DylanRS
Dreamer
OR: What surprised you about writing fiction?
I'll have to think about this question more to really cement my own answers, but one thing I can offer as an example is that I should stop waiting to be "perfectly ready" before I start a session of it. And when I did start buckling down and actually writing some things, I'd always tag every sentence with "maybe" or "perhaps." It was to keep a distance from what I was brainstorming, and there was always that illogical but strong sense that someone might be reading over my shoulder, or that someone might very soon read my private notes. It was like I was leaving them messages to protect my ego while I churned out some basic ideas and thoughts.
Eventually I started leaving the "maybe"s and "perhaps"s out, and just trusted myself to keep that distance and freedom to whatever degree I wanted. Then something fun happened. I started getting into more of a rhythm. I even started getting into "character" and brainstorming like I was already telling pieces of a story.
There was an article here recently about the merits of the writer's notebook. There were two pararaphs in particular that specifically addressed this sketchbook-like idea and the importance of simply generating something for the sake of it. Perhaps somewhat egotistically, this type of advice could never resonate with me properly until I "came up with it" myself.
So that's what this thread is supposed to be about. From the early days of your practice, what are some of the things you've internalized better about writing fiction? What concepts did you end up abandoning or reworking? This thread could serve as inspiration for those of us who are still in those early days, or even those of us who are still developing our determination engine. And for those of us who focus too much on reasons not to write, it could serve as a collection of evidence that writing could be quite different from what we expect.
I'll have to think about this question more to really cement my own answers, but one thing I can offer as an example is that I should stop waiting to be "perfectly ready" before I start a session of it. And when I did start buckling down and actually writing some things, I'd always tag every sentence with "maybe" or "perhaps." It was to keep a distance from what I was brainstorming, and there was always that illogical but strong sense that someone might be reading over my shoulder, or that someone might very soon read my private notes. It was like I was leaving them messages to protect my ego while I churned out some basic ideas and thoughts.
Eventually I started leaving the "maybe"s and "perhaps"s out, and just trusted myself to keep that distance and freedom to whatever degree I wanted. Then something fun happened. I started getting into more of a rhythm. I even started getting into "character" and brainstorming like I was already telling pieces of a story.
There was an article here recently about the merits of the writer's notebook. There were two pararaphs in particular that specifically addressed this sketchbook-like idea and the importance of simply generating something for the sake of it. Perhaps somewhat egotistically, this type of advice could never resonate with me properly until I "came up with it" myself.
So that's what this thread is supposed to be about. From the early days of your practice, what are some of the things you've internalized better about writing fiction? What concepts did you end up abandoning or reworking? This thread could serve as inspiration for those of us who are still in those early days, or even those of us who are still developing our determination engine. And for those of us who focus too much on reasons not to write, it could serve as a collection of evidence that writing could be quite different from what we expect.