Posts
Which path do we take?Sincere experts point us in opposite directions.
Candy Lynn Fite & Wendy Morrell led me to this excellent book
(THANKS, BUT THIS BOOK ISN'T FOR US - Compassionate Guide to Why Your Writing Is Being Rejected.)
http://www.amazon.com/Thanks-But-This-Isnt-Compassionate/dp/1585427217
Veteran writing coach, developmental editor, and writing instructor Jessica Page Morrell fills in the gaps in every rejection letter you've ever received.
In it, Mrs. Morrell states that you will never know when you've arrived, if you don't know where you're going. Makes sense, right?
She says, that like a map, an outline for your novel with tell you its end. Knowing that will allow you to take the most effective (dramatic) route to it.
Mrs. Morrell literally hates hearing writers say that writing is driving in the fog.
Sounds logical, true?
Here is part of what the award-winning, best-selling author, Neil Gaiman, wrote in his blog yesterday :
It's a weird thing, writing.
Sometimes you can look out across what you're writing, and it's like looking out over a landscape on a glorious, clear summer's day. You can see every leaf on every tree, and hear the birdsong, and you know where you'll be going on your walk.
And that's wonderful.
Sometimes it's like driving through fog. You can't really see where you're going. You have just enough of the road in front of you to know that you're probably still on the road, and if you drive slowly and keep your headlamps lowered you'll still get where you were going.
And that's hard while you're doing it, but satisfying at the end of a day like that, where you look down and you got 1500 words that didn't exist in that order down on paper, half of what you'd get on a good day, and you drove slowly, but you drove.
And sometimes you come out of the fog into clarity, and you can see just what you're doing and where you're going, and you couldn't see or know any of that five minutes before.
And that's magic.
...
For the rest go to :
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/03/some-thoughts-on-writing-and-driving-in.html
***
For a riveting clip of the movie I've been waiting months to see :
You know, some people like to have an agenda-filled vaction, others like to wing it and others like it somewhere in the middle...I think writers are the same...all doing/finding the way that fits best for them...only, without having a partner/family who might feel different about our vacation-planning approach (instead, we have some writing teachers who think everyone should do it the same).
ReplyDeletesorry, I meant "vacation"
ReplyDeleteThose are some good comparisons about writing. I can so relate to them.
ReplyDeleteWow. I think he described that perfectly. I can totally relate.
ReplyDeleteI love Neil Gaiman - I've just discovered him, really. Two books and I don't know how many to go. I heard something similar to the fog theme, about a road at night. You can only see so far down the road in the headlights. But if you keep driving you'll get where you're going.
ReplyDeleteSo from the mouth of one is that driving isn't like driving through a fog and from another is is broken down as sometimes driving through a fog.
ReplyDeleteWhich to go with?
I like a road map and I like seeing where I'm going, but Gaiman's thoughts on the matter carry the most weight.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I just need brighter headlights?
I liked his analogies. I never know where I'm writing from, but I enjoy the journey.
ReplyDelete.......dhole
I have this book! It helped me a great deal...
ReplyDeleteJennifer :
ReplyDeleteI see your point. Mrs. Morrell likens crafting a novel to building a house. You would cringe if the contracters just decided to "go with the flow." LOL.
Cindy :
I think we all can!
Jo :
I think all writers can. He can especially since he is at the beginning of writing another novel!
Lady Gwen :
I especially like NEVERWHEN, ODD & THE FROST GIANTS, and AMERICAN GODS.
As a rare blood courier, I know the dangers of fog. I once passed up an important exit since I couldn't see it. I think Mrs. Morrell was stressing we need to know when to end Act I and enter Act II, then exit to Act III without spending too long in any one act and thus stall the flow of the story.
Angela :
Both writers believe they are right. Since Mr. Gaiman has mastered all the rules, it is easier for him to break them! LOL.
Alex :
Like you, I believe Gaiman's view carry the most weight -- but then he has been at this a long time, mastering the art of storytelling. Sometimes new cooks need to follow the recipe more strigently than master chefs!
Donna :
I agree with you. I just want my readers to enjoy the journey as well! Thanks so much for visiting and caring enough to talk a bit, Roland
Alleged Author :
ReplyDeleteI am currently reading it! How neat that you read it and got something out of it.