Creative Personalities, or How We Write
I am rather blue and blah at the moment; it is pouring rain outside (at least it's not snow?*) and the wind is howling something fierce. I'm wrapping up my contribution to the B2MeM review award grand prize banners, trying to think of how to represent mithril seasonally, and feeling like wasting some time but not on something completely fruitless.
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As far back as I can remember mine started with people first, too. I always have a vague idea of the plot, but don't they say there are only a few plots anyway? One of them is some-one's looking for something, and the others are (commercial fiction) they find it or (literary fiction) they don't.
I don't care for, and cannot get attached to, books where the plot gets the characters in an armlock and marches them through the book. Why should I care what happens to the people if the writer has spent no time making them real? The whole planet could dive into the sun, and I wouldn't care because the people were boring anyhow.
One of my favourite living writers, John Connolly says he can get half-way through a book and have no idea what's going to happen next. He's a great writer :)
much of the purpose appears to be advancing a plot/dialogue with understandably little opportunity to wallow in characterization, world-building, or commentary on theme or the texts, all of which are what I enjoy about ( ... )
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Yes, I've seen it said that there are only like 30 different plots or something. I suppose a plot-centric writer would argue that the use of devices like suspense and plot twists keeps those dusty old stories interesting, but I find it's people. I don't even really need much to happen in a story to interest me if the people are interesting. I am fascinated by human nature, and fiction provides endless avenues to explore that fascination.
Why should I care what happens to the people if the writer has spent no time making them real?
Exactly. Some of my favorite writers can make truly reprehensible people nonetheless empathetic and relatable.
One of my favourite living writers, John Connolly says he can get half-way through a book and have no idea what's going to happen next.And Tolkien was the same! He famously writes in his letters about how he discovered Saruman's treachery and that Strider was Aragorn the King right alongside his characters! :D ( ... )
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I definitely AM set in my ways about the characters > plot thing, however. =D I could never write out a plot outline. Not only would it be like pulling teeth, since I never know what's going to happen next aside from a few "signposts" (which often have to change drastically from my original conception anyway, by the time I finally arrive at them), my characters would never cooperate with that kind of thing.
(Sorry about your snow. Sheesh!)
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Ah, a fellow swallowtail! (I remember seeing you mention that on, I think, Oshun's post that inspired my post and being grateful that it wasn't just me. It's funny how even when a creative method works for me, the perception that it's somehow still not the "right way" to do things sticks with me. My failure to understand the hoopla surrounding the B2MeM format each year often makes me feel very much the outlier.)
I could never write out a plot outline.
The most I do is jot down a few words on what I want to happen and in what order for long stories. (Kind of like your signposts ... I like that term. :) I am so bad at plot that I will forget otherwise. I sometimes reread old stories of mine and am surprised at what happens in them.
Other times, I let the characters decide entirely. Of my longer stories, By the Light of Roses and The Work of Small Hands had a mini-outline; Another Man's Cage, The Tapestries, and The Sovereign and the Priest did not ( ... )
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I write so infrequently these days, I'm not sure what buckets I fall into other than being more character focussed than plot, both from a reading and writing perspective. My B2MeM experience was a little unusual for me in that I had to ask for extensions, never had to do that before. But glad I did :-)
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I find it interesting that, in these discussions, most of us identify as character-centric writers. I'd wonder how many commercially successful writers would identify similarly. (I find I enjoy Tolkien fanfic--at least, the Tolkien fanfic being written by the people I talk with--more than most popular fiction, and this is probably a reason why.)
Your reason for needing an extension was definitely understandable! And I'm glad we kept things laid-back in terms of extensions and scheduling so that you could post your story. :)
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When I was younger, I used to often pick up those "how to write" books at the bookstore and peruse them, where I encountered insistence from other writers--and writers far more successful than me--that I needed to outline my plot before I began or write early in the morning or force myself to write for 15 minutes a day and so on.I think what helped me ( ... )
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As a fan of prompts, I'd agree with you that I'd prefer this type too. I like something that's either open-ended (like the song I claimed for this year's B2MeM) or that provides a starter for the story. When I wrote The Sovereign and the Priest for SinS this past summer, the most challenging aspect for me was that the request was something I'd decided to put at the very end! So it was like I was constantly reining the story back onto the road it needed--but didn't always want--to walk. (I loved that challenge and was pleased with the story as it came out, but it was indeed a challenge.)
outlines kill my ideas because I've "written" the story already.Yes! I used to think this was just me. It was the same with talking about a story to others beforehand. I usually don't even tell anyone but Bobby when I'm working on a new story ... and he only gets the very basic, if that. (It's more like, " ( ... )
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I can bounce ideas with my sister, but even that's unhelpful when she disagrees with my interpretation of canon (not just Silm, but in general). But she's the only person I can do that with. And while I can mention I'm working on a story, I can't do that with all of them and I can never go into detail. It's too easy to kill the idea. :( (Which does make asking for research into unfamiliar canon territories hard because I generally need to give details!)
The thing with glomming-- I glommed onto Maglor. I almost don't care about the rest of the House of Fëanor for writing purposes. Which is, as far as I can tell, not ( ... )
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(I honestly cannot tell. I am clearly obsessed by plot to a degree rare in fandom, but then I am obsessed by characterization too. And my stories don't really start with either -- it's more like I have plots and characters running through my head all the time, some vague, others rather polished, and then one day one setup will start looking story-shaped to me, so I will try to get it down.)
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