Harvey, I guess I must be some sort of uneducated heathen. I started writing fiction because I had no choice. The stories would not leave me alone until they were written. There was no ‘outlining’ or organization save as a series of scenes that suggested a direction. This means that, aside from grad school papers, all of my writing is ‘into the dark’.
Some of us are fortunate to be so uneducated, or unindoctrinized. Or in today's world, maybe unassimilated. (grin) And by the way, thanks for the nod re "Writing and Thinking (Etc.) About Writing."
I started writing into the dark and then decided to get serious and study how to write "properly". Unfortunately outlining ahead felt like a cage and knowing the ending killed my interest in finishing the story.
I kept studying writing and found Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog first and then Dean Wesley Smith's blog. I took a class and wrote a sci fi story into the dark and in a week. 2/3 of the story works great, main problem is that I crashed into the word count limit. But for a first time writing into the dark and with a week's deadline it was a success.
I've heard it a million times, Emilia. SO many folks wrote naturally before eventually succumbing to all the 'wisdom' and having to find their way back. Congrats! But be careful of your conscious, critical mind opining on what "works great' and what doesn't.
I will be careful, I have gotten stuck a few times trying to write a story "the right way".
In this case it was a lesson in "writers are the worst judges of their own work". I hadn't expected the opening to work at all and just sent it to Dean to get feedback on what I should study next. Turns out the opening drew him into the story. I decided it was better I not judge my own work.
Funny thing was that I got feedback on an earlier assignment that it lacked depth. My beginner writer reaction to that was "you want depth? I will give you depth, I will give 2000 words of depth". In that story it worked.
When I see the word "polish" with regards to written work, I instantly think of buffing the character out of it. That is, sanitizing it to suit nebulous rules to the point where the author's voice has been muted to sound like a sea of others who have gone through the same process. Usually that means tearing the heart out of the story while they're at it.
I know a couple of writers who use that word simply to mean making sure they've cleaned up any typos, grammar issues, and misspellings, but most? Definitely not a word that resonates in a positive way with me.
I am lucky that I found Dean's blog and your Journal. Otherwise, I would be under the influence of the myths, because "that's how it works". Some of my writer friends says that fast writing can't be any good, so I assume they don't read prolific authors (of course they do, but they are just the exceptions of the rule, they say). I'm not a fast writer which means I don't write many hours per week. I'm about to change that, but still, after I've read the Journal and write into the dark, I enjoy every minutes I write. And when I finished, I put my stories out for others to enjoy it as well.
I believe that quality doesn't depends on how fast you write. But, if your mindset is that you cannot write good story with one draft, you won't do it. I think it is different whether people really try to do their best with one draft, or don't. And sincerely, why a writer wouldn't try out every possible method to find out what works for them? Why they are hiding under other people's rules? Of course, its fear.
And when a reader has a thought how writers should write... It might be there will be several reader you can't reach with Writing into the dark. Of course, just if you tell them how you wrote. I think that's why many writer don't tell the truth... They are afraid of losing some readers.
Thanks, Balázs. And yes, most writers don't talk about WITD because they know readers expect them to "work hard and long" to write a novel. Years ago, DWS advised me not to talk about WITD. He could do it, he said, because he's bulletproof. I do it because I don't really care. I just love telling stories and showing other writers an easy, fun way to do the same thing.
Yes! When I talk about WITD with others, sometimes I got confused. Looks like it is some Saint Gral, the writers know WITD, just don't talk about it in public. LoL
Exactly. When I do talk about it outside the Journal, I tell them "I follow the characters around and white down what happens." And when they ask how many drafts I write, I tell them "Three." I don't tell them one is the spell check (about 5 minutes) and one is applying my first reader's input (about 10 minutes). (grin)
Harvey, I guess I must be some sort of uneducated heathen. I started writing fiction because I had no choice. The stories would not leave me alone until they were written. There was no ‘outlining’ or organization save as a series of scenes that suggested a direction. This means that, aside from grad school papers, all of my writing is ‘into the dark’.
Some of us are fortunate to be so uneducated, or unindoctrinized. Or in today's world, maybe unassimilated. (grin) And by the way, thanks for the nod re "Writing and Thinking (Etc.) About Writing."
I started writing into the dark and then decided to get serious and study how to write "properly". Unfortunately outlining ahead felt like a cage and knowing the ending killed my interest in finishing the story.
I kept studying writing and found Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog first and then Dean Wesley Smith's blog. I took a class and wrote a sci fi story into the dark and in a week. 2/3 of the story works great, main problem is that I crashed into the word count limit. But for a first time writing into the dark and with a week's deadline it was a success.
I've heard it a million times, Emilia. SO many folks wrote naturally before eventually succumbing to all the 'wisdom' and having to find their way back. Congrats! But be careful of your conscious, critical mind opining on what "works great' and what doesn't.
I will be careful, I have gotten stuck a few times trying to write a story "the right way".
In this case it was a lesson in "writers are the worst judges of their own work". I hadn't expected the opening to work at all and just sent it to Dean to get feedback on what I should study next. Turns out the opening drew him into the story. I decided it was better I not judge my own work.
Funny thing was that I got feedback on an earlier assignment that it lacked depth. My beginner writer reaction to that was "you want depth? I will give you depth, I will give 2000 words of depth". In that story it worked.
Good for you! :-)
When I see the word "polish" with regards to written work, I instantly think of buffing the character out of it. That is, sanitizing it to suit nebulous rules to the point where the author's voice has been muted to sound like a sea of others who have gone through the same process. Usually that means tearing the heart out of the story while they're at it.
I know a couple of writers who use that word simply to mean making sure they've cleaned up any typos, grammar issues, and misspellings, but most? Definitely not a word that resonates in a positive way with me.
Me either.
I am lucky that I found Dean's blog and your Journal. Otherwise, I would be under the influence of the myths, because "that's how it works". Some of my writer friends says that fast writing can't be any good, so I assume they don't read prolific authors (of course they do, but they are just the exceptions of the rule, they say). I'm not a fast writer which means I don't write many hours per week. I'm about to change that, but still, after I've read the Journal and write into the dark, I enjoy every minutes I write. And when I finished, I put my stories out for others to enjoy it as well.
I believe that quality doesn't depends on how fast you write. But, if your mindset is that you cannot write good story with one draft, you won't do it. I think it is different whether people really try to do their best with one draft, or don't. And sincerely, why a writer wouldn't try out every possible method to find out what works for them? Why they are hiding under other people's rules? Of course, its fear.
And when a reader has a thought how writers should write... It might be there will be several reader you can't reach with Writing into the dark. Of course, just if you tell them how you wrote. I think that's why many writer don't tell the truth... They are afraid of losing some readers.
Thanks, Balázs. And yes, most writers don't talk about WITD because they know readers expect them to "work hard and long" to write a novel. Years ago, DWS advised me not to talk about WITD. He could do it, he said, because he's bulletproof. I do it because I don't really care. I just love telling stories and showing other writers an easy, fun way to do the same thing.
Yes! When I talk about WITD with others, sometimes I got confused. Looks like it is some Saint Gral, the writers know WITD, just don't talk about it in public. LoL
Exactly. When I do talk about it outside the Journal, I tell them "I follow the characters around and white down what happens." And when they ask how many drafts I write, I tell them "Three." I don't tell them one is the spell check (about 5 minutes) and one is applying my first reader's input (about 10 minutes). (grin)