Writing daily life
Jan. 10th, 2010 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ezekielsdaughterWhy do I record the minutia of daily life? To the point of creating a tag for those entries. Partly because whenever I get back to my benighted novel, I am confronted with the realization that I don’t really know what daily life was like in the time period that I chose--especially for women. I’ve read tons of books, many of which have “Daily Life” in the title. It’s difficult to get the feel of it in my head, however. And there is the very real knowledge that no one wants to read about the boredom of “daily life” anyway--especially for women. At least I don’t. I’m the girl who read “The Count of Monte Cristo” and the “The Three Musketeers” for classics. Jane Austin novels still make me shiver. This at the same time that I insist that minority lives and women’s lives must be documented. Who says that I have to be consistent?
I started reading several novels suggested by friends. The language is delightful but ultimately, I put most of them down for “another time.” In the case of “The God of Small Things”, that time did come and I did love the book. But it took dedication and vacation time to do it. Keturah had me start reading “The Corrections”. Delightful language, but I kept getting distracted. I told myself that I just didn’t care about this family. That’s the latest book in the “go back to later” stack. Sorry to be so trifling about literature, but there I am. My workshop members would find this hilarious because I am the one writing stories with no car chases and no sword fights but plenty of earnest conversation and arguments. Mainly because women don’t get involved in car chases and sword fights. They get to watch them, but a viewpoint character who is watching a sword fight is--well--boring. I am still finding a way to bring believable “action” into those women’s lives in my story.
Meanwhile, the washer just finished. Another load and then maybe contact a friend to see if she needs company today. Daily life.
I started reading several novels suggested by friends. The language is delightful but ultimately, I put most of them down for “another time.” In the case of “The God of Small Things”, that time did come and I did love the book. But it took dedication and vacation time to do it. Keturah had me start reading “The Corrections”. Delightful language, but I kept getting distracted. I told myself that I just didn’t care about this family. That’s the latest book in the “go back to later” stack. Sorry to be so trifling about literature, but there I am. My workshop members would find this hilarious because I am the one writing stories with no car chases and no sword fights but plenty of earnest conversation and arguments. Mainly because women don’t get involved in car chases and sword fights. They get to watch them, but a viewpoint character who is watching a sword fight is--well--boring. I am still finding a way to bring believable “action” into those women’s lives in my story.
Meanwhile, the washer just finished. Another load and then maybe contact a friend to see if she needs company today. Daily life.
