I get woefully behind on the whole friending thing, I'm afraid, so my apologies for not having done so sooner.
I am indeed talking about Summoning. I have three or four scenes pretty clearly in my head that I'm holding off until I write them, and one of them is the denouement ... which isn't to say it's the last scene ... because there will be two or three chapters following that one. Whew, it is coming to the end though ... probably ten more posts and I'm done. I can hardly wait.
What I've started to do now -- so that I don't skip any of the important details -- is to jot down my ideas for things out of sequence. I have a huge book I use for them and then I compile all the notes for a scene and judiciously keep some things and jettison others. I originally wrote the actual summoning scene long before the version you've seen, but then I had to write four chapters between where I was and then, and by the time I reached the summoning I had to re-write the entire thing because it no longer quite worked ... a la JKR's long established epilogue. So I no longer do that, but I do like to have the notes of ideas. I had one last night about Voldemort's demise in Summoning and I've jotted the idea down -- this one I think I might keep.
But, I've also begun to dream about my new story ideas so my thoughts are becoming a bit of a jumble. Thank heavens for notebooks!
I think it's because the next chapter I'm supposed to write is DEPRESSING. To me, anyway, because I've grown attached to some of my minor characters and don't want to put them through what I have planned for them.
I quite understand. Just think how I felt about killing off Hagrid, whom I like (but he's a pain to write.) I trust you'll manage even if you're procrastinating a bit.
Wow. It's strange to think you're that close to finishing Summoning. It's been an immense pleasure, by the way, to both read and reread the epic. And to "converse" with you through the reviews for it. :)
Yes, notebooks are my friend, too. I have a drawer filled with story outlines, research (a lot of which I haven't used for anything yet), and various prompts/ideas/etc. I think the only reason I started writing the chapters out of sequence was becuase I didn't have the idea that I wanted to write so much as I had the WORDS that I wanted to use. So, I just started free-styling the words to see where they went. It will have to be tweaked regardless, because I am in total agreement that Rowling's epilogue trapped her.
I can hardly wait to be finished with it. I'm probably going to do a disappearing act for a month or so while I write the end. I, too, have really enjoyed chatting with you about it ... although the conversation was a little truncated on a couple of occasions. You're one of the reasons I quite contentedly think I have the most eloquent and erudite readership in the entire fandom.
When I started writing, I couldn't imagine having notebooks of spare ideas or phrases or scenes ... but after five years, I have lots of them.
I practically gasped when I read your phrase 'I had the WORDS.' I can't tell you the numbers of times I've gotten the words just right in my head. It's a little unnerving to know just how many of those times happen while I'm in the shower (I love story planning in the shower!) I've written two short pieces from just an initial sequence of words, and I've been terribly happy with both of them.
The epilogue did indeed trap her -- and I have found myself wondering whether that was a requirement of her contract, or it was just stubbornness on her part.
I've read through some of the other reviews in Summoning, and the comments all seem very insightful. I especially appreciate your story (and your writing in general) because it awakens all my lit crit training. :) ...Particularly the half-semester I spent studying eco-feminist criticism, because it adds that extra layer to all the nature imagery and themes you have playing out. I'm such a dork.
And YES, the shower is the exact time where all those words, scenes, everything occur to me, too. Usually, that's when I write my favorite plays for my theatre company. It's funny that the time when you are perhaps least able to write something down is when the ideas occur.
My guess about the epilogue is the latter: stubbornness. I can see how she had worked years and years and years to get to the ending she had always dreamed and had already written. I imagine it was like a big sigh of relief to have finally caught up with herself. But... that's the catch. By the time she got there, she and the story had grown. Really, the first book in the series has a great plot but the book isn't not nearly as complex as the others - which makes technical sense, because the books mature along with Harry and probably the children readers - and the epilogue reminds me more of the style of the first book (and possibly even younger than that).
I've taken a couple of courses in matristic societies and the patriarchies which have sublimated them. I do think the pendulum will swing back in their direction after a time, and I also think that what I've learned has been quite influential in several of my stories. They're practice for my original trilogy (in the early planning stages.)
I love, love, love the shower for brainstorming. It's private, it's soothing and I think it's secure so that more of our subconscious brain is freed up to wander at will.
I quite agree with you about Rowling's epilogue. She grew as a writer, and her characters developed, but the epilogue matched her earliest efforts which was jarring when juxtaposed with her seventh book.
I am indeed talking about Summoning. I have three or four scenes pretty clearly in my head that I'm holding off until I write them, and one of them is the denouement ... which isn't to say it's the last scene ... because there will be two or three chapters following that one. Whew, it is coming to the end though ... probably ten more posts and I'm done. I can hardly wait.
What I've started to do now -- so that I don't skip any of the important details -- is to jot down my ideas for things out of sequence. I have a huge book I use for them and then I compile all the notes for a scene and judiciously keep some things and jettison others. I originally wrote the actual summoning scene long before the version you've seen, but then I had to write four chapters between where I was and then, and by the time I reached the summoning I had to re-write the entire thing because it no longer quite worked ... a la JKR's long established epilogue. So I no longer do that, but I do like to have the notes of ideas. I had one last night about Voldemort's demise in Summoning and I've jotted the idea down -- this one I think I might keep.
But, I've also begun to dream about my new story ideas so my thoughts are becoming a bit of a jumble. Thank heavens for notebooks!
I think it's because the next chapter I'm supposed to write is DEPRESSING. To me, anyway, because I've grown attached to some of my minor characters and don't want to put them through what I have planned for them.
I quite understand. Just think how I felt about killing off Hagrid, whom I like (but he's a pain to write.) I trust you'll manage even if you're procrastinating a bit.
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Yes, notebooks are my friend, too. I have a drawer filled with story outlines, research (a lot of which I haven't used for anything yet), and various prompts/ideas/etc. I think the only reason I started writing the chapters out of sequence was becuase I didn't have the idea that I wanted to write so much as I had the WORDS that I wanted to use. So, I just started free-styling the words to see where they went. It will have to be tweaked regardless, because I am in total agreement that Rowling's epilogue trapped her.
Sweet dreams! ;)
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When I started writing, I couldn't imagine having notebooks of spare ideas or phrases or scenes ... but after five years, I have lots of them.
I practically gasped when I read your phrase 'I had the WORDS.' I can't tell you the numbers of times I've gotten the words just right in my head. It's a little unnerving to know just how many of those times happen while I'm in the shower (I love story planning in the shower!) I've written two short pieces from just an initial sequence of words, and I've been terribly happy with both of them.
The epilogue did indeed trap her -- and I have found myself wondering whether that was a requirement of her contract, or it was just stubbornness on her part.
Reply
And YES, the shower is the exact time where all those words, scenes, everything occur to me, too. Usually, that's when I write my favorite plays for my theatre company. It's funny that the time when you are perhaps least able to write something down is when the ideas occur.
My guess about the epilogue is the latter: stubbornness. I can see how she had worked years and years and years to get to the ending she had always dreamed and had already written. I imagine it was like a big sigh of relief to have finally caught up with herself. But... that's the catch. By the time she got there, she and the story had grown. Really, the first book in the series has a great plot but the book isn't not nearly as complex as the others - which makes technical sense, because the books mature along with Harry and probably the children readers - and the epilogue reminds me more of the style of the first book (and possibly even younger than that).
Reply
I love, love, love the shower for brainstorming. It's private, it's soothing and I think it's secure so that more of our subconscious brain is freed up to wander at will.
I quite agree with you about Rowling's epilogue. She grew as a writer, and her characters developed, but the epilogue matched her earliest efforts which was jarring when juxtaposed with her seventh book.
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