"Sit by a river. Find peace and meaning in the rhythm of the lifeblood of the Earth." — Anonymous
Those who follow this blog already know how much I love spending time in nature. There is an abundance of it to be enjoyed in Montana, and I try to take advantage of all it has to offer.
When I walk by a river, I inevitably imagine one of my characters doing the same thing. When I see an eagle fly overhead or a duck create gentle currents in the water, I imagine a character seeing what I see. This is how they are so real to me.
I walk with my characters through the story, and when I cannot see where they are going or picture myself walking alongside time, there is a pause—sometimes long, other times brief.
We always find our sync again, much like two ducks charting their own paths.
Only to find their way back to each other.
They then travel in the same direction.
It is usually me catching up to whatever a character has planned, and they leave me to figure it out. I find the process much more enjoyable this way. The two books I'm working on now are offering me plenty of opportunity to get to know new characters and spend quality time with long-time friends.
I've had odd looks when I inadvertently mention a character "speaks" to me, but I cannot imagine writing any other way.
There are times on a quiet walk when I all care about is the silence. A lot of wonderful things happen in the silence, too. Even we writers need a break from the voices.
The mark of a successful man is one that has spent an entire day on the bank of a river without feeling guilty about it. —Chinese philosopher
Raging waters have nothing to do with my works-in-progress, though it would certainly be an interesting addition to one of the stories. This footage is of the same river, south of the dam. It flows in wild abandon for a nice stretch before entering the lake. An already injured foot was made worse by my morning walk, so I dared not venture too far onto the rock. It was a tad slippery from all the rain. Such a river does not suffer fools.
Be well and safe, friends, and thank you for visiting.
-MK