Writer's Hiccup and Seven Deadly Sins
LR Progress: Draft 1, Day 25
(working title: Spirit Dancer)
13,546 / 15,000
(90.31%)
The research process during the draft helped me solidify the world building immensely and thus, I changed the working title. I will wait and see if this sticks. But this said research also made me stop and doubt what I had written.
I was stuck in a writer's hiccup. Not big enough to be a block but definitely a hiccup worthy--annoying and distracting. The scene I was writing was a tricky one, and I didn't know what to do. I even thought perhaps I was info-dumping, and I did have a lot of information to cover.
Then this happened. Today's writing session was one of those few blissful moments: words just came off my finger tips and I smiled like a lunatic all throughout as I weaved the words in to the story. It took a while to get into the mood but once the right music entered my ears, I could imagine how the characters might interact and how I can add that extra information I sorely wanted to avoid info dumping. I think it fits in nicely.
I must admit, telling my partner of the story yesterday helped. It took a good half an hour but seeing the mostly positive reaction as I told the tale helped me get over this hurdle. Of course, I wouldn't have even bothered telling it if it wasn't for the workshop on the weekend.
Usually, I avoid telling the story for two reasons: 1) I've heard that once it's out of your mouth, you don't want to write it since the creative activity lost a bit of its juice. 2) What I tell and what they read later usually don't match so the readers get confused.
I avoided these pitfalls by writing 80% of the work and then telling the tale, with rewrite-to-be ideas added in. It helped me see the story as one single unified work--without the rewrite, my current piece looks a bit disjointed. I still need a bit more work with the ending but I still have a scene to write before I get there.
By the way, over at the Writing Excuses[writingexcuses.com] podcast, Nancy Fulda mentioned her list of the seven deadly sins. They are:
One thing you should know is that this is for opening lines and first pages, mostly. I think it covers many of concepts I learned from the Dueling Openings[livejournal.com].
Amazing how this pod cast aired right after I came back from the con. I really should note such repetition as important lessons to be learned.
(working title: Spirit Dancer)
13,546 / 15,000
(90.31%)
The research process during the draft helped me solidify the world building immensely and thus, I changed the working title. I will wait and see if this sticks. But this said research also made me stop and doubt what I had written.
I was stuck in a writer's hiccup. Not big enough to be a block but definitely a hiccup worthy--annoying and distracting. The scene I was writing was a tricky one, and I didn't know what to do. I even thought perhaps I was info-dumping, and I did have a lot of information to cover.
Then this happened. Today's writing session was one of those few blissful moments: words just came off my finger tips and I smiled like a lunatic all throughout as I weaved the words in to the story. It took a while to get into the mood but once the right music entered my ears, I could imagine how the characters might interact and how I can add that extra information I sorely wanted to avoid info dumping. I think it fits in nicely.
I must admit, telling my partner of the story yesterday helped. It took a good half an hour but seeing the mostly positive reaction as I told the tale helped me get over this hurdle. Of course, I wouldn't have even bothered telling it if it wasn't for the workshop on the weekend.
Usually, I avoid telling the story for two reasons: 1) I've heard that once it's out of your mouth, you don't want to write it since the creative activity lost a bit of its juice. 2) What I tell and what they read later usually don't match so the readers get confused.
I avoided these pitfalls by writing 80% of the work and then telling the tale, with rewrite-to-be ideas added in. It helped me see the story as one single unified work--without the rewrite, my current piece looks a bit disjointed. I still need a bit more work with the ending but I still have a scene to write before I get there.
By the way, over at the Writing Excuses[writingexcuses.com] podcast, Nancy Fulda mentioned her list of the seven deadly sins. They are:
- Infodumping
- Staff Meetings
- Incomprehensible actions
- Navel contemplation
- White room syndrome
- Dystopias
- Dark and gritty
One thing you should know is that this is for opening lines and first pages, mostly. I think it covers many of concepts I learned from the Dueling Openings[livejournal.com].
Amazing how this pod cast aired right after I came back from the con. I really should note such repetition as important lessons to be learned.