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Why is writing so awkward???
This tweet is really very very accurate:
And I have managed to write myself into not one, but TWO corners.
One of them just means cutting out one of my favourite sub-plots, but hey, it was a sub-plot anyway.
The other is more difficult.
A character is saying 'No'. Very firmly and decisively. And I don't know how to get her to say 'Yes'. But until she does, the whole thing is stalled. :(
I was just wondering how your novel was going. pic.twitter.com/qXZTHh6LjY
— I Captcha the Castle (@haszombiesinit) May 6, 2019
And I have managed to write myself into not one, but TWO corners.
One of them just means cutting out one of my favourite sub-plots, but hey, it was a sub-plot anyway.
The other is more difficult.
A character is saying 'No'. Very firmly and decisively. And I don't know how to get her to say 'Yes'. But until she does, the whole thing is stalled. :(
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There's a reason they call this the rough draft stage. I'm just trying to hammer it out -- and then I'll revise the hell out of it.
But hey, if it's any reassurance to you? The professionals have the same problems. I listened to a podcast with Neil Gaiman who said that he kept writing himself into corners with Ocean at the End of the Lane, gave up on it, decided he wasn't good enough to finish it at this time -- until finally he hammered it out. And Good Omens -- he came up with an idea -- sent it to a friend to see if it was workable, forgot about it. The friend came back to him about a year later and asked if he wanted to collaborate on it? OR sign the rights over to him -- because he knew what happened next. Then there's George RR Martin who wrote five books - of the Song of Ice & Fire series, got a television deal, but wrote himself into a major corner in book five and has not been able to get out of it.
Apparently it's something to happens to all writers? (shrugs). Stories have minds of their own, talk back to you, argue, and stubbornly refuse to go where you want. Particularly if you are like me and tend to channel them from some unknown source...then suddenly the source or muse decides to shut up without notice.
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!! Damn. Especially writing it all in free-hand. I have done that occasionally, but I edit so much going along that it just doesn't work.
There's a reason they call this the rough draft stage. I'm just trying to hammer it out -- and then I'll revise the hell out of it.
Oooh yes. I am so much better at editing than the initial draft. As long as I have *something* to work with, I'm happy.
But hey, if it's any reassurance to you? The professionals have the same problems.
Yes, very much so. Hadn't heard those particular stories before, so thank you. I know that Douglas Adams was always painfully behind, and Russell T Davies chronicles his woes exceptionally well in The Writers Tale.
Particularly if you are like me and tend to channel them from some unknown source...then suddenly the source or muse decides to shut up without notice.
Aye. My current main problem is I know what happens next (even if that needs a LOT of editing too), it's just the bridging part that's suddenly decided not to play along.
Anyway, good luck with yours!
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I wrote one novel (not published) -- in which I had the ending and the beginning but could not figure out the middle. The ending was brilliant. But the rest did not work.
My current main problem is I know what happens next (even if that needs a LOT of editing too), it's just the bridging part that's suddenly decided not to play along.
Yep. Have the same problem. My mind skips ahead. I've figured out what happens next, but I have all this bit in between A and D to fill in first. I can't just hop from point A to point D. Or actually in this case point P-W. My mind also likes to tell stories in a non-linear fashion -- I don't tend to think linearally.
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Damn. Hope the middle one day shows up, like 'Ta-daa!' and you can finish it.
but I have all this bit in between A and D to fill in first. I can't just hop from point A to point D. Or actually in this case point P-W. My mind also likes to tell stories in a non-linear fashion -- I don't tend to think linearally.
Writing is such a weird thing! A lot of the time it feels strange to sort of claim that I 'invented' the stories I write, because it sort of feels like they're found objects? Suddenly there's just these PEOPLE in my head, having conversations and going places and doing things, and I don't feel I have much control over them. And maybe you should just write it all out of sequence and see what happens?
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Yep, that's it exactly. And it happens whether I choose to write it down or not. I used to tell them to myself aloud as a child, while bouncing a ball against the wall. Drove my parents crazy -- so they bought me an electric type writer and told me to type it all out instead.
I was told by someone once that I was channeling the story --- which is interesting. I read that Tolkien had the same thing happen with him, at the age of 14 or so, he had the entirety of Middle Earth pop into his head. He wrote the books because he had to get the story out. He saw the world, the language, the characters all of it...as if it were a found object that just popped in his head one day and would not leave.
I considered writing it out of sequence, but I get lost. LOL!
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Oh yes, just sits there in one's head...
I used to tell them to myself aloud as a child, while bouncing a ball against the wall. Drove my parents crazy -- so they bought me an electric type writer and told me to type it all out instead.
That's an interesting start to a career. :)
Tolkien had the same thing happen with him, at the age of 14 or so, he had the entirety of Middle Earth pop into his head. He wrote the books because he had to get the story out. He saw the world, the language, the characters all of it...as if it were a found object that just popped in his head one day and would not leave.
I don't think I knew that, cool! I remember reading C.S.Lewis' autobiography and he and his brother invented a whole magical land (not Narnia, completely different) during their childhood.
I considered writing it out of sequence, but I get lost. LOL!
I hear ya. Although my next thought is that surely Scrivener could work its magic. As long as everything's labelled up, keeping track and adding stuff intermittently should be... doable? But then I don't know how you work...
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That's an interesting start to a career. :)
If only. More a hobby. I'd need a patron for it to be a career.
Although my next thought is that surely Scrivener could work its magic. As long as everything's labelled up, keeping track and adding stuff intermittently should be... doable? But then I don't know how you work...
Been there done that. Scrivener works really well for screen writing and people who like to outline and lots of character notes. But not for people like myself who sort of just write and don't have patience with playing with tech platforms. It's why I went to the notebooks for a bit. I could write anywhere, with no fear of losing it...and none of the tech issues. Also, I was less self-conscious about editing or errors. It's oddly freeing to just write -- without all that tech getting in the way. I think that's why Neil Gaiman and Stephen King write their first drafts in long-hand most of the time. Elmore Leonard also did it that way. A lot of professional writers do...the tech often gets in the way of the creative process.
,
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Or a publishing contract. Never say never!
It's why I went to the notebooks for a bit. I could write anywhere, with no fear of losing it...and none of the tech issues. Also, I was less self-conscious about editing or errors. It's oddly freeing to just write -- without all that tech getting in the way.
Now that's interesting. I can write in notebooks, or anywhere really, (if I have something I want to get down before forgetting it), but I find it slow and cumbersome. I much prefer writing on a computer (and Scrivener is infinitely superior to anything like Word, just because it's so easy to keep track and label everything, and to move stuff around), partly because I edit a lot. Handwriting a sentence and then immediately wanting to change something and then crossing stuff out and having to squeeze stuff in and so on just feels annoying and inefficient. And I STILL have to type it all up. Whereas if I'm typing it, I can change stuff as I please and swap stuff and instantly get a feel for how it works (or not).
Funny how we're all different. :)
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True. The woman who wrote the bestseller -- Where the Crawdad's Sing, her first novel by herself. Prior to that she'd written nonfiction nature stuff with her ex-husband. Anyhow, she was in her 70s.
So...it's always possible, I suppose.
I write oddly. And I've gotten so used to Word and notebooks. Scrivener doesn't translate well to other mediums and is hard to email to myself at work. See? I write during my lunch break or during down-time at work, and at home. And sometimes on trips to family. So I'm constantly emailing my book back and forth to myself, and Scrivener isn't really designed for that. It's not that you can't do it -- I have, it's just cumbersome, while word is really easy to do it with. Also I don't have Scrivener on my work computer. That's not permissible.
It has a lot to do with having a full time day job and sneaking time to write on the subway, train, during lunch and in the evenings.
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Indeed. Although there is also the fact that publishing 'properly' is historically very much a male construct, and that women would often share their writings in different ways. And you have already self-published!
It has a lot to do with having a full time day job and sneaking time to write on the subway, train, during lunch and in the evenings.
*nods* That makes sense. Happy writing! :)
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Stacey
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And yes, the inevitable 'how's the writing coming along?' My hubby doesn't do it (thank goodness!), but other people have. It is enough to make my Musie go into AA. Hell. That may be where She is and it would explain why writing Does Not Happen for me anymore. Ugh.
*HUGS*
Good luck, honey. I know you will find a way to appease the character - and maybe something better will come from it. I'm sure the subplot would work well in another book. Never toss an idea if you can help it!
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LOL. Although in this case, the question is 'Would you allow a 16 year old to go meet a complete stranger?' And the answer to that is 'No'. So, I need to go back and... something.
It is enough to make my Musie go into AA. Hell. That may be where She is and it would explain why writing Does Not Happen for me anymore. Ugh.
She'll come back when you least expect.
Good luck, honey. I know you will find a way to appease the character - and maybe something better will come from it.
I will get there in the end, and am happily editing another part now, so hopefully complaining about it, and then leaving it, will do the trick. ;)
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A character is saying 'No'. Very firmly and decisively. And I don't know how to get her to say 'Yes'.
Maybe another character will have to step in?
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