“Big Magic” – Elizabeth Gilbert
I count on Nicole to ferret out helpful gems for my creativity. Over the
years, she has gifted me with essays on writing by Ray Bradbury and Henry
Miller, the collected poetry of Pablo Neruda, and a kick-in-the-butt called “Do
the Work” by Steven Pressfield (who also wrote “The War of Art”, which has to
be one of the best titles ever). Like Ter, she does the heavy reading
and sends me the highlights, which I then take to the lab for testing myself.
This year, she surprised me with this book by the author of “Eat, Pray, Love”,
which I have not read but may very well pick up before 2016 is finished.
You know you’re on to something when a new book falls open and this line
catches your eye:
“My novel was gone.”
Ms. Gilbert elaborates, describing how the idea for a novel that had
once thrilled and motivated her, due to life going seriously sideways for a
spell, fell out of her head. She had lived, breathed and researched this
wonderful magical new story, then had to put it on hold to deal with a personal
crisis. Returning to her novel a year later, she discovered that her enthusiasm
had not only waned, the idea itself had disappeared and she was left with a
great gaping void where her brilliant story should have been. Try as she might,
she couldn’t rekindle the passion that had obsessed her at the start.
Eerie, how a woman whose work I do not know could so acutely describe my
own sentiment regarding my own novel. Oh, the idea is still there; at least I
still have that, but my enthusiasm for it is not what it once was. Reading
those few pages of Liz Gilbert’s dilemma has me utterly intrigued, and hopeful
that her insight might do me some good in the big picture. Creativity is a
specialized energy, but it’s available to everyone. Nic says that her copy of
“Big Magic” is underlined, highlighted and scribbled in, which hints at a
resource of equal or greater value to Roget and Webster. More importantly, she
sees something in it that she believes will benefit me.
She’s my sister in propinquity. I bet she’s right.
I have been holding off sharing thoughts about 'Big Magic' on the old FB because I had it for you as your gift. It has been a good friend to me (even if I haven't exactly been writing much). I appreciated the comfort of her wisdom and her bold pronouncements that I think will resonate with you. I can't wait to hear more of your thoughts as you read deeper. xo
ReplyDeleteI already see why you've marked up your copy - I'm almost finished with Cal, but this one has such short pieces that it's an easy read during minutes to spare. So far, it's a definite resource book, worthy of ongoing consultation as I launch into the next half of my writing holiday. You can start mentioning it on FB if you like, lol.
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