Great fairies of fiction, Part 1

[blamebrampton]

No, that is not an H/D title, it's one of my crazed ways of explaining How Things Work.

The wacky world of fandom is a richly imaginative one, with a lot of talent leaping about, but not a whole lot of input on the craft of writing. As I mentioned in a friend's journal, this is crazed, because for any other craft, we're all about teaching the

Comments

[norton_gale]

*shhhh, sneaking off to read this before I have to take my husband to his exam this morning - medical boards!*

This is an interesting piece, and all too true, though strangely enough I like the first Draco piece better than the second. Perhaps the first is better taken out of context and the second would work better within a narrative.

Exposition, I think, is every writer's bete noire. It's something I struggle with every time I write. I envy those writers who can simply let the draft flow from their pen (er, keyboard). I usually write an expository draft first (this happened, then that happened, blah blah blah) and then I strip it down. The main problem with my early fics was way too much exposition and insufficient flow (as well as a lack of plot). But being conscious of this stuff is the first step to conquering it. :)

PS- What is your novel about, if I may ask?

[blamebrampton]

Good luck anthimaeria's husband! Since I still have my fingers crossed for you, he may have my toes. It's getting bloody hard to type, let me tell you

[winterthunder]

Since I wasn't on your f-list 10 months ago, I'm reading and asking questions now. :)

I'm working through the first draft of my novel, and I've seen several posts on beginners mistakes in the past week or so. I'm sure I'm making some of these mistakes, but I'm not sure that it makes sense to stop making them in the middle of a manuscript. Would it make more sense to go back and edit what I have, or to get a first draft down on paper, expositions and all, and then edit as a whole in a month or so? I'm leaning toward the latter, mainly because I finally have some momentum on this thing and I don't want to break that, but I'd be curious to get your opinion.

[norton_gale]

This is me chacking my email but not logging into lj at work.

KEEP WRITING. Everything can be fixed up in the second draft, or by your editor if it survives to later versions. The truly hard and essential parts of a novel are not technical, they are the idea and the accomplishment. You've had the idea, so you're a step ahead, but getting it all down defeats many, if not most, writers.

Get it all down and then worry about the technical side. It is very unlikely that any of these details will have major impacts on where your story goes as a story (though some, such as POV, can significantly change how it is told). And good luck!