The first chapter of Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is titled, “Day 1,299 of My Captivity.” It is referenced by a sentient octopus, Marcellus. This timeline motif, which continues through Van Pelt’s REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES, feels like a good place to begin my first blog post in 535 days.
Reading Fiction When Writing is Hard
I have for some time been struggling with my personal writing. Not failing to write, mind. I’m still able to produce marketing copy, content summaries, discussion questions – generally anything for-hire – professionally and on deadline. It’s my own fiction and my thoughts about the craft and practice of writing over which I stumble. And since that’s largely what I’ve blogged about for a very long time, here we are at day 535 on which I’m forcing myself to hit the publish button before I start dinner.
For clarity, I am still writing fiction. It’s just ugly and arduous. I am filled with self-doubt, and rarely make deep emotional connections to my characters – experiencing feelings so intense I’d find myself at my computer laughing or weeping or worrying alongside them – which was something that used to happen often and easily.
Two Books, Two Women, an Octopus and a Dog Named 6:30
Perhaps it is my own experience of emotional detachment that drew me to two stoic protagonists: Tova Sullivan in …CREATURES and Elizabeth Zott in Bonnie Garmus’s LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY. For both of these women, the routines of working give them purpose and relief from life’s confusions, pains and losses. Their need for control and their sense of independence challenges both Tova and Elizabeth as they struggle to make sense of complex motherhoods and to accept and appreciate community – and love – when it is offered.
There’s an upside to finally reading these 2022 debut novels in 2024. It affords me the hindsight to note that these two titles caught fire in the same year that Russia invaded Ukraine; senseless shootings happened at a supermarket in Buffalo, NY, and a school in Uvalde, Texas; Elon Musk bought Twitter, and countless more bizarre, tragic and previously unimaginable things happened in our country and our world. (Looking back at the blog, I see that I struggled with writing through chaos myself in 2022.) These books, perhaps, allowed readers those 20-odd months ago to grieve epic catastrophes in a more intimate, human way – and even to hope a little bit.
Perhaps my favorite part of both of these books (and why they read together so nicely) are their intellectually anthropomorphic animals (Van Pelt’s aforementioned Marcellus the octopus, and Garmus’s endearing dog named 6:30) who observe, critique and, occasionally, save. Perhaps it’s a desire to feel like someone besides us has a handle on what’s happening on this planet that readers (including myself) happily accept these animal critiques of human foibles. To wit:
“Six-Thirty…sensed that most people did not listen to their dogs. This was called ignoring. Or wait, no. Ignorance.”
– LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY
“For the most part, you are dull and blundering. But occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures.”
– Marcellus, REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES
And So…? It’s Dinnertime
Beyond charm, these characters provide unique examples of the role of creative connection in the craft of writing. The authors somehow found a way to get inside the minds of non-human characters who so clearly see our flaws and yet find a way to love us. Then they figured out how to communicate what they discovered in those canine and cephalopod brains to the humans reading those stories. I imagine myself at my computer, sniffing or slithering with empathy and love for such characters as I transcribe their words filtering through my brain. This is how reading fiction gives writers hope, if that makes any sense to you at all.
It’s dinnertime and, as I promised myself, I’m going to hit publish now and go make the salad. Happy – or at least hopeful – reading and writing to you today.
