The Trouble With Fic Writers...

[angelicsinner]

For as long as I’ve been writing, I’ve suffered from a sort of creative-ailment that another writer friend of mine dubbed “Alfred Hitchcock’s Disease”. While I doubt there’s anyone who is not at least a little bit familiar with the great director’s work, not everyone knows of his methods, so I’ll elaborate a little.

Alfred Hitchcock, the mind

Comments

[greatshow]

..."once I reach a place in my mind where I’ve fully mapped out what will happen and how it’ll come to be, the process of actually writing it down starts to feel almost like a chore

[greatshow]

Oh, and I would say Cara still wasn't heterosexual even as a "useless farming-widow-school-teacher" crushing on Leo. Nope. Cara being only into men doesn't register for me. I know she's only into men in the books, but TV Cara is my Cara. Not that I wouldn't be into Book Cara; I just haven't read the books yet, and TV Cara's face/body is ingrained into my head as what/who Cara looks like/is.

[angelicsinner]

Okay-- yeah, she could have been bisexual still. But she was widowed, with two children, and then this Leo guy shows up and she's... ugh, whatever. But! Once again we see that DAHLIA seemed to have a stronger connection to Cara (still remembering her, and even with a kind of surprise and softness in her expression), which I thought was an interesting little addition. But we see no example of any women in that Cara's life save for her sister and her daughter. She recognized Kahlan by her station (probably by her dress), but that's all.
I don't know if they were trying to say she was repressed into heterosexual-living or if they were trying to imply that being Mord'Sith brings out a woman's inner-gay...? Either way, I don't like it. Frankly, it made me a little pissed. You give us some lesbian lovin', then you take it away. Tease, ABC! You're worse than Zedd, you lesbian cock(/kooch)-blocking jerks!

[angelicsinner]

Yeah, see, I CAN'T go into a story knowing the ending. I know to you, this probably sounds like someone saying I can't go into a battle knowing what I'm up against, but... Ugh, I know, it's stupid, but it never works; I always screw it up.
When I write a story, it sort of has it's own natural evolution- kind of like life. Or, to follow the metaphor? It's kind of like a war. General Patton once said that every great battle-plan only lasts until the first shot is fired, after that all you can do is fire and maneuver. Every time I try and go into a story knowing how the thing is going to end? Once I sit down to write, and the words (and plot) star flowing, it's not unlike trying to direct a flood. It's damn near impossible for it to work, and often the effort put into it isn't worth the outcome. But eventually as I work my way through it, the natural ending become clear. So, yeah, it's an act of faith. =-)
But I am glad to know I'm not the only one!

[jolo_65]

I always enjoy reading the thoughts and processes that various writers/artists go through when dealing with their creating their works. Whilst I am not a writer I do understand what you are saying...It must be hard/frustrating to have all these wonderful new story ideas that you want to explore and play with but feel you are unable to

[angelicsinner]

Thank you for the kind words of condolence. I do hope to one day be able to flesh the story ideas out a bit more, but I have a pretty strong feeling I won't get to for a good long while...
And, while I suppose I *could* try and complete the story in an abridged way, I feel like I'm already DOING that, what with my "scene"-style. But I know there are some things that NEED answering, you know?
And I know what you mean about being wary of starting any new long fics when they're a Work-In-Progress... Sometimes I think, if someone already knows my work, and sees that i have a new story, they should know better than to get attached to it! So little of my writing ever sees completion... I'M one of those people that make others avoid longer stories. I feel such shame

[morrowfest]

I have to chime in with the encouragement as one who's really excited to get to the 'ending' of 'Privacy....'

It seems to me that the 1 update/explanation that you said you do feel you must write out - and are writing - about what Cara felt or experienced when they were intimate - could easily be shaped into a conclusion to the series, if you needed it to be. It could be a good segué point into a 'happily ever after,' anyway, if you know what I mean.

Just sayin'. Because if you feel you're going to drop off of the story right quick / soon, you could grab that opportunity that a 'revelation/explanation' installment presents. Whereas if you don't write it up with that in mind, you might kind of find that you once again got taken somewhere else by the characters/flow of the story in a way which requires even further writing or explanation.

Never mind; this is me babbling. Because I did just realize that you said you already know where this story is going, kind of, in your head...so...you know, you and/or Muse knows best.

[escapay]

This is exactly what happens with my artwork. I think and plan the idea that I want to create an image of and then once I've gotten halfway through it the novelty of have this idea put onto paper has worn off and I'm being distracted by something else. Tis a curse indeed.

[angelicsinner]

It is! Which is just maddening! I wish there was a way that I could, like, get the ideas directly from my head onto the page when they come to me!
But even if I were sitting at the computer when I first had the idea (this NEVER happens, by the way; I think god hates me), I can still think faster than I can type! Ugh...
I'm working on it though-- I got all hopped up on coffee today and am starting on the next scene for "Privacy". It's gonna be intense and heavy, so it's a little like pulling teeth, but I hope to have it finished in the next day or so... Please, Muses?!
What do you do to push through it when the "shine" has left a project?

[escapay]

well, with my artwork I tend to leave it for a few days, work on something else, and try to immerse myself in the stuff that got me inspired in the first place. Then after those few days I look at the image again and it seems fresh.

This doesn't always work, however, which explains the vast amount of half finished cara/kahlan images on my computer :/. I want to finish them, I really do, but I just can't find the energy. Its not that I dont like them its just that when you commit yourself to one idea for hours and days on end it wears thin pretty quickly. Its a shame really because I would love to have finished stuff to share with people. Bah.

[greatshow]

"I wish there was a way that I could, like, get the ideas directly from my head onto the page when they come to me!"

Don't we all? I often find myself wishing I had a very advanced and accurate speech recognition program -- something that will type everything I say.

[angelicsinner]

I won't lie of sugar-coat the situation -- my brain is MELTING with guilt over my lack of updates for, like, over two weeks at this point!
I still want to write for this story! I swear! But I just can't bring myself to write what comes next! I finally got to some of the "good parts", and I'm not so thrilled about what happens between where I left off and the next "fun bit" I want to write...
I started this story with the SCENE format so that I wouldn't feel forced to write the bits that I wasn't totally excited about. However, there's nowhere I can skip to next, really, without just brushing off so important stuff that needs explaining -- how the hell we get from where I left off to... the things I wanna write! GAAAAHHHHHH!
Help? Advice? Guidance? Smack in the head?
At any rate, thanks for checking in on me... I just wish what you'd found was better news, so to speak.
And Buon Natale! Buone Feste e tu!

[statuepup]

Hey AS! I also got worried at not seeing your posts pop up over at lots_femslash for a while, and just checked in here to see if you'd left a note: busy in Italy, poor wifi, etc. And what a note!

Admittedly, as a reader, I would feel awful if you didn't finish "Privacy", as I'm quite enthralled with the world you've created in it. However, I also view each update as a gift that we're lucky to receive - the title does suggest 'scenes' of their lives, not strictly speaking a narrative - so if you felt the need to abstain or recharge or take a break, in no way should you feel bad or guilty about it.

I'm not a writer, just an avid reader, but in a small way I do understand 'the big buildup leading to stymied action' feeling. I feel that way sometimes when I find myself overplanning an event or a project - I get too saturated in the details and actually doing the thing seems like an unpleasant afterthought. Since you wrote that there's nothing to skip ahead to between the last scene you wrote and what comes next, I wonder if it

[statuepup]

Oh! And I meant to say that I love your new story ideas!