Post by Admin on Sept 20, 2009 5:10:41 GMT -8
Fri Dec 12, 2008 12:25 pm
EJ wrote:
*Moved to this thread*
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papa nurgle
Sat Nov 08, 2008 7:11 pm
Stories and their path
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I have just put the latest installment of Time and Again on the site and I am really confused in how it is going. Usually when I write I have a pretty good idea where my protagonists and antagonists are going to go and what they are going to do. In this latest part I had planned a meeting between Roland and my Celestial group in a fairly harsh battle, but instead Halley just accidentally bumped into him on the street in human form no less. Does this ever happen to anyone else? I have never had a group of characters in written form ever wander so far off of my plan before.
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EJ Angel
Wed Nov 12, 2008 6:58 am
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Oh! Me, me! That happens to me, Matt. I'm a charter. I outline everything. Plot twists, timelines, loops. But then... sometimes... in my sleep... these ideas creep into my head and when I sit to write, I see the characters going somewhere totally off the chart!
This happens far more in my blog (nonfiction) and this taught me a lot about this process, you know? I *think* I want to blog my Sunday sermon about "children" but when I start to write I find my words are talking more about "parents." Or I think I want to be light-hearted, and, instead, I put myself through the wringer.
I must admit... I love this about the creative process and I try to roll with it and then adjust my chart/plan accordingly. But sometimes I do need to stop, slash and burn, to force myself back on track.
Other writers weigh in?
EJ
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MG
Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:21 pm
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I have had to sacrifice some really great writing to keep myself on track. I console myself in taking out the expertly-placed verbs (lol!) by telling myself that I can use it later, somewhere else. Often I do, or it fuels something bigger and better. It's sort of like pruning bushes; you trim back branches that aren't budding, and the next year they grow back huge with blossoms.
Sometimes, however, you just have to go with it. It doesn't always feel right to stick to my "plan" totally. I find that when I'm writing it down and reading it aloud, that a different approach actually seems more natural, and then I write and it just flows. So if your pen's getting out of hand, but it's coming to you, either set it aside as something for another story, or write it in! Creativity is just as much about working with your own temperament, mistakes and tendencies as it is about actual creation. My grandma makes cards, and she just loves how I change them up and "fix" all her "messed up" ones. She thinks of how she wants it, while I can take what she's done and make it something good or even better.
So sometimes we're creative in different ways, I guess.
Hang in there...I think anyone who's written has totally been there.
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EJ Angel
Thu Nov 13, 2008 4:49 am
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Once again, Abbie and I totally agree. There's just no right or wrong here. Sometimes you have to prune. Sometimes you have to go wild. It really just depends on which way you feel stronger. It might even depend on the specific project.
EJ
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papa nurgle
Thu Nov 13, 2008 4:36 pm
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Forgive me if I did not articulate my confusion better. I of course have plotted out a story and had the creation process itself take it in a different direction. This usually does not bother me. This is the first time, however, that I have had a specific character decide to take the story onto another path then I had planned. I was working on the writing and then some girl had stumbled into Roland. I thought this would be a nice way to offer a counterpart to Roland who is his age, instead Halley leaped out of my head and onto the page. (Please note this is not meant in any way to mean I think my characters are real or coming to life, I just mean this was a really unexpected twist for me)
Now I have the process of deciding what Halley's intent with this information is and what Roland may think of this new person in his life. Really I was just trying to wind down the story so I could move on and then here comes this information just out of my subconscious and onto the page. Fun but more work than I had originally intended.
-----------------------------------
AreaneCreator
Thu Nov 13, 2008 5:05 pm
-----------------------------------
I so understand this one, Matt In my fantasy series, The Areane Journals, my characters do this all the time. When I try to write something that doesn't fit with what they want, I get writers block. Whole plot lines and character arcs change on a dime. It makes the writing process, I think, as much of if not more of an adventure than reading the finished product. I don't do much preplanning. I like to write and have little idea of where the story is going to go. It's much more fun that way for me. Like watching a major drama or comedy or epic adventure unfold before my eyes. Hmm. No wonder writing gives me an adrenaline rush. LOL!
EJ wrote:
*Moved to this thread*
-----------------------------------
papa nurgle
Sat Nov 08, 2008 7:11 pm
Stories and their path
-----------------------------------
I have just put the latest installment of Time and Again on the site and I am really confused in how it is going. Usually when I write I have a pretty good idea where my protagonists and antagonists are going to go and what they are going to do. In this latest part I had planned a meeting between Roland and my Celestial group in a fairly harsh battle, but instead Halley just accidentally bumped into him on the street in human form no less. Does this ever happen to anyone else? I have never had a group of characters in written form ever wander so far off of my plan before.
-----------------------------------
EJ Angel
Wed Nov 12, 2008 6:58 am
-----------------------------------
Oh! Me, me! That happens to me, Matt. I'm a charter. I outline everything. Plot twists, timelines, loops. But then... sometimes... in my sleep... these ideas creep into my head and when I sit to write, I see the characters going somewhere totally off the chart!
This happens far more in my blog (nonfiction) and this taught me a lot about this process, you know? I *think* I want to blog my Sunday sermon about "children" but when I start to write I find my words are talking more about "parents." Or I think I want to be light-hearted, and, instead, I put myself through the wringer.
I must admit... I love this about the creative process and I try to roll with it and then adjust my chart/plan accordingly. But sometimes I do need to stop, slash and burn, to force myself back on track.
Other writers weigh in?
EJ
-----------------------------------
MG
Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:21 pm
-----------------------------------
I have had to sacrifice some really great writing to keep myself on track. I console myself in taking out the expertly-placed verbs (lol!) by telling myself that I can use it later, somewhere else. Often I do, or it fuels something bigger and better. It's sort of like pruning bushes; you trim back branches that aren't budding, and the next year they grow back huge with blossoms.
Sometimes, however, you just have to go with it. It doesn't always feel right to stick to my "plan" totally. I find that when I'm writing it down and reading it aloud, that a different approach actually seems more natural, and then I write and it just flows. So if your pen's getting out of hand, but it's coming to you, either set it aside as something for another story, or write it in! Creativity is just as much about working with your own temperament, mistakes and tendencies as it is about actual creation. My grandma makes cards, and she just loves how I change them up and "fix" all her "messed up" ones. She thinks of how she wants it, while I can take what she's done and make it something good or even better.
So sometimes we're creative in different ways, I guess.
Hang in there...I think anyone who's written has totally been there.
-----------------------------------
EJ Angel
Thu Nov 13, 2008 4:49 am
-----------------------------------
Once again, Abbie and I totally agree. There's just no right or wrong here. Sometimes you have to prune. Sometimes you have to go wild. It really just depends on which way you feel stronger. It might even depend on the specific project.
EJ
-----------------------------------
papa nurgle
Thu Nov 13, 2008 4:36 pm
-----------------------------------
Forgive me if I did not articulate my confusion better. I of course have plotted out a story and had the creation process itself take it in a different direction. This usually does not bother me. This is the first time, however, that I have had a specific character decide to take the story onto another path then I had planned. I was working on the writing and then some girl had stumbled into Roland. I thought this would be a nice way to offer a counterpart to Roland who is his age, instead Halley leaped out of my head and onto the page. (Please note this is not meant in any way to mean I think my characters are real or coming to life, I just mean this was a really unexpected twist for me)
Now I have the process of deciding what Halley's intent with this information is and what Roland may think of this new person in his life. Really I was just trying to wind down the story so I could move on and then here comes this information just out of my subconscious and onto the page. Fun but more work than I had originally intended.
-----------------------------------
AreaneCreator
Thu Nov 13, 2008 5:05 pm
-----------------------------------
I so understand this one, Matt In my fantasy series, The Areane Journals, my characters do this all the time. When I try to write something that doesn't fit with what they want, I get writers block. Whole plot lines and character arcs change on a dime. It makes the writing process, I think, as much of if not more of an adventure than reading the finished product. I don't do much preplanning. I like to write and have little idea of where the story is going to go. It's much more fun that way for me. Like watching a major drama or comedy or epic adventure unfold before my eyes. Hmm. No wonder writing gives me an adrenaline rush. LOL!
