Let there be love ...
When we first moved in together, the pilot once sat through an entire screening of Lampedusa's 'The Leopard' without complaining that he couldn't read the subtitles from the back row of the Riverside Studios. He hadn't wanted to spoil the movie for me - to sit through nearly three hours of an Italian movie he wasn't interested in seeing - well, that's love. Maybe you can think of occasions like this? It's not always heart shaped boxes of chocolates and single red roses. Love, and romance, come in more original forms. Nat King Cole had it right when he sang 'Let there be love ...' - it's not just the champagne, it's the everyday bowls of chilli someone makes when you're cold and hungry.
Who can forget the divine John Cusak declaring his love through Peter Gabriel's 'In Your Eyes'? I recently came across this movie of a saxophonist playing one of my favourite songs in what appears to be the laundry room - it's dedicated to his wife. Who wouldn't love that? The latest theory is that (apparently), love is a drug - some people are addicted to romantic love. You can understand people being hooked on the first flush of being in love - the crazy, breathless time when you neither want to eat or sleep, but in writing I'm equally as interested in what happens 'happily ever after'. There's a reason the marriage vows say 'for better and for worse ...' - what is the love that endures? I watched the SATC movie the other night (pilot is in Cuba so I'm catching up on some 'girl' movies). It was interesting how much of the time was spent on Carrie's unhappiness - that's where the dynamic lay: will she/won't she finally get together with Big? (Are you a Big or an Aidan fan? It's that whole retro/metro debate again). We already have friends whose marriages and long-term relationships haven't gone the distance. One of the most heartbreaking things I ever read was a woman writing about her divorce - she said that what no one tells you is that you never stop loving the other person. In spite of the break-up, the arguments, the anger, there was still the love that brought them together in the first place - they just couldn't live together. Love/hate - always was and always will be a thin line.
Who can forget the divine John Cusak declaring his love through Peter Gabriel's 'In Your Eyes'? I recently came across this movie of a saxophonist playing one of my favourite songs in what appears to be the laundry room - it's dedicated to his wife. Who wouldn't love that? The latest theory is that (apparently), love is a drug - some people are addicted to romantic love. You can understand people being hooked on the first flush of being in love - the crazy, breathless time when you neither want to eat or sleep, but in writing I'm equally as interested in what happens 'happily ever after'. There's a reason the marriage vows say 'for better and for worse ...' - what is the love that endures? I watched the SATC movie the other night (pilot is in Cuba so I'm catching up on some 'girl' movies). It was interesting how much of the time was spent on Carrie's unhappiness - that's where the dynamic lay: will she/won't she finally get together with Big? (Are you a Big or an Aidan fan? It's that whole retro/metro debate again). We already have friends whose marriages and long-term relationships haven't gone the distance. One of the most heartbreaking things I ever read was a woman writing about her divorce - she said that what no one tells you is that you never stop loving the other person. In spite of the break-up, the arguments, the anger, there was still the love that brought them together in the first place - they just couldn't live together. Love/hate - always was and always will be a thin line.
It struck me last night that building a career writing is a lot like working at a good marriage. There has to be love, passion, compromise, dedication, humour - the promise never to take each other for granted and always cherish this unique thing you have. The publisher I met the other day once compared writing a book to making a baby (lots of calls, dates, and wine in the lead up to the big event ...). I'm at that stage where you're passionately in love (with the book, the whole dream of writing full time) - and you're willing the phone to ring. You don't want to be a pain in the backside and call them ... you just wait, and wait ... Maybe the three Ps are the key to this: Passion, professionalism and patience.
I've come to realise there is writer time and there is book industry time. Your book is your baby. They may also love your book, but they have lots of other relationships. It took you months, years perhaps to write the thing. You may hear nothing from them for weeks, months even. You have one manuscript - I did some background research on the agency I've just joined - they get 3000 unsolicited manuscripts a year hitting the slush pile, and each agent may get another 1000 individually. Of this perhaps they take on five new writers each. Even if you make it through, when the book is finally published, someone may read it in a few days or hours. All that effort, patience, frustration, passion, determination is distilled down into a little book that may make the bestseller list or may end up in the bargain bin. Maybe we are all mad - what do you think? I think the only sane reason to write is because you love it. Good stories win out. Passion pays off. Love conquers all.
TODAY'S PROMPT: While waiting for 'the call' in the old days, I had the time to do fun things - movies, drinks with the girls, dancing all night, exhibitions. Now the hours are filled with more prosaic things - juggling home and work. One of the exercises from the Artist's Way was to write down twenty things you love to do. Then by the side of each of them, write down when you last did them. Not only did I run out of steam by number ten, I was really surprised how long it is since I did the things I love and once took for granted. Why not have a go - grab your notebook, make that list, then take just one of the things you love, and do it - today.
