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Bobbi Jo
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The original version of this post can be found at http://groups.google.com/groups?ic=1& On Sat, 27 Jan 2001 06:02:47 GMT, Katie McN wrote:
Hi Sigerson ! <snip of intro ending with>... and the rule seems to be that the one the works is the one you should use. Definite agreement. 'The one that works' means a method that actually produces stories people want to read. We hear over and over again about the BHC and how this person or that has 50, 100, 150 or more stories in some state of not complete on their hard drive. The method they are using might not be a good one. Method? What method? I write. A lot. For many years. In fragments. Pieces. Vignettes. Single ideas. Characters. My mind works that way, going thirty directions at once. I'm currently writing two stories for fans as a tune up ... <snip thru link to a cute story; I owe you an e-mail but the text is lost in the BH> ... While each story started out from a different idea, the process I use is the same. Once I have the idea I think about it for some period of time. This could be a day or a week and sometimes more than that. The main pieces fall together during this time and at a certain point I have to start writing. ... Once an idea enters my mind, I _NEED_ to get it down on paper (or hard drive, floppy, etc.). Otherwise, my ideas evaporate, never to be seen again. Maybe it's old age. Ideas jump out all the time. I wake up in the middle of a dream and rush to the puter before I pee, even tho a full bladder woke me. I see an old woman on the street, and end up with a description on the back of a bill. I write all the time, a little scene inspired by an event (Gold Cup), a character sketch inspired by a photo, a visit to a store, or whatever. ... I call this point the place where the story is forcing itself out. Sounds familiar, but different, too. At some point, a full story idea gets stuck in my mind and becomes a temporary obsession, a form of insanity, when characters and scenes from years of writing in tiny scraps start fitting together like puzzle pieces. Once that happens, I search for all the little scraps and start "real" (in my mind) writing. And, once the full story line is in my mind, with characters and a time frame and sequence, I find more inspiration in everything around me. I used to develop a lot of the same documentation you describe in your post, but I no longer do that. I found that the story will start writing itself at a certain point and so all the preliminary work I do is generally a waste of time. Frequently this is a way to avoid starting to write ... <snip> The story will write itself but only if I plot out the time line and make my character sketches into real bio's and such. For me, the story is there. The characters are there. My function becomes stringing them together in a logical and engaging stream of words, again, what I consider "real" writing even tho I may have tens of thousands of words already written. I use the Word Outliner to develop my story outline. The title is the first line and then I use a single indent for the hook, 1 or more scenes and a conclusion. Each .. <snip of technique> I can never get to the title until after I finish. Oh, and I despise Word. But, for me to string pieces together requires a pretty detailed outline, a roadmap to get me from "once upon a time" to "happily ever after" without mixing up my characters and subplots, all of which already exist. Once I'm happy with the outline I open a new document in split screen so I can see both pages at the same time. <snip> Yes, I love the split screen feature of my Word Perfect 4.2. I still use it for all my writing. It's like fuzzy socks, so comfortable when work needs to be done. I search for the right snippet of an idea, call it into the bottom screen, then cut'n'paste to the work on top, add or subtract words to make it work in context, then move on. I usually start from the top and try to write in sequence. (...) Since my mind doesn't work in sequence, I rarely write that way except to struggle with connecting the bits and pieces that I have already written. Again, "real" writing (aka 'work'). Recently I've been writing stories in the 4000-6000 word range. (...) Let's see, GWUA2 is already 33 chapters, about 5k words each, and still not finished... but progressing. <snipped a bit> I start each writing session by editing what I did in the prior sessions. This serves several purposes. First, it helps me remember what the story is all about. Next, it's a warmup to get me started on the next part. Finally, it reduces the amount of editing I have to do before I send the story off to Denny Wheeler for the actual editing. I avoid rereading at this stage. Otherwise, I begin rewriting each time I read thru a portion of the story. When I tried your technique, Katie, I ended up perpetually rewriting the same scenes again and again. After a dozen rewrites, I often ended up with something almost identical to what I wrote the first time. When I've completed the rough draft, I go through it one or more times editing out things that don't make sense. I like to reduce the size of the story and throw things out during this phase. I try to find wasted words and problems I frequently introduce to the story. My editor is very good at this sort of thing, but I try to catch as much as I can up front so he can concentrate on the fine points. Since Mike Ink found me, I self-edit exactly twice. After a major portion is complete, I read thru it, cutting fluff and fixing the most obvious errors. Once I have a proposed rough draft, I read the story aloud in monotone. I've found my eyes will play tricks on me and read what's not there or skip over things that shouldn't be there. For some reason this doesn't happen when I speak the story out loud. I use monotone because I don't want to add anything that won't be their for the reader. If I read it like a story telling session, the reading might overcome problems that will still be there when it is read another person. Mirages are a problem only with things I write. Picking apart someone else's work is easy. I do read portions aloud but my stories tend to be a bit long to read all the way through. Maybe that's my problem. Laziness? I let the story sit for a day and read it over again. I've always found that there are going to be little things that have to change during this process. By the time I finish a story, months have passed since I began stringing words together. When I finish, I make time to read the whole story from start to finish, correcting obvious errors and often rewriting sections as I go. That's my second self- edit. When I've finished all that I send the story to Denny. Sometimes he sends it back and says it's done. He can change my stories and doesn't have to inform me that he does. In some cases he questions story concepts and I do a rewrite. Since I'm not in love with any of it, I usually have no problem making the changes that he suggests. He may get the story back at this point for another go round or I could just send it out depending on what changed. Mike's the best at finding the flaws -- in logic, sequence, and consistency -- that I inject into my stories. He's also incredibly patient and diplomatic because, since I'm always in love with my characters and their predicaments, I hate to see a single word changed. I'm learning to heed his advice because, when I do so, the story is always better. Like everyone else, I run into writers block. For me this usually is a fear of the story. There are several reasons why this happens. I may not really know what I want to do with the story and stall until something comes to me. (...) My blocks seem to be different. I write, but it comes out all wrong. I rewrite. Wrong again. I _KNOW_ the story, where it is going, what the characters need to do, with whom, when, etc. But my fingers just won't make it come out right. My biggest fear is that the frustration will never end. (...) It's possible that I have other projects in mind and wander off to play with them instead of doing the hard work of finishing what I started. I feel overwhelmed by what I'm doing and hide from it. My overall style makes that form of escapism all too easy. At my best, I am working on several writing projects at the same time. I'm also collecting more character studies, vignettes, scenes, etc. I feel frustrated and look for an outlet, an escape. My kinks make it easy, too. Trying out that new swatter made from the old leather weightlifting belt can be chalked up as research. <snip> There is the fear that the story isn't any good ... <snip> I am more critical of myself than anyone else can be. Yes, you judge yourself too harshly. An MD+KM collaboration is sure to produce something spectacular. I, too, fear that what I'm writing is crap. Fortunately, when I do so, Mike tells me (if I let him look at it before I post it). <more snipped> I make a list of the stories and write them one at a time in order. If I'm stuck on a given story, I don't start in on another one. Instead I continue to write until I've written five pages. That is my minimum output for a given day. If the stuff turns out to be crap I throw it away. I've found that one paragraph, one page or one day later the tide turns and better stuff starts showing up. Eventually the story is finished and I do all the steps mentioned above. I force myself to write. But I found my frustration limit last Hallowe'en when I spent hundreds of hours on 'Grandma's House' without producing a passable story. I throw a lot of dung in the heap, my BH. Sometimes, with time to ferment and compost, it comes out as something fine or at least as fertilizer to add at the right time and place. Actually, I lied. I don't force myself to write. I have to force myself to get away from the keyboard and get on with real life when I can't write anything worth the effort of reading. Writing is a compulsion. But I have learned that sometimes, when I'm stuck, I need to move on to something else, something productive, totally different, rather than obsessing on a project that's stalled. An hour, day, or week later, the story that I was stuck on will still be there and something will spark inspiration and a way to make it work. What about my hopper? <snip> Glad it works for you... and that you have the time to make it happen. I'm making steady progress and Mike has the first 24 chapters of GWUA2. The next 8 will be zipped and off to him by the small hours Monday. My RL obligations have eased and the weather keeps us all indoors and me at the keyboard. I'm a seasonal writer; I get to write more when the weather is bad (too hot, too cold, too wet). (...) The reason I'm pressing so hard is that I want to get started on a story further down the list but won't break my own rules and just start working on it. In this way the "better" stuff acts as an incentive for me to get the rest of the work out. Are you taking this _TOO_ seriously? Artist and Model. A key story in the Mary Kay series which I can't work out yet. I'm still in the thinking stage on this one and have been for a year or more. Is it next? I'll Do Anything. <snip> I'm imagining the parody. Anyone brave enough to get past the codes will be in for a treat. Hecate Does Texas. This is a collaboration possibility with Hecate. We have some general ideas but ran into technical problems ... <snip> Another for the best seller/downloaded list. Which Witch. This will be my Halloween story for next year. I will not NOT _N-O-T_ try to get 'Grandma's House' ready for next Hal... But wait, if I... Sequel to Slut's Story. I think I'll be doing a Revenge of the Slut but haven't decided when it will get done. Sequel to Karen:School for Sluts. The first part is the story I'm getting ready for editing tonight. The sequel will have something to do with her after she graduates from college. I know way too much about sequels. It's hard to let a favortite character die of neglect. Novel. I continue to plan on ending the Katie R series with a novel called Katie at 15. I don't feel like ending the series yet so this stays on the shelf. Novel. The Mary Kay stories are concept tests for a novel I plan on writing. I want to write a literate FF Rom story and just about have it worked out, but don't know when I can start it. The time may be right for a mainstream publisher to take on a good FF Rom story. I would pay real money for a bound edition and even show up for the book signing at Borders. Non-Fiction. I'm working up a proposal now for a non-fiction work and expect to write it sometime this year. This will be published in the regular press and not on assm. I've actually been published in 'regular' press. Got paid real money, too. Once. A whole $25 (I think; long time ago) for an article in Gurney's Gardening News.. which went bankrupt with the issue in which my article appeared. A couple of fillers were paid in copies. So much for my career as a professional writer. But I wish you the best in your endeavor! I suspect that much of what is described above will be done within 12 months and when we arrive in 2002 my hopper will be no bigger than it is now. I suspect this has something to do with my style of work and the discipline I use when I write. My hopper will be far larger than it is today... for the same reasons. RL inteferes with my writing. Most of my creative writing is in snippets that become stories only with effort when I find the time. I do write every day. Obsessively. But sometimes it's for only half an hour. Current projects include: Good Wife University Alumni. All eight sequels are outlined. One down. One seriously in-the-works and nearing completion. Some work done on the other six. All eight women will get to happily ever after... eventually. A speculative science fiction novel. There's even some sex in it but not enough for ass*. It, too, is an obsession. Growing the hopper full of ideas, scenes, characterizations, descriptions, clippings, articles, etc. I will die with tens of thousands of words written that never made it into a story but without those words, I would never have any stories. Even 'Decisions,' my contribution to the anniversary flash festival, was an unused snippet intended for a character in GWUA2. I would very much like to here from other people who would be willing to share their methods. And, I hope Rui Jorge could start a web page for the methods. <snip> I'd like to see more, too. Both Katie & Sigerson describe some similarities that I see in my style but everyone is very different in the whole. Now, who will take on compiling and editing our comments on writing methods? I'll read some more stories.. as soon as I finish writing some more stories. bobbi jo |
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