Wednesday, August 1, 2012

LISTENING TO THAT VOICE INSIDE MY HEAD

Robert Burns wrote in his poem, “To a Mouse”

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane [you aren’t alone]
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft a-gley, [often go awry]
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promised joy.


This is precisely where I am regarding the completion of the manuscript for my novel. It hasn’t matter what I’ve planned to do, something has continuously crept up to curtail my plans for the past several days since my last post. Here I sat thinking of how I should begin chapter thirty-five of my novel, after having reviewed the corrections/suggestions made by my editor for the previous chapter, and having a steady flow of continuous interruptions.

Today I heard a voice, as I’ve heard for the past several days, inside my head telling to go back to the previous chapter. Why should I go back to something I know I’ve totally reviewed? Could it be that I had missed something, something I had taken for granted as being correct? How many of you have had the same experience? Most of the time I’ve ignored this, and I’ve found myself being correct in the stand I took. But this afternoon, as I resisted in going back to the previous chapter, the voice inside my head urging me to take this course of action became exceptionally strong. I figured it would be better to give in now, than to resist any more.
I cleared my head of everything except the task I was about to undertake. I printed out a copy of the chapter in question, and began a slow, slow read. Reading this with a cleared mind and a “new” set of eyes, I found not one, not two, three or four changes which needed to be made; I found I had about twenty faux pas. Once I had completed this somewhat arduous task, and had saved the changes, I took a break to clear my head once again.

This evening after eating dinner and watch an episode of “Eureka” on NetFlix online, I printed out the chapter again [there’s something after holding the printed word in your hands as opposed to reading on a screen] and read it again. This time the inner voice in my head seemed to be at peace knowing that everything is the way it should be.

Once I sat down the words which had been trapped in my head began to flow into my fingertips, it took me about twenty minutes to think of what to type next and to have another double-spaced page completed. This might not sound like a lot to have typed, however if you consider I anticipate needing about fifteen to twenty more pages to reach the typing of the final period in my novel. I’ll only need about ten more hours to reach the end of this long, long tunnel I’ve been traveling through to reach this end. Which makes reaching my self-imposed deadline of this weekend a definite reality.

So if anyone has any doubts in listening to that voice inside your head telling you to follow a different path in your writing endeavor than you had in mind. Take it from me and listen to that voice, you’ll be happier in the end if you do.

I’M DEFINITELY HAPPIER NOW THAT I DECIDED TO FINALLY LISTEN TO THAT VOICE INSIDE MY HEAD.

6 comments:

  1. I want to congratulate you on being so close to finishing your book that you can see the end. So many people give up but you are special, and you will have your book in your hand sooner than you think. Best of luck, Mary Firmin, author Deadly Pleasures.

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  2. I think when we are working on a novel that our brains keep trying to figure it out even though we may be doing everything but writing. I am not as close to the end of my novel as you are but I've had times when I just couldn't get a word down only to come back a few days later and my pen just takes off as soon as it hits the page. It's as though my brain was working on it even though I was not aware of it. Best of luck to you.

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  3. You're so right--it's so important to listen to the voice inside our head (or our heart) and Congratulations on being in the home stretch!

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  4. Congratulations, Robin! I know you are beyond excitement with the end so near! As I read your post today, it reminded me of a post I made in June. . . Hope you enjoy! http://catnipoflife.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/inspiration-inner-voice/

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I enjoyed reading it and getting to peek inside your head.
    love, LinnAnn Pike

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  6. @ Mary Firmin - THANKS for your congrats/support. As I approach the typing of that elusive final period [.], I've begun my search for a illustrator/graphic designer to do the cover for my book. Not only can't I wait to get that "PROOF COPY" in my hands, I want to smell the ink on the freshly printed pages. THANKS for being with me as I travel to the day when I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. :-D

    @ Clare Marie Kronemeyer - I know precisely what you mean about the roller coaster ride of being an author. You can see that in my last few posts I've made. THANKS for your support and being with me in the front seat as we ride that roller coaster together.
    :-D

    @ Sandra McLeod Humphrey - It's a good thing you've experienced the same voice. :-) I thought I've been hearing things. THANKS for CONGRATS/SUPPORT as I reach the home plate. :-D

    @ Sharla L. Shults - THANKS for your feedback/support. And YES, I'm ECSTATIC about finally reaching the elusive day every author searches for as they write their manuscript. Today, I finally taking a break to answer the replies on my blogs. As you know by now I've left a link to that post on your blog. Hope your followers will enjoy reading my view on this topic as well. :-D

    @ LinnAnn Pike - THANKS for your feedback. And as far as allowing you [and everyone else] to peek inside my head, isn't that we as writers do everytime we write something. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it. :-D

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