As I start to draft…well, anything…I first daydream all the things I see the thing I’m drafting, becoming.
All the things I dare it to be known for. The light in which it could be recognised. The circles in which it floats. The watchtower it represents. All of the conversations I wish it to be spoken in, the atmosphere it should create, the energy it should imbue. The sheer colour that this piece of work might offer the world, that the globe can keep turning, the tides peak and retreat, the moon fade and brighten.
All this, before your ‘thing’ has even begun to come into being.
This isn’t fannying about with manifestation or the like. This is good old fashioned, cold, cutthroat, sharp-as-a-blade WISHING. Daydreaming of the highest calibre, focused but ethereal, pragmatic but liminal, echoing through time and space, through bone and brain. A conversation with your deepest you. An excavation of heart and ferocious spirit. Yet, still ever-practical, squeezing that sweet creative juice, dripping, ripe and ready to harvest. Wiping your chin with the back of your creative hand. Bathing in its delicious stickiness.
And so, for my new novel project (having shelved the one I’d had in my back pocket for the last couple of years, though never time wasted) I’m revealing below, in full transparent vulnerability, the actual list of words I frantically scribbled into my notebook this weekend. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, a complete hotchpotch, multifaceted jigsaw of vocabulary that makes diminutive sense on its own. I don’t know the shape of this new novel project, yet, nor do I even have its rough outline, but I do have faith that these lightly-sketched phrases, these pencilled promises, their shadows, their imprints, will undoubtedly form its gentle but sturdy foundation. They will offer me valuable clues on where to go next, when I’m stumbling in the creative dark, balancing on this impending creative tightrope; what to uncover, what to keep buried, how deep to dig, how high to fly.
Just as I would start a creative non-fiction essay, at this embryonic stage of my novel there is only the tiniest hint of a seed. Albeit a seed of hope, an oath to uphold, the most microscopic kernel of a pledge to undertake this monumental task. Knowing that a glorious seed contains all the DNA needed to grow a tomato, a cactus, a poppy, a huge oak tree. With care, time, flow and nourishment, it will grow into the expansive thing it was always destined to be.
Trust. This is just the beginning.
a list of words I want my novel to be...
exotic
secrets
whispered
dreams
community
conflict
mouthwatering
temptation
feast
passion
small-town life
rural
humour
feel-good
bewitching
fairytale
aftertaste
romantic
rebellious
spells
velvet
poetic
texture
imaginary friend
European
coast, sea
magic
beloved
cooing
storytelling
moving spirit
bitter sweetness
moody
atmospheric
luxuriate
rich
simple
colourful
indulgence
earthly pleasures
lush
witchcraft
wicked
local colour
decadent
sumptuous
eccentric
elegant
sensuous
touching
witty
vividly descriptive
lingering
crowded colour
use all the senses
sumptuous
lips
Can you already get a feel for this novel? Possibly even before I have?!
Can you see how helpful having your own list of words could be?
For your notebook:
Q. Can you apply this method to your own writing project?
List some words you want your new or current writing project to be (fiction or non-fiction, it doesn’t matter. Perhaps try it even for your own Substack publication?) See if making this list helps you get a picture of your project in your own mind.
Share your words, in a comment, if that helps.
Stroll gently, my loves.
x Luisa
P.S as promised, I’m sharing the Note (below) I posted last week on Substack, with the finest array of glorious creative horn-tooting in its replies! Dive in and explore, support your fellow writers, each one is an absolute gem. Can you spot yours? Or add it now? Enjoy.
Love this idea and it applies to so many different projects. I will be making a list for the new podcast I'm developing.
And I most defintely want to read your book! I'm hooked already. 💙
I love this idea - but definitely want to read your book! I think this will be helpful in the editing process as well.