An Observation After a Week of Progress

So for all the stories in various states of undress, I added a new one in recent months, a collaboration urban fantasy. Since it's a collaboration, most of the work on it has been relegated to the meetings with my fellow writer. But that means I have about three to four stories currently running around in my head (four if you count one that I have completed but am not actually working on except in my head).

Now lately, my focus has been on editing Hounds, one of my urban fantasies, since the clockwork ghost story has been so tricky.


Here is my observation:

As I make progress on one, I am motivated to (and actually do!) make progress on other stories.

Although I'd been spending my free moments trying to rearrange and rewrite Hounds, as I found scenes to drop, or chapters to rewrite and combine, I had realizations about scenes and chapters for these other stories. As I edited that more, I wanted to write more, and spent more time on the bus writing the opening chapter of the collaboration...instead of listening to music and zoning out.

So my advice (as always, take with a grain of salt and "to each their own," since everyone's process differs), is that if you are stuck in one story, try switching to something else. It may help break through the block, and you can return to the first story with rejuvenation.

I don't switch from one to another every few minutes, but as I work on one, I keep the others in mind, and make notes of changes and new things that can help those others for when I do work on them, later that same day, or maybe the next.

Happy writing, everyone.

The Forest for the Trees

Yes, I changed the look of the blog. Much like my personal spaces, I occasionally get the urge to rearrange things.

It's also thematic.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the different paths and roads I've taken to get to where I am in my writing--how far my skill has progressed, what process works best for the way I write, what actions I've taken thus far to get better.

1. Mapless--I started writing stories by the seat of my pants, no idea where to begin, definitely no clue how to end, and often sparked by a single image or character. I started a lot of stories this way, but eventually finished one or two.

2. Obsessively marking my path after I've walked there--Like Gretal and her brother leaving breadcrumbs in their wake, or someone buying a postcard in every town they come to, I shifted slightly, still no clear objective of where I was going, but starting to keep track of where I'd been. I have one story with a separate file with chapter-by-chapter descriptions, another with scene-by-scene descriptions (and scene titles! I was listening to a lot of My Chemical Romance at the time, too). Helpful, but not quite the best route for me.

3. Not leaving the house without a map--well, more like, taking a few steps outside, realizing I had no map but did have a long way to go, and rushing back inside to rummage through things until I found a map. That's where I'm at right now. My clockwork ghost story is one that I wanted to write after I knew where I was going with it. What's the climax and what are a few of the main events? I had a beginning, I had hints and plenty of characters, more than I knew what to do with, but no clear plot. I left home, walked a bit, and hit a forest with far too much undergrowth to see any path, right or wrong.

This Thursday, I had a meeting at work, so got to spend a hour an a half on the bus. I decided that was a great amount of time to stop piddlefarting around and finally figure out what this story was doing. I drew a timeline. I marked the beginning of the story X, then starting filling in the information and events that I knew, X-18 years when our protagonist was born, X-23 when her parents met the greasy Cunningham, X+2 days when she hints her first big break, and promptly collapses and nearly dies. And so on. By the time I reached my destination, I knew where I was going (in the story). It's a great feeling, and it seems like this story I'd been dancing around is finally ready to be written. I am now doing my ~happywiggle~ dance.

None of these is the "perfect" method for me (assuming perfection exists). Even #3 took far too long to be reasonable. So I have not found my ninja way, but I'm getting closer. Ultimately, this just emphasizes the reminder "There is no one right way to write."

Find the way that works for you, but even as you search, keep writing.

Happy writing, everyone.

[I don't know why I can't see my followers anymore, though. Sad. I still <3 you all, though.]

X-Men

New Year's is going well so far. I think Tuesdays and Thursdday will be good days for writing, because my schedule was changed so I just have the one class, then can go home. It gives me time to rest a bit, maybe eat something and still write and do work.

Moving on the real subject, however brief, I've been reading a lot of X-Men comics. I've always been a fan, but never bought the comics myself (my sister had when I was younger, or I'd read the library copies), because it just added up to too much money. I bought Elfquest instead. :)

I don't know if others have this problem, but when I do something for a long time, or put a lot of focus on one thing--rubic's cube, a particular computer game, heavy workload--I close my eyes and still see it. My mind will create its own gameboard and run through the game or I'll see myself teachign a class or trying to explain something to a student. I think it's a bit of the way my brain processes information, but it means that reading over a dozen X-men graphic novels leaves images of mutants running, falling, flying, fighting. Sometimes they're actual characters, sometimes they're amalgamations or original creations of my brain.

Maybe I'm just weird.

I wish I had the skill to draw some of what I see. But I was wondering what it might say for my writing process. Maybe this is unrelated, but once some critiquers said my writing wrote like I played a lot of RPGs or RPG videogames, which left me very confused because I don't. I wonder if that comment was tied to writing visually, though. Thinking too much about how everything looks, as if it's a movie playing in your head, but my head is so full of stuff, any movie I "wrote" in it would be jumpy and haphazard.

I'm still noodling over those thoughts. Just figured I'd share for now. I'm off to do the usual Sunday morning routine then meet up with a friend for a movie and bookshopping (the same friend lending me his vast collection).

Happy writing.