The meeting and a ramble about how I write...who cares?
Heheh. When I first got to the meeting, I was really intimidated! It turned out that the meeting place was actually a small room, with only a few people expected to show up. So, I got really shy. I was hoping it would be this huge thing and that I wouldn't be noticed at all...
Well, it was an interesting meeting. Just not very useful. It was more about publishing than the writing process or experience, and everyone there (except me) wanted to publish. I like hearing about the different ways people write and their experiences with the ‘art’, but I know very little about publishing and these words like ‘contract’, ‘poor people’s copyright’, or something, just flew right over my head. Huh. The people there were very interesting though. One of them was a songwriter! And another was writing about travelling, and another about some history thing…
Towards the end, we got into a discussion which fascinated me, because I’ve found that everyone writes really differently and it usually works - for them. The conversation began when one guy expressed his worries about his ‘writing binge’ habit: he said he would write once or twice a year, getting a good 5000 words down, and then stop. For a whole year. He was wondering how to be more disciplined and whether his habit was a bad one.
Another woman then piped up and said something about how she hates and wants to move away from the idea of discipline. She explained how she picks up inspiration from everyday life, from things she hears and sees and things that make her react violently and want to write. It didn’t matter to her what she writes, she just writes when she needs to. But not at other times. Which is…wow…I don’t think I’d ever be able to do that.
The inspiration thing I totally understand. I get struck with ideas while studying, while walking, while reading…while doing just about anything! I also get that itch, that need to write things down right away or else forget it. And I, too, tend to write a lot in snippets. But I’d hate to write that way all the time, and I admire her for being okay with writing like that.
Why? Well, I’ve come to realize that inspiration is all very fine, but it’s just so…fickle. Ideas come and come from everywhere, but it doesn’t come with the damn words. It doesn’t come with instructions on how it’s to be written, what the tone’s like, who the narrator is…it’s just an idea, and maybe a few vague scenes that don’t bloody belong anywhere. Inspiration’s like some cat…it’s full of affection and loves you…but you’ve got to be the stupid can-opener. I always have to find the words to fit the ideas and that’s half the fun. It’s also half the pain.
Because ideas and inspiration are so ephemeral, I have a hard time believing that writing just from those will work. If I just write what something inspires me to write, I would never finish a thing. Yes, stories do finish only when you want them to, but I find that it helps to think and work on them every day, because more things and ideas will develop solely because you are writing and arriving to that point where you need to improvise something new. I have lots of ideas, but without the discipline of writing every day and working on current stories as opposed to the idea that’s just struck this morning, I just wouldn’t get any story done. I also wouldn’t improve because I don’t think I’d ever really get around to really writing and concentrating on one story, one style to see if it does work and why.
I have also heard that things ‘hot off the press’ aren’t very good…and, well, they’re right, whoever said that. I still write ideas down when they come, but I let them stew and mature. When I’ve got a good feel of it, then I’ll write it. If I don’t, I won’t get beyond writing a random scene or two. Inspiration is very passion-inducing, which is good, but I need my head when I’m writing, thanks. I constantly have to root out plot holes, sentences or dialogue that aren’t right.
As to writing once or twice a year…well, it would still bug me because of the not finishing issue. I like, I guess, not having loose ends dangle too much. I like looking at a finished product and not feeling guilty about abandoning it. I'd feel it’s all right now to move onto something new.
If you only write once or twice a year, I don’t think you can improve all that much because you don’t really get to practice. And ideas are wonderful, but writing them is hard. It’s really not easy putting things into words and onto paper. Thinking (blech) is needed (blech).
I also wouldn’t want to only write once or twice a year because, well, I think I’d forget all those ideas, the feel of the story, the tone. Or they’d go stale. They don’t really stick around when you don’t think about them. Although, there have been fun and exhilarating experiences where I’ve cracked open a notebook and found an old idea that suddenly jumps off the page and goes spinning off in new directions. And it feels alive, too. But it doesn’t happen very often. I’m more likely to think: ‘what the heck was I thinking then?’ and try to find the original story/mood that used to fit the idea and feel that everything I come up with, now, pales in comparison to what the original story/mood was.
Well, that was really long and rambly, and probably not very coherent…I think I might actually go to future meetings, although not the next one, which is about self-publishing. And I suppose I’ll keep trying to write regularly, and hopefully improve that way.
Well, off to write Sandcastle…
Well, it was an interesting meeting. Just not very useful. It was more about publishing than the writing process or experience, and everyone there (except me) wanted to publish. I like hearing about the different ways people write and their experiences with the ‘art’, but I know very little about publishing and these words like ‘contract’, ‘poor people’s copyright’, or something, just flew right over my head. Huh. The people there were very interesting though. One of them was a songwriter! And another was writing about travelling, and another about some history thing…
Towards the end, we got into a discussion which fascinated me, because I’ve found that everyone writes really differently and it usually works - for them. The conversation began when one guy expressed his worries about his ‘writing binge’ habit: he said he would write once or twice a year, getting a good 5000 words down, and then stop. For a whole year. He was wondering how to be more disciplined and whether his habit was a bad one.
Another woman then piped up and said something about how she hates and wants to move away from the idea of discipline. She explained how she picks up inspiration from everyday life, from things she hears and sees and things that make her react violently and want to write. It didn’t matter to her what she writes, she just writes when she needs to. But not at other times. Which is…wow…I don’t think I’d ever be able to do that.
The inspiration thing I totally understand. I get struck with ideas while studying, while walking, while reading…while doing just about anything! I also get that itch, that need to write things down right away or else forget it. And I, too, tend to write a lot in snippets. But I’d hate to write that way all the time, and I admire her for being okay with writing like that.
Why? Well, I’ve come to realize that inspiration is all very fine, but it’s just so…fickle. Ideas come and come from everywhere, but it doesn’t come with the damn words. It doesn’t come with instructions on how it’s to be written, what the tone’s like, who the narrator is…it’s just an idea, and maybe a few vague scenes that don’t bloody belong anywhere. Inspiration’s like some cat…it’s full of affection and loves you…but you’ve got to be the stupid can-opener. I always have to find the words to fit the ideas and that’s half the fun. It’s also half the pain.
Because ideas and inspiration are so ephemeral, I have a hard time believing that writing just from those will work. If I just write what something inspires me to write, I would never finish a thing. Yes, stories do finish only when you want them to, but I find that it helps to think and work on them every day, because more things and ideas will develop solely because you are writing and arriving to that point where you need to improvise something new. I have lots of ideas, but without the discipline of writing every day and working on current stories as opposed to the idea that’s just struck this morning, I just wouldn’t get any story done. I also wouldn’t improve because I don’t think I’d ever really get around to really writing and concentrating on one story, one style to see if it does work and why.
I have also heard that things ‘hot off the press’ aren’t very good…and, well, they’re right, whoever said that. I still write ideas down when they come, but I let them stew and mature. When I’ve got a good feel of it, then I’ll write it. If I don’t, I won’t get beyond writing a random scene or two. Inspiration is very passion-inducing, which is good, but I need my head when I’m writing, thanks. I constantly have to root out plot holes, sentences or dialogue that aren’t right.
As to writing once or twice a year…well, it would still bug me because of the not finishing issue. I like, I guess, not having loose ends dangle too much. I like looking at a finished product and not feeling guilty about abandoning it. I'd feel it’s all right now to move onto something new.
If you only write once or twice a year, I don’t think you can improve all that much because you don’t really get to practice. And ideas are wonderful, but writing them is hard. It’s really not easy putting things into words and onto paper. Thinking (blech) is needed (blech).
I also wouldn’t want to only write once or twice a year because, well, I think I’d forget all those ideas, the feel of the story, the tone. Or they’d go stale. They don’t really stick around when you don’t think about them. Although, there have been fun and exhilarating experiences where I’ve cracked open a notebook and found an old idea that suddenly jumps off the page and goes spinning off in new directions. And it feels alive, too. But it doesn’t happen very often. I’m more likely to think: ‘what the heck was I thinking then?’ and try to find the original story/mood that used to fit the idea and feel that everything I come up with, now, pales in comparison to what the original story/mood was.
Well, that was really long and rambly, and probably not very coherent…I think I might actually go to future meetings, although not the next one, which is about self-publishing. And I suppose I’ll keep trying to write regularly, and hopefully improve that way.
Well, off to write Sandcastle…