Summer Reading
What is it you do when you want to shake things up?
I am loving my current thirst and devotion to literature. Some people might think I must be in a constant state of devouring books, but it is a habit that can diminish to what I consider a pitiful (for me) state at times.
I suspect my reading habits have something to do with staying put versus traveling. That is not to say that I don’t read when I’m on planes, trains (sigh!), and on vacation, or especially at conferences—of course I do. There’s just a different nature to it. I find that if I am reading a bunch of books at one go (and who am I kidding? I’m almost always doing that), some of them will have to take the back burner while I’m away.
I recently felt my motivation blocked. My husband says I’m the kind of writer who never gets writer’s block, and in many ways that is true. If anything, I made myself not believe in it. When I examine what I feel, I think the more accurate term is “overwhelmed.” As though there are many ideas trying to reach my synapses, and there’s a bottleneck such that no ideas land. Nothing happens. I don’t experience block because I’ve examined myself long enough to know how to shake that up. It doesn’t mean I always feel like doing it, though. I also write work that never goes anywhere. I think I have a great idea, and then it fizzles on the page. Now, the hard part is trusting that the good ideas will keep coming.
ONE way to shake things up is to diversify the input. And there isn’t a formula for this… because otherwise I’d be doing that all the time, no? [My favorite answer to “What inspires you?” if I’m feeling cheeky]
This month, with summer being relatively slow at times, I’ve been trying to focus on editing my own work and writing (non-commissioned) essays. Switching to that after dedicating a bunch of time to other people’s work isn’t easy for me. It’s as though working on my own writing isn’t worth the same effort—and you don’t need to tell me, of course it is!
Even though I work for myself and so I can do things in my own time, I have fallen into routines that don’t help my creative muscles. I stop noticing details because I have observed them far too many times in a row. And so, I’ve been making subtle changes, like going to a library farther from home, trying new exercise classes, and making new recipes.
I have a trip planned next month, but it is not feasible to take a trip every time I need my creativity boosted (for now:))
It’s the things that I do when I’m not writing/editing that seem to matter the most. I took my manuscript (no laptop!) to the library and to the pool (where I proceeded to get it wet, of course).
What is it you do when you want to shake things up?
Here’s what I’ve been reading that I recommend:
A book in translation, Eternal Summer by Franziska Gänsler and Imogen Taylor
Angel down by Daniel Kraus (written as one long sentence)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, which, surprisingly, I’d never read before.
The Book of Eve by Carmen Boullosa and tr. Samantha Schnee
A favorite I’m re-reading is Hopscotch, Blow-Up, We Love Glenda So Much by Julio Cortázar, Ilan Stavans, Gregory Rabassa, et al.
I listened to this on Libby, The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley