Awakening the Writer

The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here or why I came here. This isn’t a new experience for me, of course. It keeps on repeating whenever I have just finished writing a book. Once the book is completed, much of my awareness of the story disappears from my mind, like it was something in a dream. I wonder whether this happens to other authors. Perhaps that is why when you hear writers talking about their most recent book, they sometimes seem confused when they talk about the experience of writing of the book. 

A Stranger Enters the Room

           A stranger enters the room and greets the writer with a “Well here you are Max. We wondered when you would arrive. I hope you are not too shy to speak to the group in the next room, all of whom want to hear about your latest book that is soon to come out.”

           Max is worried, hoping that what he is feeling is not showing too obviously on his face. He cannot remember the plot of the story, and the names of the main characters are escaping him as well.

           So when he walks into the room which has a collection of his ‘fans,’ he tries his best to have a big smile on his face. The applause certainly helps his emotional state, but does not awaken his sleeping memory.

           The first question asked rather baffles him, “How did you come up with the title?” In an instant he realizes that the title has escaped him. He has to find a clever way dodge the question. “Well the name just pounced on me. It seemed to me that it chose me, rather than the other way around. I could not resist it.” 

           Then, while not showing that he might be seriously forgetful, but still having his creative mind working, he asked the questioner “What did you like about the title of the book?”

           “Well, sir, I felt that “That is the Way that the Bull Runs”, made me wonder what would happen in a story having that name”.

           Max replies with a clever remark. “So you didn’t think that some cruel reviewers might say, that Max Stone has always had a great deal of bull in his books.”

           This was met with awkward laughter from the crowd.

           “If I had named it, ‘That is the Way that the Bunny Hops’, I think that it would not draw the attention of people who have never read any of my books before.”

More laughter ensued, less awkward this time.

“Let me talk to you about the writing process. I’m sure that that there are more than a few of you with a desire to write books of your own, or even short stories, which is what started my writing career.

When I am writing a book such as this one, my mind is rarely on anything else – not what is for dinner, not washing the dishes after dinner, not taking out the garbage. I’m sure some of you are thinking now, ‘So that is why his one and only wife left him years ago.’ And you would be partially correct in your assumption. Most of the males in the audience laughed.

“When I was writing this book, I can swear that my suppers were late and sparse, there were always dirty dishes in the sink, and I had to rush to the curb, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, with garbage pails.

But when one of my books is finished, edited and published, there is a kind of reverse process taking place for a while. Almost everything about the book disappears from my thinking, like I wrote it in my sleep, but lost it when I woke up.

I see a few shaking your heads, but this is true. I am going to tell you a story about what once happened to me with one of my books.

It involves a presentation to a group of eager readers who wanted to know about that book. When I arrived at the place where I would be talking, everything about my book, other than the fact that I had written it, had completely slipped out of my mind. I could not even remember the title. Of course, fancy titles such as “That is the Way that the Bull Runs” should be very difficult to forget. But forgetting them for a while I sometimes have experienced. I would advise you, if you are ever in that situation, to have the title of your book written on a piece of paper that you put in your pocket and maybe write the names and single word personalities of your characters; paranoid, arrogant, or kind, etc. And never use the word ‘etc’ in your writing.”

Much to Max’s Delight

           Much to Max’s delight, he felt his awareness of the story in his book slowly start to return to him. Enough came back for him to remember the basic storyline. Learning about the title had somehow sped up the awakening process so that his memory was slowly coming back to normal.

           “Now let me tell you a few bits about the story in this, my latest book. There is no bull in the story, just a person who tended to appear to be more sure of himself than he actually was. He would back away from anything that threatened his appearance of assuredness. He would emotionally run away.  I will not tell you what happens to him in dealing with this dilemma, because that would be ‘giving the plot away’”.

Max Goes On and On

As Max talks about the book more and more, his consciousness concerning the story is awakening. He gives the audience the location of the events and the names of the main characters.

           He was asked which was his favourite character in the book. He readily told the audience that it was the main character that he most liked writing about, and that he had the great amount of fun with, but there weren’t any characters that he really disliked profoundly, although there is a villain of the work.

           “As you know if you have read my earlier works, that good will triumph over evil.” He still could not remember how, but was pretty sure that it did.

Questions from the Audience

           The remaining time involved him responding to questions, not just about the book, but about being a writer. A few were specifically interested in the fact that once he had the story slip away from him. 

           The questions and answers filled the remaining time, and there were loud applause when his presentation was completed.

           Coffee and cookies were then served. As Max was drinking coffee and munching cookies, finally completely relaxed, the person who had brought up the name of the title, came up to him and whispered in his ear, “I think that the book you forgot about is this one, and the time that your memory fell asleep, was when you were dealing with us tonight. Gradually you awakened to what you knew.”

           Max responded by saying with a whispered voice, “You are right. I am glad that you mentioned the title. It triggered enough remembering for me to talk about the book. I suspect  that you could become a successful writer, as you are very intuitive. Just do not tell a soul about what you accurately detected . I can help you get published if you are a writer.”

           The response was a smile and a shaking of hands.. Eventually the young man would became Max’s successful protégé.  And when he presented to a group of his readers, he had information cards in his pockets, thankful that Max had given him that useful tip.