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Writer(ly) stuff
Nov. 5th, 2004 07:55 amQuestions and some background-
How do you start a story? What is your impetus? Do you try to send a message consciously with a story (I don't, but I'd be curious about who does). I find first lines to be the hardest and will sometimes start stories in the middle or jump around completely rather than worry about that first line, that first scene. I also tend to have a good idea about where a story will go but I find my characters surprising me from time to time, and insisting that NO! this is how something happened.
I'm actually in a decent writing streak right now. I'm jumping from project to prject like a chihuhua on speed, and it's amusing the heck out of my brain. I like short chunks of work. I like short poetry blurbs.
Some background on my writing, I love writing, and shorter forms more often than sweeping novels...but I get wicked self critical and then get bad cases of writer's block. I know there are some people who think writer's block is just authors being lazy but it is a really genuine phenomena with me. I assume the same applies to other people. The thing about it is I still physically need to write, and there are stories, peoples, and places crowding up my head and not letting me be, but I get to a point where I'm so self critical that I can't get anything out on paper. I wind up in a mound of frustration from it. I've shown friends my work from time periods where I'm relaxed and when I'm not and there is a real difference in the quality and strength of the pieces. I am my own worst enemy. Does this happen to anyone else? How do you work around it?
My Nanowrimo project(s) are mostly etheral right now but I have a couple of beginnings. Now my biggest problem is how to make one of my vilians be convincing. Pure evil seems trite and too easy after all. I better go ask him what his fatal flaws are and why he's the way he is...
How do you start a story? What is your impetus? Do you try to send a message consciously with a story (I don't, but I'd be curious about who does). I find first lines to be the hardest and will sometimes start stories in the middle or jump around completely rather than worry about that first line, that first scene. I also tend to have a good idea about where a story will go but I find my characters surprising me from time to time, and insisting that NO! this is how something happened.
I'm actually in a decent writing streak right now. I'm jumping from project to prject like a chihuhua on speed, and it's amusing the heck out of my brain. I like short chunks of work. I like short poetry blurbs.
Some background on my writing, I love writing, and shorter forms more often than sweeping novels...but I get wicked self critical and then get bad cases of writer's block. I know there are some people who think writer's block is just authors being lazy but it is a really genuine phenomena with me. I assume the same applies to other people. The thing about it is I still physically need to write, and there are stories, peoples, and places crowding up my head and not letting me be, but I get to a point where I'm so self critical that I can't get anything out on paper. I wind up in a mound of frustration from it. I've shown friends my work from time periods where I'm relaxed and when I'm not and there is a real difference in the quality and strength of the pieces. I am my own worst enemy. Does this happen to anyone else? How do you work around it?
My Nanowrimo project(s) are mostly etheral right now but I have a couple of beginnings. Now my biggest problem is how to make one of my vilians be convincing. Pure evil seems trite and too easy after all. I better go ask him what his fatal flaws are and why he's the way he is...
