Why is writing so awkward???

[elisi]

This tweet is really very very accurate:

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. :(

Comments

[elisi]

Yep, that's it exactly. And it happens whether I choose to write it down or not.
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...

[shadowkat]

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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[elisi]

If only. More a hobby. I'd need a patron for it to be a career.
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. :)

[shadowkat]

Or a publishing contract. Never say never!

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.

[elisi]

So...it's always possible, I suppose.
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! :)