Life Creeps In
It happens under my radar. Take this spring: I suddenly noticed, while reading through my WIP, that I had checked in on my character’s state of breathing in every scene, sometimes more than once.
Never before have I done this. I’ve written whole books without a single use of the word “breathe” or any of its derivations. Not until this spring, when breathing often became a manual rather than automatic activity, when I was struggling (still am) to control this beast called asthma without health insurance.
Same with emotions. I once read that some of the most uplifting novels were written by authors in the throes of depression: one could say they were writing their hope.
When I read old stories of mine, I can often see bits of my life that I accidentally and unknowingly dropped in them, hopefully hidden so that only I recognize their subconscious relation to my life.
What about you? Do you find hidden tidbits? Odd corollaries to your life? To your emotions? Your struggles?
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Natasha Fondren is a writer traveling the U.S. in a camper with her four cats. She is currently enjoying the lizards and desert heat in Arizona.
I use breath a lot in my books, though probably not every page. Breath matters, as you must know with your asthma.
I’m sure I do fine corollaries to my life, but right now I can’t think of any. I don’t have whining characters, though. My least favorite people. I try to stay away from them in real life, too.
It does, Edie. I didn’t realize, LOL!
I had trouble thinking of any, too. I see them all the time, just hints, but I always forget them when I try to give an example.
I do, but more in my earlier work than in the stuff I’m doing now. I like to think I’ve become professional enough to divorce myself somewhat from my personal struggles in order to write the character’s struggles, but it may just be age.
That makes sense, Charles. I can think of some old stuff that was basically me working through issues. Now it’s just little things that no one would get. Like my birth mother resurfaced sort of, and once she abandoned me in a room with these dark, heavy curtains. And the next day, a bad scene happened in a room with dark, heavy curtains… I didn’t make the correlation until re-reading it, LOL.
I suppose that’s why we should let our writing get ‘stale’ to use by setting it aside before a reread.
On a tangential note, you reminded me of what I kept seeing in Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight. All the sighs, smiles, heartbeats… However, she listened and learned from the negative comments about those repetitious elements, so the following books weren’t suffering from repetion.
Really, Written? Yeah, I’m a big “smile” writer, too. It’s awful, LOL! That’s super about her writing improving.
My breathing problems have snuck in, but I try to keep them to one character so I don’t have a book full of gasping people.
In my current wip I’ve given some of my pet peeves to my characters, meaning they hate them too, lol.
Hah! THat’s funny, Melanie! Isn’t that the truth? Your current WIP sounds great!
How interesting. I realy don’t know if anything like that gets into my writing. I suspect its the sort of thing I wouldn’t notice. Ah…something else to worry about!
Eric, I often don’t notice it. It’s freaky when I spot it, though, and I can only hope no one else can spot it!
Natasha, I didn’t know about your asthma. Hope with the cooler weather it’s not so intrusive.
My writing is hugely impacted by personal emotions. The day my dog died I bled on the pages without hesitation. It was so purely organic.The poem I coughed up after her passing, although rough, kicks ass as far as I’m concerned (she said while straining to reach over her shoulder without risking dislocation).
But I feel that sometimes the author utilizes motifs to fit the theme, and uses repetition, sort of like Poe’s Tell Tale Heart. He really got into the “Louder, louder LOUDERS!” of the matter. WOW! That dude could really build the drama and suspense. (Now I need to revisit that story…)
Kath, asthma is a new struggle that’s progressively gotten worse, and has, in the last few year, gotten completely out of my control.
I LOVED the Tell-Tale Heart! Spooky and awesome!
I have occasional asthma and use half a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in 6 oz of water once a day. Since I began taking this in March I have rarely used my inhaler. Is there something where you’re located that might be causing an allergic reaction? For example, I will get congested with milk or milk powder products that have certain antibiotics, that I’m allergic to, in them.
With respect to my writing, there is nothing from my life or habits that my characters engage in.
I’m going to try that, Barbara. I’m allergic to humidity, mold, cats, dogs, and most foods save rice, meat, fish, and vegetables.
Yeah, my characters don’t do anything from my life, either. The things that surface are far too subtle for that, LOL.
I tend to use breath in my books a lot, as the character breathed deeply, or exhaled. I also use stomach a lot – her stomach turned, a knot formed in her stomach, etc.
And I do this because that is how I work – emotion sits in my gut, and I tend to breath hard when I’m frustrated, etc.
Nadine, I’ve noticed I’m such a “feeling” writer. I always explain how everything feels, just like you said with the stomach.
I’m working on getting more visual, LOL.
My first manuscript had a lot of cathartic *me* in it. I think that’s pretty standard. Ensuing projects have not to my best recollection.
I did one that had some cathartic “me” in it, but all these others… I’m hidden in them, sorta like those Magic 3-D pictures.
We won’t have health insurance much longer and I have asthma too. This year I’ve managed it with Advair. I’m going to need to find out how much that costs without insurance. Scary. I really know how you feel. If I can’t breathe, I start to panic, due to old impulses. Hot stuff doesn’t seem to work either. People say, “Drink Coffee,” or soda and none of that helps.
Christina, I feel for you! I have stopped panicking, but I cry after, sometimes. Or sometimes during. It’s just exhausting, and you have no choice but to keep trying to get oxygen, but I get to the point where I just get TIRED, lol.
Coffee helps me if I drink it as a preventative. Not totally, but somewhat. During? Um, well, I have done six shots of espresso, and that helped. That would be a whole lot of coffee, LOL!
LOL at Melanie’s “room full of gasping people”!
I’m so sorry about your asthma, Natasha! No one should have to worry about freaking breathing. There are so many other fun things to worry about.
LOL, so true, Robin! At least when I can breathe again, I walk around for two days just tickled pink that I can breathe, LOL!
Hi Natasha:
Sorry to hear about the breathing. . . . .
I liken my books to seeing bits of me, but through funhouse glass. If you know me REALLY well, you can find me. I have worked through grief in my books (most of my books have grief in some form of another in them–even the comedies). I see other bits of me, too.
E
That’s a great way to describe it, Erica! I don’t think other people could notice, but I see my subconscious surfacing in my work. It’s freaky, LOL.
being unemployeed and looking to improve my skills, I think I finally found my calling – writing iPhone apps!
I’m sorry to hear you’ve been trying to manage asthma without meds. My husband has asthma also and has to inhalers – one for regular treatment, the other taken as needed.
Wow, that sounds like fun, Lisa! What a great way to work from home!
*shudder* My husband is even worse than I am. His breath was whistling all night last night!
Having asthma totally sucks, Natasha. I didn’t get it until I was in my thirties. However, mine is mild and controllable with an inhaler.
Given the health issues I have, upon reflection, its sorta funny that I don’t use cancer in any of my writing. A little curious, IMO, since its certainly something I’m intimately familiar with. Wonder if its something I can incorporate in the future.
In the meantime, I can certainly act as a consultant. LOL.
I got it in my thirties, too. It took me awhile to discover I had it. First, I got walking pneumonia for weeks on end until I cut out dairy, and then, every time I sat by this moldy wall, I’d get what I thought was a panic attack, LOL. And I’d wake up at night, unable to yawn and catch my breath. It wasn’t until my mother discovered she had asthma, that I knew, since I had the exact same symptoms as her.
This is true, Liz. Interesting! You don’t seem to let cancer define you, though, from what I can tell.
I think there are hidden parts of us in all our writings. Maybe it’s a dream, maybe it’s a hope and sometimes it’s the real thing. Scary and wonderful at the same time.
Awesome way to describe it, Aimless! And so, so true.