A Little Writing Advice Appreciated

[ThinkerX]

Hmm...

with me, it is one project at a time. On occasion, I have taken a break from a novel (especially with the rewrites) to crank out a short story or even a novelette. Those feel like breaths of fresh air.

I've noticed that when my progress slows to a snails pace, it sometimes - though not always - means I'm writing something dull. Dull can be necessary...but its also best kept short.

 

[Maker of Things Not Kings]

It's got all the things my other stories had, plus humor, and for me as a writer, of course there's still work, and info dumps to figure out, and scenes that are really challenging to work with, but there's also frequent places that are just delightful to write, and I love it.

I appreciate that. It does remind of how I'm feeling now and it made me realize something abut my own writing, well, more than my writing, my own enjoyment of reading fiction too. It's best when it has a playful edge to it. I love epic or post apocalyptic work, and it can be dark, that's fine, but I always turn back to something lighter in the next book to wash that heavy epic aftertaste away. It feels like I've been too focused on the epic/serious/core story and not allowing the characters to play much, or myself to play in, and through, the writing. Thanks so much for your input.

 

[Maker of Things Not Kings]

Surely there is nothing wrong with this approach, as long as the results are good?

No, it's a fine approach and one I almost always use with short stories. And it's fine for first drafts on longer work too. The older stories have just had more groundwork laid over the years as I learned more of the craft of writing and I feel I've ground myself down within them a bit and need to step away and let them refresh themselves naturally. Which, experience tells me, they will.

Thanks for the Scribbling link SJ, I'll check it out!

 

[Maker of Things Not Kings]

I was going to suggest you write a short (completely different) story with the world and characters you know so well. Put them in different situations and 'out of character' scenarios.

Thanks Vicki! I will try this too. It's always fun to do and something I have not explored for some time! I always trust that the answer will show itself as long as I keep doing the work. And yes, I'm a terrible edit hound. Especially when the forward progress in writing slows because I think, Well, I might as well use the time to do something positive.

But writing and editing are different mind sets for me really and I should know better.

 

[Maker of Things Not Kings]

I wrote a chapter for another book, and oohhh the temptation to go there called like a siren, but I plugged my ears and steered my ship clear.

Yes! Usually this is what happens for me. New inspiration is a harsh mistress. lol Though I'll allow myself to indulge the urge and write one small scene or chapter, enough to get an idea down, and then I can usually let it go. This time, I hit the rocks. . . So far Im finding the change of scenery a good one. I was treading water in the older story so I'll let this little break run its course and then go back. I won't allow the ball to be dropped.

Thanks for taking the time to comment L. I really appreciate it.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Yeah, some of those hit like lightning, making your hair stand up and your eyes glow, and they are hard to resist. I’ve been wanting to write this new book bad, and while finishing up Whispers of Ghosts it was getting really anooying, down to dreaming scenes. LOL.

Yes! Usually this is what happens for me. New inspiration is a harsh mistress. lol Though I'll allow myself to indulge the urge and write one small scene or chapter, enough to get an idea down, and then I can usually let it go. This time, I hit the rocks. . . So far Im finding the change of scenery a good one. I was treading water in the older story so I'll let this little break run its course and then go back. I won't allow the ball to be dropped.

Thanks for taking the time to comment L. I really appreciate it.

 

[ThinkerX]

Yeah, some of those hit like lightning, making your hair stand up and your eyes glow, and they are hard to resist. I’ve been wanting to write this new book bad, and while finishing up Whispers of Ghosts it was getting really anooying, down to dreaming scenes. LOL.

That about sums up my situation - I have a whole slew of shorter stories I really, really want to tear into...but finishing the rewrite of the WIP (book six of a six book series, no less) takes priority.

 

[Maker of Things Not Kings]

I work on multiple projects all the time until one of them suddenly demands to be finished. Even then I typically to get to about the 85% pointand then have to put it aside for a while - usually a couple of months - to think about how best to tie off all the story threads.

I'm very proud of my endings - they're always strong.

It's true of everything I do creatively. I work on multiple projects and I never seem to have an empty "to do" folder. I know the pitfalls of it and face them often when it comes to deadlines and/or my own focus sometimes, but it works for me for the most part. Eases the pressure on any one project in particular when/if they bog down.

I suppose I've been trying to be "better" about staying focused and working on one at a time but that may be going against the grain of my own tendencies.

 

[The Dark One]

Unless you're working to a hard deadline - and I never am - then it hardly matters whether you stay on the one project or not.

 

[Mia]

Stick to what feels natural and fun for you. if you have fun writing it, it shows in the book, the reader will feel it. you are a pantzer, by trying so hard to be an outliner you are boxing yourself, constraining yourself and it shows again on your writing.
mind you i am a novice writer so do take my comment as a personal opinion. all i know is that as an avid beta reader for a Pantzer author, depending on his approach it would excite me or bore me. he tried outlining once because "that's what successful authors do" and i told him if he continued like that to find another reader. he always had a plot in mind, with the general direction but each chapter was not thought into bulletpoints.
Now me personally i am the opposite i have fun as an outliner and trying the pantzer approach is a disaster and my beta reader (at this point i only have one ) also told me to let it go.

 

[Karen Cioffi]

Hey Scribes,

I'm finding myself with a problem I can't seem to overcome on my own. If this is in your wheelhouse, some well rounded advice would be appreciated! I'm going to give you as much info as I can, so I apologize here if this run long.

I'm currently working on three books. All three are fantasy, the first two we'll label adult/epic fantasy and the one I began most recently is on the YA spectrum. The two adult/epic fantasy books I've been working on for the last few years, whereas the idea for the YA book came two months ago and I wrote the first two chapters of it in two or three days.

I'm lucky to have five well-read (in the genre), brutally honest alpha readers who I count on for early feedback. Recently, I gave them the first four chapters of the YA book and, in each case, heard some variation of this from each of them:

"I don't know what it is, but that YA book is alive and I want to read more. I want to see what happens to the MC next. To see where her story goes."

I should add that each of them also stated, " I'm not a fan of YA for the most part, but. . ."

OK. So here's the dilemma. I KNEW the moment I got their feedback that they were right. The YA story is alive. It feels that way every time I sit down to write. I'm fine with that ( I happen to love YA fantasy, just not the abundance of teen romance and endless angst that have become stock fodder) and I intend to keep writing it forward, to be sure.

What it's made clear is a problem I've had for some months now with my two books.

Those two are well plotted and thought out. Worlds have been created beyond what I probably need or could ever use in the books. I'm attached to them. In comparison, I had one, thin little idea for that YA book when I began it. The MC's name. That's it. So when an alpha reader says, "Oh and then the thing with her art teacher and the painting? I can't wait to see where you take that."

Great, right? Except there is no plan for the art teacher as of yet. There was no outline. No ending. No cast of characters. They've all appeared as needed while I wrote. To be sure, a good deal more has appeared as I wrote those earl chapters but it's all been pantsing since I jotted down the first words, Names are funny things, aren’t they?

(I'll add here that the YA book is in first person POV where the other two have always been written in limited third)

I feel like I cannot work on the older books without getting bogged down wanting to be sure everything on the page that is in my head gets included. That I check every box and add every world detail. Setting up later events and mentioning certain backstory or important hints. I find that, when I sit down to write it, I'm over analyzing each paragraph every time. I'm crafting. Not writing. And that seems to deaden everything out of the gate. The more I rework, the worse it gets.

There's no freedom like I feel with the YA project to just write forward as it comes to me. And I think that's why the YA story has that movement. This is often true of my short stories. For first drafts, I just write and see where it goes. I may have one idea but no real plot or outline. I know I'm a pantser but I have worked really hard to corral some of that and stick to an outline more often, especially for longer projects.

It feels like I'm trying to skip the free write/first draft on the older books and polish it into something closer to a finished edit as I go whereas, with the YA book, I feel no such need. I simply write. ( I DO make a cursory editing pass before giving it to my readers.)

So how, fellow Scribes, can I find my way back to that groove of writing without bogging down in details and perfection on a story/world I feel I already know so well? I KNOW it's making things stiff and over-worked! It's become a problem that I want to correct before I go any further. I can't seem to shut off my brain and so much of those two worlds is so ingrained in there that I cannot escape it when I write.

I suppose the good news is I have one project that feels easy and alive, but it is disheartening to feel these older, more dear-to-me projects have stalled and begun to feel like I'm trying to move them through slow-consuming quicksand.

I am also wondering about voice and POV. My MC in the YA book had a strong voice from the first paragraph. She's been easy to write. Her school, her mom, the teachers, office workers, art museum curators. All simple to see through her eyes and in her narrative voice. Could it be that I am just not comfortable with a long running, third person narrative voice or that I am trying too hard to constrain it to sound. . .???? Any advice there?

Thank you for anything you have to offer.

Maker

 

[Karen Cioffi]

Hi, Maker,

I read some of the posts in the thread, not all. The one thing I know is you need to tie up all loose ends, no matter what genre you're writing in. I'm a pantser also and one important factor is If you introduce a character there's got to be a reason. If you allude to the fact that there may be more to that character than that one particular scene, you need to elaborate on it.

Even as a pantser, I keep detailed notes on all characters mentioned in the story. It's important to keep tract of things and keep the reader satisfied. It does bog down the writing, but it's important to keep the story all together.

Hope this is helpful,
Karen
============================================================

Hey Scribes,

I'm finding myself with a problem I can't seem to overcome on my own. If this is in your wheelhouse, some well rounded advice would be appreciated! I'm going to give you as much info as I can, so I apologize here if this run long.

I'm currently working on three books. All three are fantasy, the first two we'll label adult/epic fantasy and the one I began most recently is on the YA spectrum. The two adult/epic fantasy books I've been working on for the last few years, whereas the idea for the YA book came two months ago and I wrote the first two chapters of it in two or three days.

I'm lucky to have five well-read (in the genre), brutally honest alpha readers who I count on for early feedback. Recently, I gave them the first four chapters of the YA book and, in each case, heard some variation of this from each of them:

"I don't know what it is, but that YA book is alive and I want to read more. I want to see what happens to the MC next. To see where her story goes."

I should add that each of them also stated, " I'm not a fan of YA for the most part, but. . ."

OK. So here's the dilemma. I KNEW the moment I got their feedback that they were right. The YA story is alive. It feels that way every time I sit down to write. I'm fine with that ( I happen to love YA fantasy, just not the abundance of teen romance and endless angst that have become stock fodder) and I intend to keep writing it forward, to be sure.

What it's made clear is a problem I've had for some months now with my two books.

Those two are well plotted and thought out. Worlds have been created beyond what I probably need or could ever use in the books. I'm attached to them. In comparison, I had one, thin little idea for that YA book when I began it. The MC's name. That's it. So when an alpha reader says, "Oh and then the thing with her art teacher and the painting? I can't wait to see where you take that."

Great, right? Except there is no plan for the art teacher as of yet. There was no outline. No ending. No cast of characters. They've all appeared as needed while I wrote. To be sure, a good deal more has appeared as I wrote those earl chapters but it's all been pantsing since I jotted down the first words, Names are funny things, aren’t they?

(I'll add here that the YA book is in first person POV where the other two have always been written in limited third)

I feel like I cannot work on the older books without getting bogged down wanting to be sure everything on the page that is in my head gets included. That I check every box and add every world detail. Setting up later events and mentioning certain backstory or important hints. I find that, when I sit down to write it, I'm over analyzing each paragraph every time. I'm crafting. Not writing. And that seems to deaden everything out of the gate. The more I rework, the worse it gets.

There's no freedom like I feel with the YA project to just write forward as it comes to me. And I think that's why the YA story has that movement. This is often true of my short stories. For first drafts, I just write and see where it goes. I may have one idea but no real plot or outline. I know I'm a pantser but I have worked really hard to corral some of that and stick to an outline more often, especially for longer projects.

It feels like I'm trying to skip the free write/first draft on the older books and polish it into something closer to a finished edit as I go whereas, with the YA book, I feel no such need. I simply write. ( I DO make a cursory editing pass before giving it to my readers.)

So how, fellow Scribes, can I find my way back to that groove of writing without bogging down in details and perfection on a story/world I feel I already know so well? I KNOW it's making things stiff and over-worked! It's become a problem that I want to correct before I go any further. I can't seem to shut off my brain and so much of those two worlds is so ingrained in there that I cannot escape it when I write.

I suppose the good news is I have one project that feels easy and alive, but it is disheartening to feel these older, more dear-to-me projects have stalled and begun to feel like I'm trying to move them through slow-consuming quicksand.

I am also wondering about voice and POV. My MC in the YA book had a strong voice from the first paragraph. She's been easy to write. Her school, her mom, the teachers, office workers, art museum curators. All simple to see through her eyes and in her narrative voice. Could it be that I am just not comfortable with a long running, third person narrative voice or that I am trying too hard to constrain it to sound. . .???? Any advice there?

Thank you for anything you have to offer.

Maker

 

[The Dark One]

I disagree on the loose threads. Important threads must certainly be tied off to the reader's satisfaction but all threads? Books that insist on doing that can feel coldly mathematical or even trite.

Also, leaving a thread or two open is a perfect intro for a sequel.

 

[Karen Cioffi]

Could be a genre thing. I write for children, primarily picture books to middle grade and loose threads should be addressed.

 

[The Dark One]

Fair enough, I was assuming you were talking about fantasy.

 

[Maker of Things Not Kings]

Hi, Maker,

I read some of the posts in the thread, not all. The one thing I know is you need to tie up all loose ends, no matter what genre you're writing in. I'm a pantser also and one important factor is If you introduce a character there's got to be a reason. If you allude to the fact that there may be more to that character than that one particular scene, you need to elaborate on it.

Even as a pantser, I keep detailed notes on all characters mentioned in the story. It's important to keep tract of things and keep the reader satisfied. It does bog down the writing, but it's important to keep the story all together.

Hope this is helpful,
Karen

Thanks for taking the time to respond Karen! For me, it seems that the YA book has been flowing so easily without any effort. Even the storyline was falling into place chapter by chapter as I went, always staying just a few turns and ideas ahead of the prose as I write it. I know, when I go back though, I'll have a lot of things to correct, align, make sense of etc but in the other books that desire to have it all make sense AS I was writing was really keeping me from moving forward. I feel like, when I return to the two adult fantasy stories, I will be able to have had the distance from them to get that first draft/forward story motion down without getting too caught up in all the threads I want to have in there. Those will all be added, mended and aligned in the edits and redrafts. That may not be the most economical way to work but for me, at this time, it's better than the alternative of word production slowing to a crawl.

My alpha readers know not everything is going to make sense and that large pieces may will get moved around or cut. Characters might get dropped or added but that's what alpha readers, in my method of writing, are for. They point those things out and note them for me and I fix them when it comes time for revisions. When I get to my beta reader stage, I will have that all worked out so they are able to look at the overall picture a bit clearer.

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I tried a few of the suggestions offered and they've all helped me work my way back to a more productive daily output and that feels soooooo good.