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madwriterHere are the three that I'm fighting at the moment, aside from the general chronic one about how to do the spectacularness of Arizona justice in writing at all:
(1) How to do justice in writing to the massive undertaking that was the Hohokam canals. Originally built between circa AD 300-900, these was the biggest canal system in the New World--perhaps the whole world--over 500 miles' worth watering 100,000 acres of the southwestern desert. I've finished this chapter, but am still rather unhappy with it overall.
(2) For the next chapter, a double whammy: First, how to do justice to another massive undertaking, the 10th-12th century astronomical temple complex of Chaco Canyon, aligned to the movements of the sun and moon across fifteen miles, with a central temple (Pueblo Bonito) the size of the Roman Colosseum. And second, doing justice to the great pueblos that started being built around 1150. (And oh yeah, did I mention that the Chacoans also built a north-south highway from Mexico to Northern Arizona that ran as straight as any Roman road?)
(3) I've always felt like my descriptions of natural scenery and the elements stink...or at least don't match even a shadow of the real thing...and so I've started reading Willa Cather's classic novel about the Southwest (in this case New Mexico), Death Comes for the Archbishop, to get some lessons. Yikes, but she can be a terrifying teacher. So can Michener in this regard, for all that. But both are excellent examples of how you can create a great image from a few simple but well-chosen words.
On the other hand, I've spent the last few days doing the last spot research for the next section of the book (about the Anasazi) and chomping more and more at the bit to get started, so at least my inferiority complexes are manageable.
(1) How to do justice in writing to the massive undertaking that was the Hohokam canals. Originally built between circa AD 300-900, these was the biggest canal system in the New World--perhaps the whole world--over 500 miles' worth watering 100,000 acres of the southwestern desert. I've finished this chapter, but am still rather unhappy with it overall.
(2) For the next chapter, a double whammy: First, how to do justice to another massive undertaking, the 10th-12th century astronomical temple complex of Chaco Canyon, aligned to the movements of the sun and moon across fifteen miles, with a central temple (Pueblo Bonito) the size of the Roman Colosseum. And second, doing justice to the great pueblos that started being built around 1150. (And oh yeah, did I mention that the Chacoans also built a north-south highway from Mexico to Northern Arizona that ran as straight as any Roman road?)
(3) I've always felt like my descriptions of natural scenery and the elements stink...or at least don't match even a shadow of the real thing...and so I've started reading Willa Cather's classic novel about the Southwest (in this case New Mexico), Death Comes for the Archbishop, to get some lessons. Yikes, but she can be a terrifying teacher. So can Michener in this regard, for all that. But both are excellent examples of how you can create a great image from a few simple but well-chosen words.
On the other hand, I've spent the last few days doing the last spot research for the next section of the book (about the Anasazi) and chomping more and more at the bit to get started, so at least my inferiority complexes are manageable.
