(writing) Thoughts on craft and blockages

[vg_ford]

I'm working my way slowly through Julia Cameron's "The Complete Artist's Way" - it's a very dense book, and I've discovered that even though I read fast (I've read the HP books in an afternoon) I need to slow down and pay attention to this. I'm not doing any of the exercises, not yet, but I'm reading them, and the information is slowly sinking in. It's very Zen, which I'm not, and I'm having some issues wrapping my brain around some of it, especially the parts where she's saying to just let go and let your brain create. I'm a control freak. I have to be in control - I can't just "create." I need plans, I need patterns. And yet, when things really get going, I can sort of feel what she's talking about.

JC Hutchins tweeted something this weekend that really hit home with me. He said, "You can either tweet about writing, or you can write." I've done a lot of talking about writing here in the last year. According to Cameron, that's one of the classic signs of a blocked creative - someone who talks about creating but doesn't do a lot of it. I'm tired of talking about it. It's time to write.

Period. No matter if I have to get up early, squeeze in some time at lunch or in between calls, or after I get home from work. I need to write. I need to create.

Speaking of creating - I've got a special treat for you guys coming up in the next week. irysangel's book Gentlemen Prefer Succubi comes out tomorrow - I've got two copies in my hot little hands, and she's agreed to sign one to give away! So I'm going to throw a contest, and she's going to stop by for an interview. Look for the contest announcement here tomorrow, and the interview in about a week.

Yes, I'm a tease. Sue me. :D

Comments

[fencerm2.livejournal.com]

I've often noted that you and I have veeeeeeeeeeeeery different creative processes. You outline your whole story before you write - I MAYBE have a vague outline in my head of beginning and end - but sort of find my way from point A to point B as I write. And I figure while your way seems alien and a bit odd to MY way of thinking - I do not doubt MY way strikes you the same. :-) But both are perfectly valid methods, as far as I can see.

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've noticed that when I only start with a vague idea, my writing peters out very quickly. I'm not that intuitive without a map. But I find those that are fascinating. :)

[suelder.livejournal.com]

So far, all I've done with The Artist's Way are the pages.

I've tried to outline, doesn't work. I've tried to write in little snatches of time, but that only goes so far.

I've found that, for the big scenes, I need time and time to really get into it, to become my characters and really figure what they'd do and how they'd feel / react.

I'll have to look further than the first chapter...

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Hee!

I actually found the big one on eBay for $13, so I bought it. The writing is beautiful - she's very poetic, and yet very grounded at the same time.

I've found snatches of time are good for plotting - today, for example, I'm asking myself questions about my plot and answering them. Not really writing prose, but jotting answers, which will turn into plot when I get home tonight and commit outlining.

I've come to the conclusion (especially after camilla_anna gave me the talking-to I needed last writer's group) that I'm just not an organic writer. It just doesn't work. I have bits and pieces and nothing to link them, and I get frustrated and throw things at my walls. I pout. I whine. And that doesn't get writing done.

So I'll outline. Maybe 2010 will be the year of the outline, when I start outlining all my started projects and see where it gets me. Who knows. I just know that I need to start doing SOMETHING.

[aishabintjamil.livejournal.com]

You're quite right about the need to write (says the person who hasn't found time to do anything but edits this entire month....), but some time on promo is important too. Torquere has a social email list, and a LJ group, which the various authors take turns hosting. One of the senior parters had this to say back in August about the value of participating in them:

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> Authors who do regular LJ days (ie folks who are around once every few months, or at least when the new book comes out) get close to 20% more sales than those who are never seen or heard. Authors who participate on both the LJ and the Yahoogroup get 25 to 30% more.
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That's coming from the person who runs the royalty checks every quarter, so she has good, hard numbers. The trick is to balance the promo-related time with the writing time.

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, and I need to start spending more time on promo this year. Sunday or Friday I'm going to clean up the office to start podcasting, because I REALLY want to get both novels out this year. But I'm finding myself not having anything to promote because I'm not writing as much. I need more product.

[aishabintjamil.livejournal.com]

Doing this as a separate comment because it's a distinctly separate train of thought.

You've been looking at the organic vs. outliner dichotomy of writing. There's another axis to consider. Is your work charater-driven or plot-driven? If it's plot driven, i.e. you plan the plot, and then plug the characters into it, then I don't see how you can avoid outlining. If it's character driven, then the organic approach works a lot better.

Character-driven is a lot closer to running an FRP game. You have have a basic situation (let's say, someone is killing left-handed antique dealers), and you have a character who intersects with it somehow. You immerse yourself in the character, and see where the character's reactions take you.

Character-driven is what works for me. I tried the plot-driven thing with Sara, and it was really kind of flat. The real problem with that first book is that I never managed to make Sara come alive for me so I could get behind her eyes and see where we ended up. I want to go back to the story line someday, but before I can, I have to find a way to get into Sara's head. I think that may work eventually - I'm better at the trick now than I was two years ago.

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

See, I tend to think of my writing as more character-driven - I always start with a character or two and then think, "What if X happens?" But I think we've pretty much decided that I'm NOT an organic writer, and my issues with plot are pretty well documented. But still, you've got some interesting points to ponder here.