Inner Listening
Inner listening offers the writer the opportunity to unlearn.
To unlearn old patterns, to move away from society’s myths, and to regain lost innocence. It establishes our vulnerability (This takes courage!) and essentially prepares the writer to receive the word without all the constructs of ego.
Practiced inner listening becomes a state of being that elevates consciousness, emphasizing charity and empathy. Charity and empathy are portals to developing character. Thus, inner listening allows the writer to descend into the heart of character. All good plots come from the organic interaction of good characters. They grow together, so know your characters, let them reveal themselves, complicate them. Allow them to drive your plot. Plot is the force that holds the universe of story together. It is gravitational.
How important is this to the fiction writer?
This is the work of fiction. Writers thrust their characters into situations designed to produce pressure from a variety of sources to observe how their character responds, how their character leads them into the story.
Metaphor plays an integral role here. Consider how defining a personal metaphor might be applied to a character. Might metaphor be used to build integrity and unity in the presentation of the character within the narrative? Could metaphor define my characters and their lives specifically and individually?
For the reader, it is the character’s response that defines him or her. The character responds, decisions are made, and the plot moves forward. Here is one example:
If you have a character who views life as a battle, this character is in a war metaphor. Confrontation is their preferred way of handling problems. War words pepper their language.
If you have a character who adopts “time as money” thinking, imagine what type of person they might be? What attitudes and decisions would they prefer?
As inspiration arrives at its own accord, it must be anchored in grace, and discipline, and, most importantly, the raw humility of just showing up. The practice of inner listening by whatever name we may choose to claim it, demands practice, honesty, and offers revelation through the activation of poetic gravity.
Poetic gravity is a collection of metaphorical thought that entwines and marries. It empowers the narrative word through theme and concept, and propels story.