As a precursor, I’ve been in my rewriting phase of one of my novel ideas. It’s been a long process. One year passed, then another, and here I am in 2019. You’d think that me working so long on it, I should have a great masterpiece. I’m telling you 100%, it will not be, but it’s an idea I needed to get on cyber paper. Trust me when I say the writing pain in real and everything that might come after it too. I’m hoping to finish this rewrite by the end of this year so I can have a few people hack it to pieces (make suggestions to the flow, wording, missing stuff, etc). Then, guess what’s next? Another rewrite but hopefully not as long and in depth. I’m also hoping all this confusion, self-doubt, fear subsides in addition to ignoring the need for perfection, which leads to my other stories written in half the time and rewritten in half the pain.
This documentary couldn’t have come at a better time last Friday night as I was in bed, thinking about sleep but not wanting to go sleep, as I’ve picked up this nasty habit of watching TV. I was set to watch something else, but realized that was a rerun. As I was flipping the channels, I came across Ursula K. Le Guin talking about her father. I watched the rest of it, despite never being into science fiction or reading any of her books. Of course, I had to watch the 15 minutes I missed and buy a few of her books this past weekend. The part that stuck with me was how she found herself again, even in her twilight years, and how she allowed herself to change and grow as a writer. A female writer who influenced many fans (pissed off some in her later writings that she talks about) and other writers, science fiction or other genres. She gave me hope to keep writing until I’m gone. Le Guin’s legacy will not only be her books, but her creativity, drive, personality, and history. It’s all woven into her writing. She has an impressive amount of work: novels, volumes of short stories, essay collections, children’s books, and poetry. You can watch this documentary by Arwen Curry on PBS American Masters, also known as 9th episode of season 33. The trailer is below.
