This month I’m starting back on page one of
my novel. The first draft was written by the “seat of my pants” method. I’ve
been asking myself, and others, if this is the best way to write a novel? The
answer seems to be “yes—for me, for a first novel.” The learning curve has been
high. Next came multiple revisions and, now, a detailed story map from the many
scribbled notecards. Is my story clear? My story map must illustrate details
woven throughout and plots points hitting every story beat. Are my characters
alive and showing me the way?
Both my writing and life journey have led me back
to my “vein of gold.” This is where my novel-writing process began a little
more than three years ago in a workshop I didn’t even expect to attend. Life
forces seemed to propel me to a place, a spot in time, an “aha moment.” I trust
the process, the journey. September finds me revisiting my gold vein. I have
been looking for a sharper understanding of the short phrase that encompasses
my viewpoints and actions. This insight informs my creativity. Can I look at my
insight in negative words? In a positive words?
The “vein of gold” for a writer comes from Julia
Cameron’s book, The Vein of Gold: A
Journey to Your Creative Heart. Cameron has a set of ten questions to help
reveal the area of study that is a writer’s vein of gold. It is that topic where
a writer works with high creativity. Passion. Inspiration. We are told to write
what we know. Your gold is what you question, what you know. Start there.
THE
VEIN OF GOLD: A JOURNEY TO YOUR CREATIVE HEART by Julia Cameron (Jeremy P.
Tarcher/Putnam, 1996).
