On writing

My husband shared this quote that was posted on www.refdesk.com today:

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

"Writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you make the whole trip that way. - E.L. Doctorow

How true.  A fan of the books The Greening and The Leafing told me she was awed at how a writer can make characters, plot and stories to create a novel.  I am always so surprised at this.  I jokingly say that writing is like a private schizophrenia, but as I joke, I know I would be terribly lonely without the stories that live in my head.  Writing, for me, is an odd, wonderful and magical process.  I know the characters and the books even before they are written.  They are loosely woven and become richer and richer and richer when I think of them.  There is always a point where the story bangs away in my head until I don't really have much control and I need to write it down somewhere, some way or tell it over and over in my head.  Arnold Lobel, children's author of the "Frog and Toad" series said that a 'muse' would come in through his open window and help him write the stories. I have often said that sometimes I think the stories are channeled from someone / somewhere else.  It's not a problem, it's a wonderful, magical thing.