As I embark on this journey of a novel, I decided to do a brief daily “warm-up” before I turn to my story. These articles will act as both a “warm-up” and will document my thought process while writing this novel.
This idea landed in my lap from John Steinbeck’s Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters. While I don’t expect any of my writing will ever come close to comparing to his, I can imitate some of his writing process.
This morning, the sun is shining out my window, and the air conditioner vent is rattling overhead. I suppose this is a good enough setting to describe the place for my story. It’s a made-up little community in Mississippi named “Stone’s Throw.” In describing this little place in the novel, I need to let people feel it – breathe it in – and not just see it. This is what Steinbeck planned to do for the Salinas Valley in East of Eden.
“I want to describe the Salinas Valley in detail but in sparse detail so there can be a real feeling of it. It should be sights and sounds, smells and colors but put down with simplicity as though the boys were able to read it.” – John Steinbeck in Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters
I’m going to pull from my memories of the Mississippi Delta to give a “real feeling” to the little town of Stone’s Throw. Although Stone’s Throw may not be nearly French or Indian enough of a name for the Mississippi Delta. It’s a different place. I feel confident that there is nowhere else in the United States like the Delta in the state of Mississippi.
But can I make you feel like you’re there? To feel the humid air on your skin. To hear the roar of the tractor in the field.
That’s my challenge for today.
