So Jeannine, since our current Speaker of the House was selected almost 18 months ago, I’ve had an idea for a big story I want to write. November’s election results reinforced this idea and is putting more pressure on me to figure out a way to write it.
But I’m relatively new to creative writing. I just sent my debut novel after 5 drafts to a publishing editor.
This new story is a big topic in what would be speculative fiction (HandmaidsTaleish). It’s going to take a ton of research and the scope of doing it scares me.
Any advice on how best to approach tackling this project and how to test the premise before going too far down the rabbit hole?
“And writing in the dark is a way to help us unmake ourselves and, in the process, discover what it means to become.”
I am unmade. And in the face of tyranny will continue to make the art of becoming. It’s the Year of the Snake. Shedding stories and stories and stories.
This post spoke to me so much. I didn't know about Keats' idea of Negative Capability. It makes so much sense. I'm a parent carer and have been forced (against my great discomfort) to learn how to embrace uncertainty in our lives, when the personal stakes are as high as they can get. And your post made me realise something – the times when I can really let my writing flow, are when I am managing to embrace uncertainty in all aspects of my life. When I'm not, when I'm trying to shape, control and desperately hold on, months can go by without a word reaching the page.
"To write in the dark is not a method. It’s an invitation to gently unmask, to sit with our tenderness and discomfort, to let the page become a place of unending possibility. Keats called this Negative Capability. Others might call it silly. But the English word silly comes from the German word selig, which also means soulful. So I call it a sliver of truth in a time of tyranny. Whatever you call it, it’s waiting for you. All you have to do is begin, and begin again."
I have read about Keats's "negative capability" at least three times in three separate places during the last month. Maybe I need to investigate it more deeply.
It seems to me that the delights intensive was planned at a perfect time--a time in which each of us might discover, or rediscover, the magic of wonder and to return to a place within ourselves where we feel empowered to make changes within ourselves and our communities. I know it sounds glib, and even when I write it, I feel like I'm oversimplifying, but I believe wholeheartedly that this is how we change things.
Jeannine, I love you and it's hard to deny our country and society has been in crisis --- but those conditions didn't begin and end with Donald Trump. Populism (or as he puts it, America First) always emerges in the context of a crisis, a perception by society's marginalized segments that the ‘system’ is hopelessly corrupt, that power must be returned to ‘the people’. I grew up in Detroit and witnessed firsthand what NAFTA and Bush/Clinton offshoring did to hollow out what was once termed the Paris of America. I believed in --- voted for --- hope and change, then discovered Obama to be Bush on steroids. I want an end to war, genocide and foreign misadventures that cost our blood and treasure. I want to rebuild our society, not in the mold of the gleaming, Fifteen Minute City prisons envisioned by soulless WEF global technocrats (whose real estate speculator pals now salivate over the ashes of LA), but starting with decent discourse on common goals and human values: discussions sorely lacking in the self-indulgent, elitist pity parties being held today. I'm disappointed, but hopeful, because I believe we all want the same thing: a world of peace, goodwill, and abundance --- coupled with vigilance against those who would take them from us. Free speech has suffered under the Biden regime, a principle that should be a cornerstone, not just of the writing community, but of every community. Let's stop labeling one another (really, "tyrant" is overused, a CIA/media anti-populist talking point) and free our minds and souls to help one another in an imperfect world.
I appreciate this, Pam. I know it is (always) a lot more complicated than the black and white narratives that skim the surface of what's happening. I do think Trump is a tyrant--in the sense of "cruel and oppressive ruler," but I also believe as you do that the forces leading to his rise are deep and far-reaching and have absolutely been shaped also by the Democratic elite and, as you say, by war, genocide, and foreign misadventure. All of which are at least in part fueled by greed. So, yes, may we free our minds and souls to **help one another** in an imperfect world. One hundred percent yes.
Such profound words I didn’t know I needed to hear until I read them. Yes, “we font just tell stories, we are stories” all those scraps we piece together -yes! Linking ourselves to ourselves and each other. 😊 Thank you !
Jeannnine, thank you for these words about Negative Capability today. It reminds me so much of drawing (which I am doing daily with Wendy McNaughton through Draw Together). One effective technique in drawing is drawing the negative space around and between an object and letting the object emerge from how you the artist see that negative space.
Ah yes, negative capability is so essential to visual art, and while it's certainly a different concept from negative space, negative capability would and does most certainly foster an ability to see (and therefore draw) the negative space around an object, and allow something to emerge!! Yes, that is exactly it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the role of creativity, of creating, in times like the one we’re facing here in the US (and elsewhere, as the ramifications will be felt far and wide across the human society). I am deeply grateful for your contribution to my thinking. I’ve also been thinking about the notion of Substack as fostering interactions similar to those of past writers we now study and revere, who wrote to and for each other, who built on each other’s thinking, who thought together about craft and about the solutions the world needed. Very grateful to have the opportunity to create and think alongside and learn from you, Jeannine, and from all of you here in this space of dazzling slivers. ♥️♥️♥️ to you all.
PS. Book ordered. Looking forward to holding it in my hands.
"where the creative part of creative writing comes in—that’s where the dark part of writing in the dark comes in. Because writing isn’t about getting it right; it’s about getting it real. It’s about speaking into the silence, shaping what’s unshapable, and daring to make something honest even when it defies our assumptions and challenges what we think we know" - I appreciate this so much. I love how you turned my perspective around the "dark" - the shadows that we need to give shape to in order to really rise. Amen to this post. Thank you for the words. I hope you're feeling better!
I agree, Sarah. Especially the part about not getting it right but, instead, real is such a brilliantly distilled way of capturing what this kind of writing is about.
I love this, Holly!! Especially the part about writers here interacting in that way past writers did, building on each other's thinking and work. Yes. Grateful for all of it.
Jeannine, rather than say everything I felt while reading this, awaiting my 11 am class, let me just say this: you lifted me up, gave me a boost, and also, a reminder of the energy I want to bring into my own classroom (even when I’m struggling to find it). Remember that Natalie Merchant song, Kind and Generous? I’m singing it now, in my head. I could send that song wide, to this whole community.
Thank you for this today. I so very much needed it. <3 So very grateful for this creative space that has taught me so much and how to embrace parts of me that I was afraid of before. Thanks for making me feel seen.
I love you, Mesa. I feel like we've walked through a tunnel together since Nov 5. I insist upon looking for those famous cracks where the light gets in, and am so so so so grateful for others who are able to look with me. I keep telling myself, this is not nothing. It's really not.
Wow, just wow. And YES. Just in time and just right- incredibly grateful. “ as the wind blows through” — chills and tears. And resolve- I have words to play with. Let’s get to work.
I was such a damn rule follower but defiant in my internal dialogue or as a character on stage, in plays. Writing In The Dark and swimming in this space is helping me evolve and integrate the two, as you’ve seen. About damn time.
Well, to note, I was an absolute angel at school. I don't think I ever, even once, got in trouble at school. In environments where I sensed justice, I was fine. It was at home, a place of injustice, where I could not hide "the look on my face," which was my main offense. That look? It's still there at times like now. So yes to integration, and yes to now!
A true testament, told personally, to the power of creativity, of creative writing in particular, and the democratic ideal it upholds in its availability to most every single one of us. Thank you Jeannine, I sure did need this today. Lest I forget, in the trauma of the day, in the shadow of a Nazi salute. Lower your hand, asshole, put a pen in it, and write your way out of that money bag you’re wearing over your head.
Oh how I appreciate you, Mendy. I think, too, our singing together at the end of SCHOOL classes falls into this same category: swimming in the river of creativity, OUR creativity, our shared humanity, which no one gets to steal.
So Jeannine, since our current Speaker of the House was selected almost 18 months ago, I’ve had an idea for a big story I want to write. November’s election results reinforced this idea and is putting more pressure on me to figure out a way to write it.
But I’m relatively new to creative writing. I just sent my debut novel after 5 drafts to a publishing editor.
This new story is a big topic in what would be speculative fiction (HandmaidsTaleish). It’s going to take a ton of research and the scope of doing it scares me.
Any advice on how best to approach tackling this project and how to test the premise before going too far down the rabbit hole?
“And writing in the dark is a way to help us unmake ourselves and, in the process, discover what it means to become.”
I am unmade. And in the face of tyranny will continue to make the art of becoming. It’s the Year of the Snake. Shedding stories and stories and stories.
Yes! The year of the snake indeed!!
This post spoke to me so much. I didn't know about Keats' idea of Negative Capability. It makes so much sense. I'm a parent carer and have been forced (against my great discomfort) to learn how to embrace uncertainty in our lives, when the personal stakes are as high as they can get. And your post made me realise something – the times when I can really let my writing flow, are when I am managing to embrace uncertainty in all aspects of my life. When I'm not, when I'm trying to shape, control and desperately hold on, months can go by without a word reaching the page.
Jeannine, this last paragraph gutted me!
"To write in the dark is not a method. It’s an invitation to gently unmask, to sit with our tenderness and discomfort, to let the page become a place of unending possibility. Keats called this Negative Capability. Others might call it silly. But the English word silly comes from the German word selig, which also means soulful. So I call it a sliver of truth in a time of tyranny. Whatever you call it, it’s waiting for you. All you have to do is begin, and begin again."
I have read about Keats's "negative capability" at least three times in three separate places during the last month. Maybe I need to investigate it more deeply.
It seems to me that the delights intensive was planned at a perfect time--a time in which each of us might discover, or rediscover, the magic of wonder and to return to a place within ourselves where we feel empowered to make changes within ourselves and our communities. I know it sounds glib, and even when I write it, I feel like I'm oversimplifying, but I believe wholeheartedly that this is how we change things.
I believe it, too, Jeannie. Margaret Mead told us so.
Jeannine, I love you and it's hard to deny our country and society has been in crisis --- but those conditions didn't begin and end with Donald Trump. Populism (or as he puts it, America First) always emerges in the context of a crisis, a perception by society's marginalized segments that the ‘system’ is hopelessly corrupt, that power must be returned to ‘the people’. I grew up in Detroit and witnessed firsthand what NAFTA and Bush/Clinton offshoring did to hollow out what was once termed the Paris of America. I believed in --- voted for --- hope and change, then discovered Obama to be Bush on steroids. I want an end to war, genocide and foreign misadventures that cost our blood and treasure. I want to rebuild our society, not in the mold of the gleaming, Fifteen Minute City prisons envisioned by soulless WEF global technocrats (whose real estate speculator pals now salivate over the ashes of LA), but starting with decent discourse on common goals and human values: discussions sorely lacking in the self-indulgent, elitist pity parties being held today. I'm disappointed, but hopeful, because I believe we all want the same thing: a world of peace, goodwill, and abundance --- coupled with vigilance against those who would take them from us. Free speech has suffered under the Biden regime, a principle that should be a cornerstone, not just of the writing community, but of every community. Let's stop labeling one another (really, "tyrant" is overused, a CIA/media anti-populist talking point) and free our minds and souls to help one another in an imperfect world.
I appreciate this, Pam. I know it is (always) a lot more complicated than the black and white narratives that skim the surface of what's happening. I do think Trump is a tyrant--in the sense of "cruel and oppressive ruler," but I also believe as you do that the forces leading to his rise are deep and far-reaching and have absolutely been shaped also by the Democratic elite and, as you say, by war, genocide, and foreign misadventure. All of which are at least in part fueled by greed. So, yes, may we free our minds and souls to **help one another** in an imperfect world. One hundred percent yes.
Such profound words I didn’t know I needed to hear until I read them. Yes, “we font just tell stories, we are stories” all those scraps we piece together -yes! Linking ourselves to ourselves and each other. 😊 Thank you !
Thank you, Emily, for writing together. Always!
Jeannnine, thank you for these words about Negative Capability today. It reminds me so much of drawing (which I am doing daily with Wendy McNaughton through Draw Together). One effective technique in drawing is drawing the negative space around and between an object and letting the object emerge from how you the artist see that negative space.
Ah yes, negative capability is so essential to visual art, and while it's certainly a different concept from negative space, negative capability would and does most certainly foster an ability to see (and therefore draw) the negative space around an object, and allow something to emerge!! Yes, that is exactly it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the role of creativity, of creating, in times like the one we’re facing here in the US (and elsewhere, as the ramifications will be felt far and wide across the human society). I am deeply grateful for your contribution to my thinking. I’ve also been thinking about the notion of Substack as fostering interactions similar to those of past writers we now study and revere, who wrote to and for each other, who built on each other’s thinking, who thought together about craft and about the solutions the world needed. Very grateful to have the opportunity to create and think alongside and learn from you, Jeannine, and from all of you here in this space of dazzling slivers. ♥️♥️♥️ to you all.
PS. Book ordered. Looking forward to holding it in my hands.
"where the creative part of creative writing comes in—that’s where the dark part of writing in the dark comes in. Because writing isn’t about getting it right; it’s about getting it real. It’s about speaking into the silence, shaping what’s unshapable, and daring to make something honest even when it defies our assumptions and challenges what we think we know" - I appreciate this so much. I love how you turned my perspective around the "dark" - the shadows that we need to give shape to in order to really rise. Amen to this post. Thank you for the words. I hope you're feeling better!
I agree, Sarah. Especially the part about not getting it right but, instead, real is such a brilliantly distilled way of capturing what this kind of writing is about.
I love this, Holly!! Especially the part about writers here interacting in that way past writers did, building on each other's thinking and work. Yes. Grateful for all of it.
♥️♥️
What a great insight Holly, thanks for sharing that - I couldn’t agree more !
Thank you, Emily! ♥️
Jeannine, rather than say everything I felt while reading this, awaiting my 11 am class, let me just say this: you lifted me up, gave me a boost, and also, a reminder of the energy I want to bring into my own classroom (even when I’m struggling to find it). Remember that Natalie Merchant song, Kind and Generous? I’m singing it now, in my head. I could send that song wide, to this whole community.
💜
Oh this made me smile so hard. Thank you, Monica. We are in this together!!
Thank you for this today. I so very much needed it. <3 So very grateful for this creative space that has taught me so much and how to embrace parts of me that I was afraid of before. Thanks for making me feel seen.
I love you, Mesa. I feel like we've walked through a tunnel together since Nov 5. I insist upon looking for those famous cracks where the light gets in, and am so so so so grateful for others who are able to look with me. I keep telling myself, this is not nothing. It's really not.
I love you too. I just burst into tears because exactly - it’s not nothing and I am so grateful to walk alongside you in this time and this space.
Wow, just wow. And YES. Just in time and just right- incredibly grateful. “ as the wind blows through” — chills and tears. And resolve- I have words to play with. Let’s get to work.
Indeed, let's do. I am nothing if not defiant (it got me in so much trouble as a child, and I'm so grateful I didn't lose it!).
I was such a damn rule follower but defiant in my internal dialogue or as a character on stage, in plays. Writing In The Dark and swimming in this space is helping me evolve and integrate the two, as you’ve seen. About damn time.
Well, to note, I was an absolute angel at school. I don't think I ever, even once, got in trouble at school. In environments where I sensed justice, I was fine. It was at home, a place of injustice, where I could not hide "the look on my face," which was my main offense. That look? It's still there at times like now. So yes to integration, and yes to now!
❤️I can see “ that look” and love you for it. Xoxo
A true testament, told personally, to the power of creativity, of creative writing in particular, and the democratic ideal it upholds in its availability to most every single one of us. Thank you Jeannine, I sure did need this today. Lest I forget, in the trauma of the day, in the shadow of a Nazi salute. Lower your hand, asshole, put a pen in it, and write your way out of that money bag you’re wearing over your head.
Oh! So well said, Mendy. Thank you!
Oh how I appreciate you, Mendy. I think, too, our singing together at the end of SCHOOL classes falls into this same category: swimming in the river of creativity, OUR creativity, our shared humanity, which no one gets to steal.
I love that part, too, singing together at the end of class. Great taste in music, btw!