Comments | fangs_fur_fey: Craft & Process

annaguirre in fangs_fur_fey

Craft & Process

Mar 06, 2009 14:41

Since I live in Mexico, I don't get to chat with other authors too much about how they do things. Sure, I email and IM some, but that's not quite the same as attending a meeting and talking. There's some of that at the conferences I attend, but you know how those are as well. So quite often, I'm just laboring along on my books like a hermit crab ( Read more... )

ann aguirre, writing craft

Comments 25

jeanne_stein March 6 2009, 20:53:48 UTC

Hi Ann-- had the same problem with the last book I wrote. For the first time, I had to sit down and write a synopsis--32 pages--just to get back on track. The book I'm working on now, #6, is writing itself. It's downright scary the difference. I wish I could offer you a concrete suggestion, but I don't understand it myself.

Jeanne

annaguirre March 6 2009, 21:06:37 UTC

Well, if nothing else, it's good to know I'm not alone. The last book I wrote was easy like the one you're working on now, so I guess I'm due this turmoil. Maybe the next one will be smooth sailing.

taramaya March 6 2009, 21:13:19 UTC

You could write a scene in the future of your novel with the hero or heroine looking back on everything. NOT to include in the book, but to see, how things are supposed to turn out...

annaguirre March 6 2009, 21:45:36 UTC

That's a remarkably good idea. Thanks!

tessagratton March 6 2009, 21:26:30 UTC

You know, I was just dealing with this today. I realized the reason I'd been struggling to move forward was that I didn't know the end. Without a goal, I hardly knew which turns to take, etc.

In general, when I'm stuck I assume that my subconscious (my muse, I suppose!) is trying to tell me something. If I push on without figuring out what, I'll end up deleting huge chunks. So, I take a step back and think about the book on a meta-level. (This usually involves going outside to walk my dog, babbling at my CPs online, and lots of scrawling in my notebook.) For my ending-lack, I looked for themes, for patterns, that kind of thing. Why am I writing this book? Am I experimenting? Asking or answering a thematic question? Where do I want it to end for my MC, emotionally and mentally? I know where he is at the beginning, how do I want him to change? What will it take to get him to the new/end place?

It doesn't always help right away, sadly, but eventually this kind of meta work gets me unstuck.

Tessa

annaguirre March 6 2009, 21:46:27 UTC

I'm doing some of that (brainstorming, other activities) and it's helping, but it's playing hell with my schedule.

tessagratton March 6 2009, 21:49:09 UTC

Heh. If anyone ever invents a way to work through this kind of thing on a schedule, they'll make millions.

annaguirre March 6 2009, 21:53:27 UTC

I'm making my weekly word count, but it's tough. Last week, I wound up working the weekend to stay on target. I'm supposed to have this book drafted by the end of March. (Self-imposed deadline. The actual deadline is My 15.)

Thread 11

faerylite March 6 2009, 22:09:28 UTC

Good luck with the self-imposed deadline, Ann :)

I'm an outliner, and I write the ms from start to finish with no jumping around. So when things come unstuck it's because the outline's broken, and to fix it I go back to goal-motivation-conflict.

I don't think I have a muse. More like a steampunky plotting machine with rusty cogs :) it doesn't always think of everything.

annaguirre March 6 2009, 22:14:25 UTC

That's such a cool image! If my brain were a steampunky plotting machine, I'm pretty sure there's a rat in the gears right now.

phantom_wolfboy March 7 2009, 03:13:46 UTC

I work in a similar way to you, though I don't usually have a tagline. But I have learned through experience that if I don't know the ending when I start, or learn it early in the story, I won't finish it. I don't have to know anything else, but if I don't know where I'm going, the journey never gets started.