The Great Canadian Novel

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I dream of illustrating an imaginative allegorical novel.

If you could choose to be a master (or mistress) of any skill in the world, which skill would you pick?

Obviously I would love to write like a pro, not simply short articles like I write now but thick volumes of books that would be called literature. Why? For the simple reason that I love reading allegories. I love loosing myself in an imaginative world created by authors like C.S. Lewis, J.R. R. Tolkien or Rowling. Coleridge called this magical reading experience "the suspension of disbelief".

I suppose I am not ready to write such a masterpiece but I have tasted what it is like to connect to the powerful creative force that flows through all of us. Creativity is addictive. Nothing surpasses the thrill of sitting in front of a blank page or screen with an equally blank mind only to have a small incident, phrase or prompt trigger an imaginative spark deep with me.

Daily prompts have pushed me to open deeper artistic doors. Intuition, creativity and the Spirit bring everything together and words pour out of my subconscious. I simply start writing naturally, almost without effort. The words flow as fast as I can type. I do not think; I just type. As Ray Bradbury says,

Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things.

"I do not plan my fiction any more than I normally plan woodland walks; I follow the path that seems most promising at any given point, not some itinerary decided before entry.”~John Fowles

"Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say. ~Sharon O’Brien”

At the moment when I look within to find The Great Canadian Novel, I look at a blank wall. Yet it was only 9-10 months ago that I was just as clueless when I sat down to write a short story or an article. Who knows what I will discover, which door will open. It is exciting.

Hey I will report back next year, same place, same day, on January 22, 2014 and I will keep tabs on you as well.