Technipeeking...
The answer to most problems in life is to just go with your gut. Do what feels right. Go with your first answer. Feel the force flow.
In 'Writing Down the Bones', an extremely flowery and scattered treatise on writing, the author definitely espouses this philosophy. She even talks about running a poetry booth at a country fair. People came in, gave her a subject and a dollar, and she wrote them a poem on the spot. That was all it consisted of, just handing it to them and gone, never to be seen again. It seems an exhilarating and terrifying idea. But she said that it opens the mind up so much, not worrying about it and just letting your hand guide you.
In various discussions (private, and in Creative Writing class), there are suggestions flying around about how to change your work. Now, given the law of averages, a good percentage of these suggestions will be unproductive, cancel each other out, or simply be bad. The remainder consist of comments, observations, and tangents.
The comments are often vague, especially with family or close friends. 'That was nice.' is the worst example. How about, 'It needs...something.'? What is that supposed to mean?
Observations range from nitpicking to severe continuity problems. 'That comma shouldn't be there.' and 'Didn't that lady speaking now just get beheaded?' are the respective examples.
And then the tangents. These are advice on taking the story in a whole new direction. Very dangerous. Some suggestions can help uncover more of the story than you were exposing before. While others can make you push your story in unnatural directions, destroying a lot of the original inspiration.
The decision of what tangents to use is fraught with peril. We've discussed before the different types of creative processes. I believe that the stories are complete as soon as you have the idea. The writer just has to discover it. Others believe that the story is like a living component of your mind, growing and evolving constantly. But the main thought I have on tangents applies to both styles. When someone makes the suggestion, think about it, and then ask yourself, "Is that what happens?" You'll be surprised at how much this clears up.
Jason
P.S. From the hall of unmentionable metaphor, "His car smelled like a hot sack of skunks."
In 'Writing Down the Bones', an extremely flowery and scattered treatise on writing, the author definitely espouses this philosophy. She even talks about running a poetry booth at a country fair. People came in, gave her a subject and a dollar, and she wrote them a poem on the spot. That was all it consisted of, just handing it to them and gone, never to be seen again. It seems an exhilarating and terrifying idea. But she said that it opens the mind up so much, not worrying about it and just letting your hand guide you.
In various discussions (private, and in Creative Writing class), there are suggestions flying around about how to change your work. Now, given the law of averages, a good percentage of these suggestions will be unproductive, cancel each other out, or simply be bad. The remainder consist of comments, observations, and tangents.
The comments are often vague, especially with family or close friends. 'That was nice.' is the worst example. How about, 'It needs...something.'? What is that supposed to mean?
Observations range from nitpicking to severe continuity problems. 'That comma shouldn't be there.' and 'Didn't that lady speaking now just get beheaded?' are the respective examples.
And then the tangents. These are advice on taking the story in a whole new direction. Very dangerous. Some suggestions can help uncover more of the story than you were exposing before. While others can make you push your story in unnatural directions, destroying a lot of the original inspiration.
The decision of what tangents to use is fraught with peril. We've discussed before the different types of creative processes. I believe that the stories are complete as soon as you have the idea. The writer just has to discover it. Others believe that the story is like a living component of your mind, growing and evolving constantly. But the main thought I have on tangents applies to both styles. When someone makes the suggestion, think about it, and then ask yourself, "Is that what happens?" You'll be surprised at how much this clears up.
Jason
P.S. From the hall of unmentionable metaphor, "His car smelled like a hot sack of skunks."
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