cross, crisscross, and recross

yesterday i read this feature in the New York Times—via Austin Kleon’s newletter—that asked 75 artists 7 questions about creating (or not creating) work during the pandemic.

it got me thinking about what i’ve created (or not created) over the past trash-fire-of-a-year. and i find it interesting that i’ve gravitated towards smaller projects in genres or forms that i don’t typically work in, but that i’ve flirted with before.

short stories. a one-act musical screenplay to be performed live via Zoom. i even wrote a murder mystery dinner party for my family at the start of lockdown, which is something i’ve been wanting to do since i become obsessed with them as a kid.

it makes me think of a line from my favorite novel, Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell:

“But no, we cross, crisscross, and recross our old tracks like figure skaters.”

David Mitchell and letters from your characters

yesterday, i said i was plotting my novel using a slightly altered Snowflake Method. i’ve replaced the character bibles/profiles/summaries with a trick i learned from one of my all-time favorite authors, David Mitchell.

“This might be a trade secret,” Mitchell jests, “but it works for me, and you can have it.”

he suggests writing letters to yourself in the voice of your characters about the things they care about, like money, work, politics, religion, sex, and the concerns/other people/world of the story.

i find this advice so helpful and reassuring and accessible, i have it Scotch-taped above my makeshift writing desk, right next to the Harmon story circle. and somewhere along the line, i’ve added the topic of ‘Family,” which rounds it out to a nice, uneven nine.

“When you get stuck, get systematic,” Mitchell says. “You’re usually stuck because you don’t know your characters well enough.”

listen to his full advice below—