can feel my student’s eye rolling during a zoom session, I can see your reaction to this post. She’s procrastinating again. She’s making excuses to move the launch date again. Why is she sharing all this?
The creative magic is so close to my grasp. I steal short bursts in between my classes to develop maybe a sentence or two, sometimes a page. The page may get tweeked and prodded at night for verification that the scene actually is part of this story. I am creating a person and a world within the restraints of my reality.
Thank you, Chuck Palahnuik*, for sharing! And thank you my readers, for patience.
It is happening!
*Side note – I had no clue about this dude and haven’t read any of his fiction.
L.M. Pampuro 