Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Waiting For PIllowcases to Dry

So, lately, (again) I've been revising my novel, my second one. To say it's Catholic is an understatement. Of course my main character spends the first half of it declaring how much of a heathen she is, she constantly gives her twin brother grief for being a priest and while she knows she knows she's not really a heathen and while her brother's vocation brings her pride, she won't admit it. It's not till she moves to Europe with her fiance and ends up in a country with an atheist majority that she rediscovers her faith, though I don't think she ever really lost it.

I just wonder if my journey back to the church mirrors some of what my character is experiencing?

I don't profess to be the next great Catholic writer, but I am writing about Catholic characters and Catholic culture. I hope in a realistic way. I'd like to think they're human. They definitely sin, they fight, they love, they make mistakes. They're flawed. None of them are perfect.

Just because it is a "Catholic" story, my story is not G-rated by any means. It's not squeaky clean, nor is it scandalous. I think it's just based in reality. It's just every time I sit down to revise or reread particular scenes, it amazes me just how much Catholicism has influenced the story.

I don't think that this is unique to my writing though. It's obvious that even in my first novel, my Catholic upbringing has influenced my writing, which makes me think about how Catholicism influences other writers, artists, musicians. I am working my way to that post I've wanted to make...but not tonight.

cross-posted to the writing blog.

2 comments:

Garpu said...

Cool! Dirty little secret, but I write fanfic. :) no, I'm not giving a link. It's fairly easy to figure out which journal it is, if you know what "garpu" means in Indonesian and look at my friend's list. ;)

Maria said...

Heh! I wrote Highlander fanfiction all those years ago and I read other fandoms. I was telling some writing friends of mine that I know from Highlander fandom, that I do miss writing fanfic sometimes because there is so much more community involved. My writing now is such a solitary process that it's hard sometimes.

Hmmm... may study your profile on LJ more. ;-)