Through the week, I´ve studied settings relevant for my novel trilogy. I chose a place of stunning beauty and natural forces with both majestic features and awe-inspiring strength.
Strong settings are the last, but most certainly not the least important part of my research for my novel puzzle. Until now, I have gathered the framework for my upcoming writing.
The writing itself is the process of piecing together this gigantic project of mine. Without the hard work behind the writing, I couldn´t write what I believe that I can.
So I´m grateful that I´ve spent more than 18 months preparing for an exciting journey despite of a world in more or less chaos. That chaos delayed my work with at least 5 months where I couldn´t focus right.
Fortunately, the fall of 2020 showed some progress, so that I now am able to work solely with settings until the last week of February. At that time, I need a week to go through my material and think of something else.
Behind beauty lurks fear are my words for the atmosphere that I´ll try to create in my novels. To attain that, I need to have equal measures of respectively character development and setttings.
By doing so, I hope to attain that the interaction between nature of undeniable beauty and human mental survival instinct will be believable and worth reading.
To write the setting like a character is anything but easy. It will always be a matter of taste. But I believe that it brings extra energy with both natural and human tensions on the loose in a well-written plot.
Besides working hard with this, I have a ritual ready for practice. I think tomorrow morning, Saturday, will be perfect timing. I need a small break from the many hours behind the keyboard and from pen and paper.
During a lookdown, there is much more quiet in the streets. It´s only at local rush hour twice a day that we notice anybody. Occasionally, a pedestrian walks by, oftentimes with a dog.
It is dog turf where I live, it is a rather small little town, far enough from the major cities, though. And the little wise old dog gets his morning walk as a meaningful routine every day.
He sleeps and snores happily unaware that I sit here, trying to focus both on this blog post and on my current research. There is a lot to read and make useable notes of, so I switch between the work.
The writing part today is calming, releasing, and quiet. For once, I´m listening to the sound of the everyday during a lockdown. The philosophical cats are resting, except for young Milo.
He is playful, funny, and purrs whenever you get to touch him. The two ladies, Ozzy and Dizzy sleeps in boxes or on windowsills. And my husband rests due to an irritating headache.
It is a bit rush hourly outside my window in the point of view from the desk. I need the daylight, though, so I don´t pull the curtains just yet. But I can feel the stress coming from the world a few feet away.
Only separated by walls and a window. The street runs just outside our home to the western direction. It is a busy street at times, and many drive like were they chased by the Devil himself.
So yes, behind beauty lurks fear. My anxiety is very much awaken, thank you not, and go away anxiety. Sit. Stay. But I also know that soon it will be so different, so quiet, so beautiful again.
Another thing I know as a learned fact throughout life and via many incidents with many different kinds of people is that however beautiful someone´s behavior might be, the direct opposite is just as present.
And at the same time and place often also. I write about it because I want to learn what it means to be a human being and what humans are capable of doing that lingers on long after its original mental impact.
Would it be a perfect world without the dark , the unknown, and the direct eerie reality of life as a thin balance between opposites? I think definitely not. Then we could speak of being bored.
I like to try to understand other people and their behavior. Then it is way easier to be me when not alone. I was raised rather strict. Therefore, and because I am who I am, I have had to learn social signals by myself.
Being skeptical of some kinds of people is not due to any resentments against anybody as such. I use my life´s experience and my inner gut feeling to determine my preferences.
As a result, I live somewhat isolated by choice, not by necessity. So the quietness of a lockdown is bliss to me. Mother Earth needs desperately to rest, for we humans have not treated her with respect and care.
Which is an extremely stupid idea looking at the incredible strengths of her natural forces against which we are defenseless in every aspect of the word. So when Nature speaks, listen.
May your weekend be peaceful, joyful, and happy, dear readers and followers. And may the new President of the United States and his Madam Vice President be blessed with good fortune. As we will it, so mote it be.
The Northern Witch' s Blog 