A Tasty Writing Tip from Madeleine L' Engle

Dear Friend,

In Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, Madeleine L' Engle likened her process for writing books to cooking a meal like a French peasant cook:

When I start working on a book, which is usually several years and several books before I start to write it, I am somewhat like a French peasant cook. There are several pots on the back of the stove, and as I go by doing the day's work, I drop a carrot in one, an onion in another, a chunk of meat in another. When it comes time to prepare the meal, I take the pot which is most nearly full and bring it to the front of the stove.

So it is with writing. There are several pots on those back burners. An idea for a scene goes into one, a character into another. When it comes time to write, I bring forward the pot that has the most is it. The dropping in of ideas is something quite conscious; sometimes it happens without my realizing it. I look, and something has been added which is just what I need, but I don't remember when it was added.

When it is time to start work, I look at everything in the pot, sort, arrange, think about character and story line. Most of this part of the work is done consciously, but then there comes a moment of unself-consciousness, of letting go and serving the work.

Madeline L'Engle wrote from home as she raised four children. I love it when I find a great writer whose life experience is a bit like my own. Everyday I cook for my family of seven, so this meal-making analogy is something that speaks to me: Add a bit of something here; shake a dash of something there. I have four book ideas on my mental stove right now. They might need to simmer for ten, fifteen, twenty years.

Roasted Winter Vegetables (one of my husband's favorite sides)

Perhaps, like me, you feel you have very little time to devote to your long term dreams. Would it help to dig out some nice heavy stock pots and place them on your mental stove?

Can you drizzle a little oil in and saute an onion today?

Some day we will say "Bon Appetit!"

Love,
Adriana

P.S. My friend Krista Bjorn is experiencing the fruition of some lifelong dreams right now: a book deal, her own store, and a secret garden! Read about it here.

Big Hairy Audacious Goals

I cannot go one step further on my quest without pausing to recognize the achievements of my friend Carol Weaver from The Well.

I discovered Carol's blog shortly after I started Classical Quest. What a thrill it was to find someone who had actually finished the Well-Educated Mind lists! I discovered that Carol is not only well-educated, she is a well-balanced, largehearted wife, mother, and friend. I love her sense of adventure! I love how her faith in God comes through in her writing. You can't read Carol's blog for long before you notice just how much she loves life!

Carol has read a lot of books. Not only has she completed the WEM lists, she has completed other lists as well. She calls these accomplishments her BHAGs for "Big Hairy Audacious Goals."

In the past 555 weeks she has read 287 classics.

I think all the reading she has done through the years has served her well. Yes, I believe she just might be an example of what reading widely can to for a person of faith. If reading makes us more human, then Carol is very human indeed!

This could be a portrait of Carol Weaver's mind. (Via Pinterest)

Now, hop over to Carol's blog and read this post about her experience with classic literature. Don't forget to comment on her post!

Happy Birthday, Dear Bloggy! (Part One)

Classical Quest  is one year old today!

My mom showed up with this cake for my kids out of the blue the other day. "It was on special!" :) So I stuck a candle in it and dubbed it my blogoversary cake!

I took this pic on a whim. I'm an introvert - which means I'm usually not inclined to stand before a camera. (I could have at least straightened up my bookshelf! Oh well.) The books in the foreground are WEM titles which are stacked on my mantle. The camera is my Sony Cyber Shot. It cost less than $200. I use it to take all of my pictures on Classical Quest.

This past year of my quest has absolutely been a dream come true.

I'm not exaggerating. Not at all.

I've long dreamed of continuing my education, but there's only so far a person can go on her own without a network of challenging friends to bounce ideas off of! I have been abundantly blessed this year with witty, encouraging, intelligent blog-friends from all over the world. I love you people. Seriously, I do. You keep me on my toes. You propel me forward. You make me think harder, dig deeper, laugh louder. I wish I could give each of you a big hug in person.

So I'm looking back today - sharing some highlights from my journey thus far.

January 2012
Started this blog when my fifth baby was one month old. I had been crawling through the autobiography list from The Well Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had for years. At the rate I was going, it was unlikely that I would have been able to finish the five recommended WEM reading lists in my lifetime.

When I started this blog I was reading The Essays of Montaigne and I was positively aching to find people to discuss my reading with.

February
I had one faithful follower, my friend Christine, who used to blog at The Good, The Pure and The Lovely. She wasn't interested in reading through the WEM lists with me, but she was interested in encouraging me. I soaked up her praise like a flower in the sun.

I did a Google search for The Well-Educated Mind and discovered three blogs whose authors were reading through the WEM lists too!

A Classic Case of Madness

An Experiment with the Well Educated Mind

The Sunny Patch

What bliss to find kindred spirits!

After I introduced myself, the ladies from A Classic Case of Madness left comments here inviting me to join them in reading through the WEM fiction list.

I made the decision to switch from the autobiography list to the fiction list. (It was probably the best decision I've made on this journey so far.)

Read The Scarlet Letter along with my new pals.


March
Read Moby Dick. Enjoyed it way more than I ever imagined I would.

Collected 40 of my favorite quotes, which I will probably write a post about if I ever get a chance to take some pictures of the ocean.

Read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, by Donald Miller Loved the idea of taking an active role as co-author (with God) in writing my own life story.

Joined The Classics Club. Though I haven't participated in many of their events, I have connected with some wonderful blog-friends through the club.

April

Read Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Participated in Anne Bogel's Blog Carnival at The Modern Mrs. Darcy, "The Book That Changed My Life".

Writing the post for the blog carnival helped me define the purpose of my quest.

Getting that post up was a major effort. Not long after, I was diagnosed with postpartum depression and nearly shut down my blog. I was struggling on all fronts. My posts became less frequent for a while.

My kids conspired with my husband to surprise me with this new bike. I've always wanted a bike with a basket!

May
I wrote two posts about Uncle Tom's Cabin which helped me define the way I wanted to use my photography on my blog. After this post and this post I decided to use my own pictures as much as possible.

Peonies -- my favorites.

Read Why We Can't Wait, by Martin Luther King Jr. -- not on the WEM list, but still a classic. I was glad I read it fresh off of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

June
Took a road trip to Ripley, Ohio to visit the Rankin House where Harriet Beecher Stowe received inspiration for Eliza, a main character in Uncle Tom's Cabin.

View of the Ohio River and the "One Hundred Steps to Freedom", from the Rankin House lawn. 

Wrote How Did She Do It? because I was still struggling and I needed some personal inspiration. I turned to Harriet Beecher Stowe to learn how to manage a large household and write too.

Read Madame Bovary.

July
Read Crime and Punishment.

Struggled to write. I had high personal standards for the kind of posts I wanted to create and my active lifestyle with five lively children was not blending well. I see now that I was lacking in two areas: sleep and overall time management.

As I relaxed on the front porch, my 2yr old brought me daisies.

To take some pressure off of myself, I started a casual side blog which I called "Quest Notes" (now archived). I lowered my expectations and just put up what ever I could. I was trying very hard to find a way to write everyday and stay sane too. The reality was I wasn't getting enough sleep at night to keep up with everything. I was constantly pushing through -- not feeling well but willing myself to move forward. The postpartum depression had passed, but I still felt numb most of the time. I wasn't giving anything my best.

We went tent camping for a week with my husband and all five of our kids. During the trip, I read about three pages of my WEM novel then stuck the book in the bottom of my suitcase.

My husband is a master at cooking over an open fire.

One of my favorite pictures. I took this while on our family camping adventure last July.

The camping trip was an exciting adventure for all of us. We made some splendid memories, but I returned home with mountain of damp laundry and a staph infection which I had contracted through breastfeeding. Things were thin here at the blog.

At the end of July two great things happened that helped propel me forward on my quest: I read an ebook called What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, by Laura Vanderkam; and I got a prescription for antibiotics.


In my next post I'll revisit highlights from August to January (including how I handled my first heckler). Thanks for stopping by for my blogoversary! Enjoy a piece of cyber cake. Zero calories! 

The Quote that Changed my Life (An Autumn Ramble)

by Adriana

When walking with a friend I've always found it's easier for me to share the deepest parts of myself -- the mistakes I've made, my strengths, my weaknesses, the things I'm most grateful for, my fears,

and my dreams for the future.

You have a dream too. I know you do. (We all do.)

If you were walking by my side over these hills and through these autumn meadows, what would you share with me? What kind of person are you striving to be? 

Nearly a year ago, I read a quote that changed me. I'd like to share it with you because maybe it's just what you need too.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit. ~ Aristotle

The first time I read that, something connected deep within me. I thought, Am I going to spend the rest of my life talking about what I want to do? Reading about it? Day dreaming? No! 

That was the day I started Classical Quest. I've been writing something pretty much every day since -- somedays I write a blog post, often it's just a summary which I jot with a pencil at the end of a chapter of classic literature -- but something!  Recently, I referred to my self as a writer. It came out naturally. I didn't feel awkward about saying it because writing is what I do. A writer is who I am.

What do you do repeatedly? Are you engaged in an excellent habit? It is our habits which define us. They give us a name. They make us who we are.

Here's how I would describe myself based on the positive habits I engage in repeatedly:

giver of affection, advocate for the misunderstood, life-sustainer, memory-maker, vision-caster, mood-setter, self-educator, walker/jogger, photographer, face-reader, deep thinker, person of prayer (How do I say that? Pray-er? Supplicant?) quote-collector, reader, writer

(I'm not going to share my negative habits today!)

The discipline of creation, be it to paint, compose, write, is an effort toward wholeness ...

The artist cannot hold back; it is impossible, because writing, or any other discipline of art, involves participation in suffering, in the ills and the occasional stabbing joys that come from being part of the human drama. ~ Madeline L'Engle

Some of you are hurting. Some of you don't feel whole. There is a nagging ache in your heart because you know there is something you should be doing with your life. I want to encourage you  to set your excellent habit into motion. Don't say, "I don't have time."  --  Our great-grandmothers didn't have time, because they had to churn their own butter and sew their own clothes, but most of us do have time. Turn off the television, shut down your Facebook account -- do whatever you have to do. Life is fleeting. Begin today in some small way. If you are not sure how to begin, feel free to email me at classicalquest@gmail.com. Perhaps I can point you in the direction of a blogger who is on a similar journey.

Do you agree that excellence is a habit?

What new habit do you want to cultivate?

I've shared my positive habits with you. I hope you will share yours with me. I am so inspired by my readers and I want to get to know each of you better. 

How would you describe yourself based on the excellent habits you engage in repeatedly?

(If this post was an encouragement to you, please "like" Classical Quest on Facebook. Thank you!)