Roger DeBlanck's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing"
Novel Writing
Having surpassed 42,000 words since starting in June of last year, I’m much further along than I’d anticipated with my next novel, The Destruction of Silence. It's about a Native American character with an Apache Mescalero heritage. He suffers from an abusive childhood and substance addiction. To overcome his past, he goes on a journey of self-discovery. At this point in the long process, the story most definitely has attained its own life, a reality in which I am now bearing witness to all that transpires. It’s amazing to see how events develop and play out and how the characters respond to what they are experiencing and the challenges that cross their paths. I feel as though I’m merely along for the journey, which is exactly the way you want your story to feel. My hopes are to finish the book by the end of this year and have it ready to share with all of you. Once again, allow me to express my gratitude to everyone who has shown such tremendous interest in the progress of this new book. That interest is what's promoted me to begin a blog here on Goodreads in addition to the news updates I've been posting up on my website.
Roger 8-)
Roger 8-)
Adele and the Influence of Music on Writing
Adele’s new album 25 has been a source of inspiration as I continue with my next novel. The lead track “Hello” is a glorious song. It is the powerhouse on a record that delves at the core of love, loss, pain, sorrow, compassion, and forgiveness. 25 is a somber record, but Adele explores her emotions and handles her content with great dignity and grace. She is honest, humble, vulnerable, and ultimately hopeful. I can only keep working as hard as I know artists such as Adele do to reach the heartfelt essence of their subject matter, a point we’re all striving to capture and convey.
The challenge for writers is that language can feel like an obstacle. How do we take the words we use every day in speech, communication, and interaction and make that language beautiful, unique, and original in our literary endeavors? I believe language becomes literature when we’re striving to create emotional impact. Music is the higher language. Music achieves pure emotion, which becomes the elevation of language. That is why when I’m writing I rely heavily on listening to my favorite musical artists as much as I do on reading and rereading the authors I admire. It’s a commitment to immersing myself in the creative process. Music helps me focus on the emotional bearing and mood I’m seeking to create with the reader.
Roger 8-)
The challenge for writers is that language can feel like an obstacle. How do we take the words we use every day in speech, communication, and interaction and make that language beautiful, unique, and original in our literary endeavors? I believe language becomes literature when we’re striving to create emotional impact. Music is the higher language. Music achieves pure emotion, which becomes the elevation of language. That is why when I’m writing I rely heavily on listening to my favorite musical artists as much as I do on reading and rereading the authors I admire. It’s a commitment to immersing myself in the creative process. Music helps me focus on the emotional bearing and mood I’m seeking to create with the reader.
Roger 8-)
What to Read Next
As a librarian and a writer, I’m always scouting for what to read next. I regularly have a list of titles in my head and a stack of books on my desk. But when I’m immersed in a project, as I am now with my third novel, I often feel the compulsion to return to the work of my favorite writers. Recently I tweeted about when you’re unsure of what to read next, go back to Steinbeck. And I meant it. That’s exactly what I did late last year. It was one of the rare times where I didn’t have a next book ready to go, so I started rereading Travels with Charley. It’s such an enchanting book. But most of all it is Steinbeck’s great compassion and humanity as a writer that makes me see why I revere him so much. This is true of many others: Morrison, Ondaatje, McCarthy, and the list goes on. I need their work. It is essential to the progress of my own work.
As I continue the journey with my new novel, I’m reaching that point where I’m feeling the need to return more often to my masters, allowing them to guide me to the end of my narrative. Right now, Anthony Doerr has become a writer who is indispensable to me. Rarely do I finish a book and immediately start rereading it again, even if I know I will reread it many times in the years ahead. However, last week I completed Doerr’s memoir, Four Seasons in Rome, and I knew I must immediately start it again. Its descriptions are breathtaking. His writing is lush, beautiful, empowering, and inspiring. He is most definitely one of those gifted writers who you must follow. Doerr makes me a better writer, and he has proven to me once again why I must go back to my masters when deciding what to read next. I can hardly wait to reread Morrison’s Beloved, Ondaatje’s The English Patient, and McCarthy’s The Border Trilogy.
Roger 8-)
As I continue the journey with my new novel, I’m reaching that point where I’m feeling the need to return more often to my masters, allowing them to guide me to the end of my narrative. Right now, Anthony Doerr has become a writer who is indispensable to me. Rarely do I finish a book and immediately start rereading it again, even if I know I will reread it many times in the years ahead. However, last week I completed Doerr’s memoir, Four Seasons in Rome, and I knew I must immediately start it again. Its descriptions are breathtaking. His writing is lush, beautiful, empowering, and inspiring. He is most definitely one of those gifted writers who you must follow. Doerr makes me a better writer, and he has proven to me once again why I must go back to my masters when deciding what to read next. I can hardly wait to reread Morrison’s Beloved, Ondaatje’s The English Patient, and McCarthy’s The Border Trilogy.
Roger 8-)
Writing: Starting and Keeping Going
Every time I begin drafting the next chapter of the book I’m working on, a nagging fear resurfaces. It questions me, “Oh, no, what if you’re unable to pull this off?” This doubt, however, is always transient. Instead of derailing my intent, it fuels me. The best advice I’ve ever heard about writing comes from one of my favorite poets, Seamus Heaney, someone I revere and had the great honor of once meeting. Heaney says that in order to be a writer you must make a commitment: “Get started, keep going, and get started again.”
The second I remind myself of his cure against any fear of writing, I get to work. I rely on my notes and research to provide guidance. The feeling that I’m putting garbage sentences and mindless ideas on the page always surprises me later when I have my longhand typed up and I start my initial revisions. Most often I find myself overjoyed with the starting point I have. There’s usually a rhythm, a structure, and an overall outline for how the story and characters are developing. In other words, I have something good to work with.
No first draft is ever close to being finished. In fact, it usually takes dozens or more drafts before I can see the end. But once I’ve made that initial start with words on the page, my fear disappears and seems foolish, for of course I can pull off what needs to be done. So each start is a little battle against doubt, which for me is a driving force. Keeping going is never hard for me—until I must begin the next chapter. But I can forever hear the soothing, reassuring Irish voice of Mr. Heaney reminding me to get started. At that instant, I know everything will be fine.
Roger 8-)
The second I remind myself of his cure against any fear of writing, I get to work. I rely on my notes and research to provide guidance. The feeling that I’m putting garbage sentences and mindless ideas on the page always surprises me later when I have my longhand typed up and I start my initial revisions. Most often I find myself overjoyed with the starting point I have. There’s usually a rhythm, a structure, and an overall outline for how the story and characters are developing. In other words, I have something good to work with.
No first draft is ever close to being finished. In fact, it usually takes dozens or more drafts before I can see the end. But once I’ve made that initial start with words on the page, my fear disappears and seems foolish, for of course I can pull off what needs to be done. So each start is a little battle against doubt, which for me is a driving force. Keeping going is never hard for me—until I must begin the next chapter. But I can forever hear the soothing, reassuring Irish voice of Mr. Heaney reminding me to get started. At that instant, I know everything will be fine.
Roger 8-)
The Reading/Writing Balance
Before I ever believed I could be a writer, the work of my masters made me dream of what I might create—something worthy of shadowing in the footsteps of their monumental achievements. In reading the works of those I revere, I was driven to follow their greatness, to emulate what they do. Early in my teens, this often led me to consume all the work of certain authors: Shakespeare, Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Dostoevsky, Camus, Hesse, Borges, Steinbeck, Wright, Hemingway, and others. As I read, often I’d come across something about the way they wrote and I’d become nervous, alarmed, even discouraged that my writing habits didn’t mirror those of my masters and the way they did their art. I’d feel defeated that if I couldn’t mimic their “ways”, I couldn’t be a writer. For example, Dostoevsky wrote several versions of his novels to find what worked best. Unreal? Could I ever match such a standard? This often caused real doubt in my early days of writing. If I wanted to write like the best, I needed to adopt their “way.” Right? Then after I finished college, it dawned on me how every writer did their art differently. By this time I was enamored with many of my contemporary masters: Morrison, McCarthy, Ondaatje, Doctorow, O’Brien and the list goes on. As I consumed their work, I realized there is no one right “way” to write. In fact, Morrison didn’t start writing her novels until she was forty. But she’d been a writer her entire life. As a lifelong reader and a professional book editor, she lived and breathed reading, writing, language, and literature.
For me, I must work in streaks and forays, yet every day I live and breathe reading, writing, language, and literature. I may never be able to put down a specific number of words each day or assign a disciplined block of time each day, but I live and breathe reading, writing, language, and literature every day. As a self-proclaimed reader first, I’m unable to go a single day without finding at least a few hours to read. Reading sparks my thinking, envisioning, obsessing, planning, preparing, researching, editing, and revising—all of which are necessities for me to write, all of which I carry out a little each day. I may do 10,000 words in a few days or less than a 1,000 in a given week. It all depends where I’m at in the process. But one aspect remains constant every day: I live and breathe reading, writing, language, and literature. If I’m writing a lot, naturally time is taken away from reading. The reciprocation is true: if I’m reading a lot, it is essentially to gear me up for an intense period of writing. This is my cycle, and worries do not bother me anymore if I’m not “writing” every single day because I am actually in the process of writing with everything else I do. My habit of a reading/writing balance is the only way my art works for me.
Roger 8-)
For me, I must work in streaks and forays, yet every day I live and breathe reading, writing, language, and literature. I may never be able to put down a specific number of words each day or assign a disciplined block of time each day, but I live and breathe reading, writing, language, and literature every day. As a self-proclaimed reader first, I’m unable to go a single day without finding at least a few hours to read. Reading sparks my thinking, envisioning, obsessing, planning, preparing, researching, editing, and revising—all of which are necessities for me to write, all of which I carry out a little each day. I may do 10,000 words in a few days or less than a 1,000 in a given week. It all depends where I’m at in the process. But one aspect remains constant every day: I live and breathe reading, writing, language, and literature. If I’m writing a lot, naturally time is taken away from reading. The reciprocation is true: if I’m reading a lot, it is essentially to gear me up for an intense period of writing. This is my cycle, and worries do not bother me anymore if I’m not “writing” every single day because I am actually in the process of writing with everything else I do. My habit of a reading/writing balance is the only way my art works for me.
Roger 8-)
The Destruction of Silence -- My New Novel's "Book Jacket" Description
Writing a novel is mostly hard work, dedication, and staying committed to your vision. But one of the toughest components is putting together the summary. Below is the most updated "book jacket" description of my new novel, The Destruction of Silence, due out in September. Let me know how it sounds.
Roger 8-)
In his most accomplished novel to date, Roger DeBlanck delivers an unforgettable contemporary story of a young Native American man on the road to recovery. Abuse and addiction have ruined Thomas Newsome’s youth, but he refuses to follow the wasted path of his father, Gilbert. After Thomas narrowly avoids tragedy, he vows to get clean and stay that way. Before he can bury his past and move on, he wants answers from his father for why he never changed. But then Gilbert falls ill and takes off on a road trip. With only a handful of clues from his Apache past, Thomas sets out on a journey to track down his father. Along the way, he meets an elderly Native American sage by the name of Great Star. While traveling with the old man deep into the heart of Apache country through Arizona, New Mexico, and across the border, Thomas’s search for his father becomes an odyssey of self-discovery and an excavation into the roots of his Mescalero ancestors and the truth of his family history. The native individuals he encounters and the enchanting places he visits will forever alter his perspective on life. In going from destruction to redemption, Thomas learns how the Apache spirit within him can lead towards a meaningful purpose in life. The Destruction of Silence is a heartfelt novel of remarkable beauty and compassion. It will sweep you up, carry you along, and leave you both bereft and ultimately uplifted..
Roger 8-)
In his most accomplished novel to date, Roger DeBlanck delivers an unforgettable contemporary story of a young Native American man on the road to recovery. Abuse and addiction have ruined Thomas Newsome’s youth, but he refuses to follow the wasted path of his father, Gilbert. After Thomas narrowly avoids tragedy, he vows to get clean and stay that way. Before he can bury his past and move on, he wants answers from his father for why he never changed. But then Gilbert falls ill and takes off on a road trip. With only a handful of clues from his Apache past, Thomas sets out on a journey to track down his father. Along the way, he meets an elderly Native American sage by the name of Great Star. While traveling with the old man deep into the heart of Apache country through Arizona, New Mexico, and across the border, Thomas’s search for his father becomes an odyssey of self-discovery and an excavation into the roots of his Mescalero ancestors and the truth of his family history. The native individuals he encounters and the enchanting places he visits will forever alter his perspective on life. In going from destruction to redemption, Thomas learns how the Apache spirit within him can lead towards a meaningful purpose in life. The Destruction of Silence is a heartfelt novel of remarkable beauty and compassion. It will sweep you up, carry you along, and leave you both bereft and ultimately uplifted..
The Destruction of Silence -- My new novel is now available.
The Destruction of Silence is my new novel, and it is now available in trade paperback or on Kindle from Amazon. It is also available in paperback anywhere books are sold. The links to Amazon and B & N are below. I've also included a link to the book's trailer.
https://www.amazon.com/Roger-DeBlanck...
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-d...
https://www.goodreads.com/videos/1094...
Here's the novel's "book jacket" description:
In his most accomplished novel to date, Roger DeBlanck delivers an unforgettable contemporary story of a young Native American man on the road to recovery. Abuse and addiction have ruined Thomas Newsome’s youth, but he refuses to follow the wasted path of his father, Gilbert. After Thomas narrowly avoids tragedy, he vows to get clean and stay that way. Before he can bury his past and move on, he wants answers from his father for why he never changed. But then Gilbert falls ill and takes off on a personal journey. With only a handful of clues from his Apache past, Thomas sets out on a quest to track down his father. Along the way, he meets an elderly Native American sage by the name of Sons-in-jah. While traveling with the old man deep into the heart of Apache country through Arizona, New Mexico, and across the border, Thomas’s search for his father becomes an odyssey of self-discovery and an excavation into the roots of his Mescalero ancestors and the truth of his family history. The native individuals he meets and the enchanting places he visits will forever alter his perspective on life. In going from destruction to redemption, Thomas learns how the Apache spirit within him can lead towards a meaningful purpose in life. The Destruction of Silence is a heartfelt novel of remarkable beauty and compassion. It will sweep you up, carry you along, and leave you bereft and ultimately uplifted.
Roger 8-)
https://www.amazon.com/Roger-DeBlanck...
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-d...
https://www.goodreads.com/videos/1094...
Here's the novel's "book jacket" description:
In his most accomplished novel to date, Roger DeBlanck delivers an unforgettable contemporary story of a young Native American man on the road to recovery. Abuse and addiction have ruined Thomas Newsome’s youth, but he refuses to follow the wasted path of his father, Gilbert. After Thomas narrowly avoids tragedy, he vows to get clean and stay that way. Before he can bury his past and move on, he wants answers from his father for why he never changed. But then Gilbert falls ill and takes off on a personal journey. With only a handful of clues from his Apache past, Thomas sets out on a quest to track down his father. Along the way, he meets an elderly Native American sage by the name of Sons-in-jah. While traveling with the old man deep into the heart of Apache country through Arizona, New Mexico, and across the border, Thomas’s search for his father becomes an odyssey of self-discovery and an excavation into the roots of his Mescalero ancestors and the truth of his family history. The native individuals he meets and the enchanting places he visits will forever alter his perspective on life. In going from destruction to redemption, Thomas learns how the Apache spirit within him can lead towards a meaningful purpose in life. The Destruction of Silence is a heartfelt novel of remarkable beauty and compassion. It will sweep you up, carry you along, and leave you bereft and ultimately uplifted.
Roger 8-)
Starting My Next Novel
Last year after finishing The Destruction of Silence, I wondered whether I’d ever have another book in me. “How can I ever push myself more than I did with that novel?” This question had been haunting me for months. The emotional drain of completing The Destruction of Silence hit me hard. I was separated from the characters of Thomas and Great Star for the first time in three years, and it hurt to the point where I broke down and wept. I started to think I could never again experience anything with that type of intensity. I realized, however, my emotions were similar to the way I’d felt after finishing my other books.
But something was different with finishing The Destruction of Silence. The pain and redemption of that story made me nervous about ever wanting to commit to another work if the new work was unable to produce the same emotional impact. Seven months after the book was released, I had no new project on the horizon. With the completion of my other books, I found myself immersed in a new idea within a few months. But not until last week did the idea for my next novel come to me. It now feels as powerful as anything I’ve ever considered writing about. The root of this new story is now firmly planted in my heart, and it’s beginning to course through my blood, and so I have no choice but to undertake this next journey. What’s most interesting is that this new idea has been stored in my head for over twenty years. But only in the last week have I been able to see it clearly after all these years.
This next novel will take place in the antebellum south and will cover American slavery and the Civil War years and its aftermath. More specifically, it will deal with enslaved African Muslims and the presence of Islam in America during the Civil War era. That’s all I know right now, but I will be charting my progress with all of you over the next two, three, four, or however many years it takes to tell this story. I realize I'm on the verge of the most challenging endeavor I’ve ever undertaken, and thoughts of fear and doubt are swirling, but mostly I’m driven by the need to relive the past and tell this story. The decision is not mine. The story must be told. I can hear the great Irish poet Seamus Heaney echoing to me, “Get started, keep going, and get started again.” So I’m on my way.
Roger 8-)
But something was different with finishing The Destruction of Silence. The pain and redemption of that story made me nervous about ever wanting to commit to another work if the new work was unable to produce the same emotional impact. Seven months after the book was released, I had no new project on the horizon. With the completion of my other books, I found myself immersed in a new idea within a few months. But not until last week did the idea for my next novel come to me. It now feels as powerful as anything I’ve ever considered writing about. The root of this new story is now firmly planted in my heart, and it’s beginning to course through my blood, and so I have no choice but to undertake this next journey. What’s most interesting is that this new idea has been stored in my head for over twenty years. But only in the last week have I been able to see it clearly after all these years.
This next novel will take place in the antebellum south and will cover American slavery and the Civil War years and its aftermath. More specifically, it will deal with enslaved African Muslims and the presence of Islam in America during the Civil War era. That’s all I know right now, but I will be charting my progress with all of you over the next two, three, four, or however many years it takes to tell this story. I realize I'm on the verge of the most challenging endeavor I’ve ever undertaken, and thoughts of fear and doubt are swirling, but mostly I’m driven by the need to relive the past and tell this story. The decision is not mine. The story must be told. I can hear the great Irish poet Seamus Heaney echoing to me, “Get started, keep going, and get started again.” So I’m on my way.
Roger 8-)
Enslaved African Muslims, the Civil War, the Beauty of Islam, and My Next Novel
It’s been nearly a year since my last blog post. In that time, a lot of progress has been made on the journey of what will become my next novel. As I mentioned in my last post from April 7, 2017, this new project will focus on the antebellum and Civil War era and most specifically on enslaved African Muslims. Historians estimate about 15-20 percent of those enslaved in America devoutly practiced Islam, even against all the direct and indirect forces that tried to make them abandon their faith. West Africa and its great civilizations and kingdoms—where many of the African Muslims were originally captured during the slave trade—were greatly influenced by the Qur'an and Islamic teachings. Learning and education were valued greatly in these African kingdoms, so enslaved Muslims were often highly literate and extremely intelligent.
Over the course of the last year, I owe tremendous gratitude to dozens of writers and books for shaping my understanding and vision for this next novel. With most of the grassroots research completed, my task over the past two months has been typing up, organizing, studying, and reviewing the hundreds of pages of notes and ideas I’ve accumulated. Not only has my research immersed me in the Civil War era, plantation life, the slave trade, and the unspeakable crimes of the institution of American slavery, my focus has also been overwhelmingly drawn to the beauty and intellect of Islam. During this last year, I reread the Qur'an for the first time since 9/11. As I experienced it then, I again found the Qur'an full of its inspiring message of love, compassion, and generosity. The entire purpose of Islam is a profound commitment to God—the only One from whom we came and to whom we shall return. Submission to God’s love through prayer, kindness, mercy, and unwavering charity make up the foundation of what it means to be a Muslim.
Anyone who claims Islam endorses violence is wrong. Nowhere in the Qur'an or in the Prophet Muhammad’s life is violence condoned against innocent people. In self-defense, one may protect one’s self, but that is only if you’re denied by another the right to worship God in your own way and follow the path of righteousness as set out so beautifully by the Prophet. Otherwise, peace is the answer and all should be forgiven. The word of God should be offered, but it can never be forced upon anyone because Islam prohibits any compulsion of religion. Muslims revere each of the Old and New Testament prophets as divine vessels of God’s love. It was Muhammad who God entrusted to deliver His final message to humankind through the words set forth in the beauty of the Qur'an. And so the Qur'an says to pray for peace and grace, give to the underprivileged and less fortunate, and show mercy to everyone, including one’s adversaries and especially to anyone who may believe differently from you. That is the life the Prophet lived and the message he shared.
Moreover, no religion throughout its history has valued women more than Islam. (For more information read Reza Aslan’s No god but God or Carla Power’s If the Oceans Were Ink.) Muhammad’s original Muslim community, the Ummah, made women instrumental in leadership and learning. The same happened in the West African kingdoms where Islam made its influence beginning in the 11th century. Women were scholars who played a central part in teaching and learning. My next novel will celebrate the beauty and wisdom of Islam through enslaved Muslims, but their story will be much more. It will confront slavery’s crimes, it will encompass the Civil War, and it will have a Muslim as the protagonist showing humanity the path to a better life. At this point, all I know is that each day this project lives in my heart. Every day I make a little more progress, and that is the commitment to the journey. I’m hopeful to begin drafting soon.
Roger 8-)
Over the course of the last year, I owe tremendous gratitude to dozens of writers and books for shaping my understanding and vision for this next novel. With most of the grassroots research completed, my task over the past two months has been typing up, organizing, studying, and reviewing the hundreds of pages of notes and ideas I’ve accumulated. Not only has my research immersed me in the Civil War era, plantation life, the slave trade, and the unspeakable crimes of the institution of American slavery, my focus has also been overwhelmingly drawn to the beauty and intellect of Islam. During this last year, I reread the Qur'an for the first time since 9/11. As I experienced it then, I again found the Qur'an full of its inspiring message of love, compassion, and generosity. The entire purpose of Islam is a profound commitment to God—the only One from whom we came and to whom we shall return. Submission to God’s love through prayer, kindness, mercy, and unwavering charity make up the foundation of what it means to be a Muslim.
Anyone who claims Islam endorses violence is wrong. Nowhere in the Qur'an or in the Prophet Muhammad’s life is violence condoned against innocent people. In self-defense, one may protect one’s self, but that is only if you’re denied by another the right to worship God in your own way and follow the path of righteousness as set out so beautifully by the Prophet. Otherwise, peace is the answer and all should be forgiven. The word of God should be offered, but it can never be forced upon anyone because Islam prohibits any compulsion of religion. Muslims revere each of the Old and New Testament prophets as divine vessels of God’s love. It was Muhammad who God entrusted to deliver His final message to humankind through the words set forth in the beauty of the Qur'an. And so the Qur'an says to pray for peace and grace, give to the underprivileged and less fortunate, and show mercy to everyone, including one’s adversaries and especially to anyone who may believe differently from you. That is the life the Prophet lived and the message he shared.
Moreover, no religion throughout its history has valued women more than Islam. (For more information read Reza Aslan’s No god but God or Carla Power’s If the Oceans Were Ink.) Muhammad’s original Muslim community, the Ummah, made women instrumental in leadership and learning. The same happened in the West African kingdoms where Islam made its influence beginning in the 11th century. Women were scholars who played a central part in teaching and learning. My next novel will celebrate the beauty and wisdom of Islam through enslaved Muslims, but their story will be much more. It will confront slavery’s crimes, it will encompass the Civil War, and it will have a Muslim as the protagonist showing humanity the path to a better life. At this point, all I know is that each day this project lives in my heart. Every day I make a little more progress, and that is the commitment to the journey. I’m hopeful to begin drafting soon.
Roger 8-)
