by Naomi Zidon ||
I was given a project, to write a blog aimed at writers. So, I did what every student does when no idea comes to mind, seek the help of the great and mighty GOOGLE. I wrote something uninteresting. Then it dawned on me that the reason I was finding it hard to come up with an idea for the blog is because I do not see myself as a writer able to give other writers advice on how to be writers.
Many writers apparently follow the well-known 5 stage writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and publishing. Other writers have their own customized writing process. In terms of creative writing, I do not just focus on a particular form of creative writing. I write poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and screenplays. I follow different paths when I write these different things.
With poetry I need some kind of inspiration. It comes from two sources: the news and things happening in my personal life. The personal life involves so much emotional motivation, so all I want to do is write and get it over with. I get a piece of paper, sit down and just let all the feelings find themselves in sonnets, couplets, or free verse. I read it to a few friends and family members. I do not feel they are worth publishing. They seem childish, like a poem about a crush on a boy.
My poems that are inspired from the news go through a different process. I just insert myself in those situations then my brain takes over and I write. I go into a trance. I wrote in 2017 about the earthquake that happened in Puebla, Mexico. I have never been to Mexico, but while writing the poem I imagined I was there during the earthquake and just watched the buildings fall. I translated the poem to Spanish, for the audience in Mexico. I wrote about Notre Dame earlier this year. I put myself in Paris and imagined Notre Dame through wars and how it stood still and about the emotions of the French people as they watched it burn. I haven’t tried to publish any of these works, except one. I sent a poem to The New Yorker earlier this year about the societal hurdles women face, inspired by the news of the Alabama abortion bill. I have not gotten a reply yet on that.
Most of my prose, especially fiction, focuses on things I see and things that are happening around the world. I research on something and begin to write. My problem with prose is that I never finish, I start a prose then become consumed by school that I don’t come back to the work for months, then when I come back, I have another idea. I have finished a prose piece only twice. Once when I was 16, it took me 3 years to complete a YA high school novel. The other time was this summer, when I finished a short story also focused on abortion as a response to the Alabama abortion bill. I also submitted it to The New Yorker, and I got an email saying that it was too controversial and sensitive.
My process works for me because it enables me at this stage to have wiggle room to express myself without overthinking. Looking at it from the bright side, my non-committal approach enables a mixture of different ideas. I hope one day to produce a great novel, one that I would be proud of. For my poetry pieces, the best of them are in my poetry book, hand-written, a book that has over 100 pages. I have filled the book halfway. There is still so much I need to do as a writer. Next semester I plan to take a class focused on different styles of writing to polish my writing styles. I am excited to begin that phase of the writing journey.
