Thursday, April 30, 2009

Headlights


I hate driving at night. You have nothing to look at except the headlights coming towards you, which always gives me a headache. I especially hate driving home late at night in the country and everyone else in the vehicle is asleep. It’s times like this when I most tired and have a hard time staying awake. Then I see the bright lights of the city and they wake me right up because I know I’m close to my destination.

Yesterday my sister in law sent me this quote:
Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." E.L. Doctorow.

Think of your novel as a long car ride towards to the big city of "Published". Here’s hoping that everyday we all get closer to those big city lights.

4 comments:

Jenni James said...

Ooh! What a great visual! I so agree with you on this--on all levels! i'm so night blind it's not even funny! Go figure, I don't need contacts or glasses YET, but the road at night just kills me! And you're right, a novel is so much like driving at night it's funny! This was great, thanks! Jenni

Jessie Oliveros said...

That's good, but what if I have terrible night vision? Or if it is raining? What if I get caught in traffic? Oh so much can go wrong in the novel writing process!

Patti said...

Jenni: I'm always amazed when I get my eyes checked that I don't need glasses because I feel totally blind at night.

Jessie: You forgot the kids in the back asking "Are we there yet" every ten minutes.

Holly Kennedy said...

Hmmm.... I've heard this one before :) I can also attest to the fact that there are times when you feel the lights go out completely (often for long stretches of time) and you're left to push through the dark BLIND AS A BAT while you write your novel.

Night vision glasses.
Now there's the answer!