Poet Elizabeth Alexander
One of the main things that stops me cold when I am writing is the feeling that my prose has become lifeless and flat. I want my sentences to dazzle and not just pull along the story along. I don’t want them to be stilted and workman-like. When that happens,the writing process becomes leeched of all its fun and I feel tortured by boredom. Let’s be honest, every sentence is not going to be a spectacle and some sentences have to do the basic work of getting a character from here to there. But when every sentence is simply doing basic work, then I’d rather be doing something else.
With such a long and unwieldy project such as NaNoWriMo, this linguistic flattening is bound to occur during the drafting process. Actually, as we speak, I am dreading my next writing session because of how lifeless my prose was in the last session. It wasn’t completely flat, but new characters and new scenes have changed the nature and movement of the story and I suspect the next session will be more chore than joy. Sometimes I think it’s my brain’s attempt to make me slow down and consider the story. Well, there’s no slowing down in NaNoWriMo. Maybe there is some, but too much slow down can be fatal.
The other thing I do when my prose becomes lifeless is that I ask myself about my reading. Am I reading the right things? Am I reading enough of it?
One thing that’s helped the fluidity of my prose is the act of reading a daily poem. Being that it is the most concentrated form of language, it can have the power to shatter the layer of ice inside that’s stopping the waters of language from flowing.
Right now, I happen to be reading Elizabeth Alexander‘s Crave Radiance. The last poem I read was, titled Equinox.
Equinox
Now is the time of year when bees are wildand eccentric. They fly fast and in crampedloop-de-loops, dive-bomb clusters of conversantsin the bright, late-September out-of-doors.I have found their dried husks in my clothes….
Bowie State’s NaNoWriMo write-ins take place every Thursday (with the exception of Thanksgiving) on Bowie State University’s campus (14000 Jericho Park Road, Bowie, MD 20715-9465) in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Building from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. All are welcome.
National Novel Writing Month @ Bowie State University 
Elizabeth Alexander’s poem turned my ear to John Coltrane’s “Equinox,” and I am listening to it now. It features McCoy Tyner on piano, Elvin Jones on drums, and John Coltrane on tenor saxophone. My writing is most productive when I am listening to music, and Coltrane is one of the musicians that has an extensive presence n my playlist, “Writing.”
The opening of the composition reminds me of hopscotch. There is something simple and determined about the repetitions and the intervals McCoy sets out and Elvin Jones punctuates. Coltrane’s sound is pensive and reaching. These are qualities I seek in my writing and in my life. When I listen to Trane, I am reminded of his long hours of practice each day in pursuit of the music in his heart. I am also reminded of his struggle with addiction, his incredible grace and insight, his innovation, his spirituality and his desire “to be a force which is truly for good.”
My progress towards 50,000 words has been in fits and starts. Some days, the project seems like practicing scales and not writing the song itself. Other days, when I can lift myself above the everyday concerns of my academic life, I find the project to be gratifying. “Equinox” is not my most favorite Coltrane composition, but it extols the beauty of pursuing steadiness, and, today, it helps me want to make as much as I can of my time on the page.
To experience the genius of John Coltrane, visit http://www.johncoltrane.com/videos.html