Just in Time For the Holidays

Posted by Jenna Cooper in Writing Help

Nov
7

Right now, my cat is missing and I have second-degree burns from a kitchen accident on a third of my right hand. As they say in the vernacular, “FML.” I’m also in the rat race to find a second part-time job. I had better luck when I was an inexperienced teen getting a job than I do now. I’m sorely tempted to reactivate my WoW account and spend some hours (days) in Azeroth with the Beatles’ later stuff playing in a loop and a bottle of gin by my side.

Writing, as you can imagine, is tricky when you’re grieving, not to mention without a fully functional right hand. But it’s the most cleansing activity I can think of doing. I’m working on a fictional piece, and it’s a reprieve for me to be able to focus on my characters’ mishaps. Grief was already a theme in the piece, so I’m able to put a lot of emotion toward my work.

Stress and loss do weird things to people. While writing, I fluctuate between getting sublimely delusional ideas and feeling incapable of doing anything besides staring off into oblivion. Luckily, at this moment it’s swinging towards the loopy inventiveness. And I’m going to take advantage of it.

After I give my maimed hand a break.

In addition to writing for WriteByNight’s blog, Jenna Cooper writes for BE Mag and a blog called FemThreads. Aside from writing, Jenna served as an AmeriCorps Member from 2008-2010 and will start her M.S. in Information Studies in Fall 2012. She graduated in 2009 with a B.A. in English from the University of Texas.

4 Comments to “Just in Time For the Holidays”

November 7, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Justine says:

May we have an example of this “loopy inventiveness”? My curiosity is piqued.

Reply
- November 9, 2011 at 2:29 pm
  Jenna says:
  
  As I ran water on my burning hand, I thought “What if one of my characters thinks she has divination powers, especially when it comes to reading palms? But, she burns her own and begins to think that her future has been altered. YET, in reality, she is self-sabotaging and has not a shred of clairvoyance.” I also had an Alice in Wonderland-ish dream where I followed my lost cat into this creepy forested area by my house. I can’t remember anything past that point, but I thought it would be a fun plot element to explore. Not original in itself, of course, but it’s a great “what if?” to play with.
  
  Reply
  - November 9, 2011 at 4:19 pm
    Justine says:
    
    Oooo, faux magical realism. Love it.
    
    Reply
November 14, 2011 at 11:11 am
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