Maybe it’s because I’m too much like Dean from Corner Booth. Perhaps it’s because I’m just weird. Maybe both. Yeah. Probably that.
But silence seems to be a theme with me. When I wrote Speak Now, I did it because I wanted a less dialogue-driven novel. I thought I could make it work that way. I failed. In every way. Only my friend, Michele and a few loyal readers disagree with me. A very few, I suspect.
Update: I changed my mind about that book in 2017. You can read about it in my post, Speak Now is Like a Fungus: It Grew on Me.
Still, it was a fun experiment.
Then I wrote Corner Booth. The reason was kind of to redeem the quiet/silence idea. And, well, I think the Lord wanted me to learn a few things about that whole “a time to be silent and a time to speak” thing. The James thing–you know, “let everyone be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”
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WHOA!
Parenthetical light bulb moment. Look at that progression up there. “SWIFT TO HEAR. Slow to speak (so you can keep LISTENING), slow to anger (another thing to keep you listening). But you know what else?!! You are less likely to become angry if you actually LISTEN to what someone says and hear the whole thing–let them talk it out so they can clarify what came out backwards etc. W.H.O.A. *reels for a bit*
Anywho. Then when I was going through my (wow… still reeling. WOW!) stack of unfinished manuscripts, I ran across the third Journey of Dreams book.
Seaside, not to put too fine a point on it, takes place near the ocean. Shocker, right? I knew it was about half done, so I decided to look at it this past January to decide where it went on the editorial calendar. Began reading. I choked. Here’s the opening excerpt.
Seaside: Journey of Dreams book four
My year of semi-silence began on a beach. If I close my eyes, I still hear those first sounds of my life in Seaside. Who knew that seagulls were so loud and obnoxious, not to mention stupid? They flew overhead, fought each other on the shore, and pretty much made nuisances of themselves. They were like kids on a school playground, squabbling about something all the time. When that first wave lapped at my toes and woke me, the first thing I heard was the distinct call of a seagull, and then the crash of the water as a new one rolled just a smidge farther up on the sand to wet the ball of my foot.
Those waves were like the snooze button on an alarm clock. Did you ever imagine that those awful screeches got louder every time you hit the button? I always did until my step-dad yelled at me to turn it off and get my lazy butt out of bed. That usually got me going. Anyway, those waves were like that, inching up the shore a bit more each time as if gently trying to force me into full consciousness.
As my eyes adjusted to the sunshine, I assumed I was dreaming. I mean, west Texas just doesn’t have beaches, but that was exactly where I was. I pulled my feet away from the water and sat up, blinking and wondering why my dream was so real after years of not remembering any dreams but the nightmares that I tried to forget. My step-dad always said that I was too dramatic to remember anything normal. “Julie, that girl has to make a big deal out of everything.”
I’d heard it a million times.
This was different. The waves, each sound, the feel of sand on my hands and even my face as I brushed away a tear that I still don’t understand. Why was I crying? It was all so bizarre. I remember walking crab style—how ironic… or is it? I can’t remember if that fits as irony or is just coincidence. Mr. Japier, my English teacher, was a stickler about stuff like that. Well, I did. I crawled crab-style up the beach behind me so the water couldn’t reach me and waited for the dream to end. I kind of hoped it was a sign from God that my step-dad had walked out on us for good.
A voice behind me nearly made me scream. “I wondered if I’d have to drag you up the shore.”
AAAK!!!
What’s with me and silence???
I don’t get it! BLECH and all that jazz. So, I’m here to ask you a simple but obvious question. Do I need to change this story? Are three books with silence/quiet/not speaking (sorta in this one) just too many out of about 60 in print? (did I just write 60? WHOA!) What are your thoughts?
I have learned so many good things from each of your Journey of Dreams books. I have been eagerly awaiting this book after reading a sample. I know that it will be excellent. And I don’t find the main character’s silence the same as the silence in other books, because she is the one “speaking” the story, so you still hear her clearly.
That’s true! Good point! 😀
The first thing I thought of when I read the title of this post was a quote by Miles Davis, actually (my hubby is a jazz musician and often informs me of this kind of thing). Davis once said, “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.” The hubs and I have been composing songs on noteflight.com and what I find interesting about that quote is, basically, when it comes to arranging/playing cover songs, Davis tries to focus on improvising around the melody, only playing enough of the chord changes and melody that the song is recognizable. This leaves room for filling in elsewhere with what really makes his version of the song unique. He also said that, regarding composition, choosing places to place a rest are as important as placing a note,
I look forward to being a published versus ‘as yet unpublished’ author and hopefully sooner than later. Meanwhile, to the extent that I can relate as an author, I’ve noticed it’s important to have characters to pause once awhile, or to be cut off or interrupted, for that matter if our stories are going to mimic real life. We need those moments in real life too, of course, to take the time to observe as much as to be observed by someone else.
Anyway, I enjoyed your post and found it very thought-provoking. I wandered down a tangent path but just thought I’d share a bit of where your post sent me 🙂 Thanks!
This was so encouraging! Thank you! I absolutely agree that variety keeps things from becoming repetitive.
Is Highland an okay stand-alone or should one read Prarie first?
Absolutely can stand alone. Prairie just introduces you to the idea of the alternate place but other than the fact that they take place in alternate places, they have nothing in common.
OK. No. Please don’t change Seaside’s story. You seriously hooked me with just that excerpt. Those books are quickly becoming my favorite of your series. I love how you write and other than the Bible and Dee Henderson (you more than Dee but don’t tell her lol) you are the author I read, reread and read again. I cannot wait for Seaside and for the new Hartfield mystery! Thank you for writing!
Okay–I read the first two Dream books, but haven’t seen the third. Which one is it? In this post you said Seaside was the fourth book. And I wanted to tell you that I loved the first two. They were different and I was really caught up in them. I can’t wait for the next one! In addition–please don’t quit writing about silence and quiet! My hubby is like those characters and they have given me some insight into that kind of personality. I’m the talker in our family and need to learn about responding to a quiet person! Then of course, I need to be reminded that I must be still if I am going to hear the Lord speak to me. Wouldn’t that solve a lot of problems in my life! 🙂
I think you should continue with Seaside as is! I want to read the rest of the book already and you haven’t even finished writing it!
Don’t change a thing. By and large, I believe, people are afraid of silence. They rush to fill the void with chatter, with loud music, with beeps and buzzes of electronic games, with ever present text chimes. In literature, silences are most often “uncomfortable” and pauses are “pregnant”…yet Scripture admonishes us to “Be still, and know that I am God”. Personally, I am a big fan of companionable silence. My husband and I spent two hours on Saturday, sitting together quietly, watching God gently soak our fields with much needed rain. Perhaps a dozen words between us. The closeness we shared, good. I can think of times that I felt God speaking to me when everything was quiet and still, would I have heard Him, had the silence been chased away?
Your books, the way you deal with silence? Maybe those will be a turning point for someone who is afraid of what they might learn about themselves or about God in the stillness.
Don’t change a thing. Please.
Can’t have too many stories about such different characters learning the lessons of silence! I (apparently like so many) need reminders to keep still and allow the Lord to speak to or through me instead of me blurting out the drivel which generates inside my mouth! So write on and keep’em quiet!
Love love love Corner Booth (just re-re-read it !)
Hi Chautona,
I say keep the silence going.. we all need to learn more of it. Be still and know that I am God. Anyway, can’t wait to read this one too!
You have me very intrigued with Seaside!!! I WANNA READ IT!!!! Hate teasers where I get drawn in and now have to wait on the book to be released!!! AAAKKKKK!!!! Needless to say, I love the Journey to Dreams series…KEEP WRITING!!!!! And release it soon!!! LOL!!!!