My Voice

If I were asked what my favourite thing about C.S. Lewis is, I'd have to answer that I love his writing habits. It wasn't until later in his career, but towards the end he used to write, then go over the piece once with a pen, and then he'd sent it to his editor. Isn't that beautious? I think so. I think he's fantastic.

When I was a young little bull frog, I used to try to write in the style of the ancient gothic romances that I used to read instead of in my own voice. When I look at my really old writing I wonder exactly who I was trying to kid. It's not me. When I write I feel like one of the most important aspects of the piece I'm writing is self-expression. How I view others and the world around me.

You see, I've been trying to figure out how Tesai in Ghost Mist is going to sound different from Hitomi in my Escaflowne stuff and you know what? They aren't going to be that different. Even if I switch to a different perspective, I may describe things differently, but it's always going to be my voice that follows me around. I really struggled with this concept while I was writing chapter 8 of Mark of a Goddess because I had to write from Akira's perspective and I felt that it should be different than Hitomi's perspective. I really felt that no one appreciated that I was trying to make it different. It was also a written document as opposed to the internal monologue that goes on in Hitomi's head, so I felt like it should be distinctly different. Welp, no one seemed to appreciate it. I think I'm learning that it's okay to use my voice no matter what I write. Things seem worse when I try to be someone I'm not.

Anyway, that's what I think C.S. Lewis learned. That if he spoke with his own voice than he always knew what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. What could be a better accomplishment than saying EXACTLY what you want to?

Just to cap this off, I'd like to make a quick list of the things I accomplished in my Escaflowne trilogy that really pleased me. There were a few things that pleasantly surprised me.

1. Eries. Her character's original name was Nicole and she wasn't anything like the Eries that came out once the novel was renamed Dragon's Moon. I wasn't sure how her character was going to fit in, because the original character was very happy and cheery and the Miguel character was in love with her. Also, Nicole was Jeremy's girlfriend (Allen's). I obviously had to cut all that, but I was really pleased with Eries - especially in the chapter called Poolside Confessions. I love how she's difficult to the last moment.
2. Chid. I love Chid back in Dragon's Moon. There's one part where he's flipping through channels on the T.V. He's standing in front of the T.V. with a remote in hand and his feet spread apart on the carpet and the image I have of him in my head of that moment is really ... unforgettable. When I wrote it the first time, things got really confusing once they got to the farmhouse. I was running out of steam the first time I wrote it, so it was getting really sloppy, but for some reason Chid doing that cleared my brain and helped me see the scene clearly, so that I was able to write the rest of it.
3. Van burning down the church after their wedding. I don't know why, but I flipping love that.
   
4. Hitomi jumping on the back of Allen's motorcycle and skipping gym - excellent.

I'm going to stop there. I'll have to write a big flashback show here after the last chapter is released.