Posted in Tarot, Vampires, writing

Clarity is mine, however briefly

Posted on by D. D. Syrdal

I’ve been struggling with a way to sum up the premise of my vampire novel, even though the whole story is structured around the relationship between two characters. Seemed like it shouldn’t be that hard, but trying to consciously articulate what I was trying to say was proving difficult. At last, however, the words came to me today, unexpectedly, while I was thinking about something else.

How does that happen? WHY does that happen?

I quickly wrote it down before it managed to escape into the dark places in my brain again. With that in mind, though, I feel like I can proceed in the right direction with my revisions, and turn a far more critical eye to the whole convoluted mess than I could have otherwise. For my daily Tarot card draw today, I pulled :::fanfare please::: the Ace of Swords. Yes! This has most decidedly been an AoS kind of day. And here I thought it was just reflective of my desire to lop someone’s head off. Silly me.

Maybe listening to Disturbed‘s new album, “Asylum” for two solid weeks had some effect… I wonder if that means I’ll owe David Draiman royalties if I ever get published?

 

Author:

Writer of vampire stories and science fiction. First novel, "Revenants Abroad", available now at Amazon. If you like a vampire you can go out drinking with and still respect yourself in the morning, I think you'd like Andrej.

16 thoughts on “Clarity is mine, however briefly”

  1. Bear with me while I try to make sense –
    it is my belief that sometimes we know things before we realize we know them, so when you relax your mind by thinking about something else, the answer to a question that’s been eluding you sneaks in thru the opening which has been created by that relaxation. Sometimes when I see my students struggling with a reading, or an idea that they can’t quite articulate, I tell them to think about it before they go to sleep, and the answer will come to them in their dreams. I know that’s a pretty flaky pedgogy, but it reduces stress, if nothing else.

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    1. MaryJ,

      That’s not flaky at all. It’s one hundred percent true. I’ve found when I concentrate hard on a question for my novel, but then let it go…give it time to brew…the answer suddenly pops up at the weirdest, most unexpected times.

      The more you stress about something the worse it always get.

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      1. So you wouldn’t think it was nutty if a teacher told you to think about an assignment in your dreams? Between us, I’ll admit that I say all kinds of wacky stuff if I think it’ll get their attention and keep ’em awake!

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  2. Nothing flaky about that, I think it’s pretty well-established in fact. When our thoughts aren’t crowded out by the din of attempted multi-tasking and forced concentration on something our subconscious can bubble up and be heard. I had my first experience with that back in fifth grade. No joke, I remember sitting in Miss Lemke’s class, taking a test, and couldn’t think of the answer to a question. I somehow thought to just calm down and lo and behold the answer came to me. It was some history question which I can’t recall now. But anyway…

    It was just a surprise that it would suddenly pop up at work, sitting in front of my monitor doing who-knows-what now. It was just as clear as a bell, as if it was being dictated to me. I often get ideas just as I’m drifting off to sleep, which I am rarely smart enough to write down and so are gone forever. You’d think I’d learn, wouldn’t you? I’m just too lazy to put the light back on and find pen and paper.

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      1. Oh thanks! Hope I’m not confusing everyone with all the changes 😉 She’s the Daughter of Grails (aka Princess/Page of Cups) from the Tarot of Vampyres.

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      2. I like it too – there’s something about the frankness of her gaze that reminds me more of the real Digital Dame, whereas your last avatar, though lovely, had a sort of tentative, mousy quality that I have never associated with you…

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      3. Thanks! Seems to be unanimous then 🙂 Yeah, this one’s a little more kick-ass. I get the impression this gal could stand up to just about anyone. I like her.

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  3. yah, I do some of my best thinking in the shower, or in my sleep. I try to retain what I can since my students are not invited to those locations 😉

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    1. Ah, now I’m mentally alert from the moment I open my eyes, even if it’s before dawn, but I have to work hard not to look like hell till 10 a.m., at least…

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  5. I just started reading a book called “The Mind of Your Story” which talks about how writers process their story using both sides of the brain. Basically, creativity starts in the right side as images, but can get ‘stuck’ (i.e. blocked) until we start using our left side, the ‘doing’ side which is where the ideas get put into action and words. But the trick is getting them to work together. And when you have paper 🙂 I seem to wake up with great ideas, then try to get them on paper, but it seldom comes out right.
    Happy Halloween, y’all! Hope you get some tricks and treats!

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    1. Jan,

      That makes a lot of sense. If I merely try to think of how to do a scene, nothing comes. But if I sit down, and type…even if it’s initially horrid… things slowly come together.

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  6. That sounds like a fascinating book, I’ll have to look for it.

    Nothing ever comes out ‘right’ when I write it down. It’s short, choppy, sparse, lacking any depth or detail that I see in my head. It takes a lot of twisting and turning to get anywhere near what I want it to be.

    Happy Halloween! 🙂

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    1. Do you beta-read out loud? It can make a big diff if you actually hear your own voice saying the words.

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