Channelling the 90s to Unlock Inspiration
Written by J. Mitchel Reed
When I was working on Revernota, I was living in the West End of Toronto in a sort of rundown apartment with a friend of mine who was always very supportive of my pursuits in art. I tried some different things to push along my attempt to finish a first novel. I wrote on a typewriter to try and get ideas down without being distracted by grammar or finicking around. I went to Trinity Bellwoods Park nearby the apartment (which I still frequent for inspiration) to disconnect from wifi and focus only on the words in front of me. I free associated in notebooks and read books that gripped me for inspiration. In the end, the most and really only effective method was simply strapping myself in and going on a writing binge for as long as possible. Between those binges (which could’ve been days weeks or months) I spent an extraordinary amount of time ruminating, walking around and thinking and then thinking some more; about the characters, where the story was going next, what was really important, what made sense and ‘what the hell am I trying to do here anyway?’ Rinse and repeat.
That’s what it took to finish the book as a first draft, though I had been fairly seriously editing sections with my mom as I went along. The process of writing or creating any kind of expressive art is riddled with self-doubt, suspicion, and paranoia as far as I’m concerned. However, that can all disappear in periods of total immersion into the thing you’re creating, which is bliss in some sense, a sort of meditative state that any artist tries desperately to hold on to for as long as possible. The key to that lock is true solitude and as calm and open a mind as possible.
A big challenge for me then and now is being able to properly disconnect from distracting technology (yes, I have considered getting a laptop with no wifi card). It’s always been a serious problem for me and I think for my generation as a whole. This can be observed by the way we all carry our devices around like an adult blanky. Finding time to be truly and completely disconnected (from people and tech!) is rare and happens to be as essential to the writing process as oxygen to life.
The decision to set the book in the 90s was motivated in part by this problem. I didn’t want to write about kids running around with devices and communicating with each other via [insert one of several dozen messaging apps here]. I thought it kind of sucked the magic out of everything. The devices tend to overshadow a lot of magic even in our own lives due to the way we’ve come to revere them in an almost fanatical way.
It’s hard to remember what I was like as a person when I started writing Revernota about 6 years ago. I know that I wanted to attempt to capture some sense of childhood adventure and imagination that I experienced when I was young. I did go on little quests as a kid in a small town with my best friend, everything was a big deal to us, and everything had the potential to be truly magical. Revernota is that childish-adventure-mind blown up and expanded to the highest degree I could muster.
Set your device down and meet me in the 90s; maybe we can remember what it feels like to be kids again.
REVERNOTA by J. Mitchel Reed is being release this fall from Chicken House Press. Pre-order your copy today!
J. Mitchel Reed (B.A) is an accomplished filmmaker, musician and writer. Mitch has lived in Tobago as well as Crete, Greece, and currently resides in a small town north of Toronto. Mitch enjoys walks in nature, podcasts and playing the piano. His first novel, Revernota, is a young adult fantasy like no other.
