In the Mood
Wednesday, October 14. 2009
Creating a masterpiece of modern literature consists of two completely different steps: writing and editing.
(Note: The process of actually getting said masterpiece into the hands of the masses consists of many more additional steps, which I'll not treat here. I digress.)
These two operations—writing fiction and editing fiction—are wholly different from each other. They require different skill sets to do well, and they require / evoke different moods in me, the author.
(Note again: I've taken to calling myself an "author," as distinct from a "writer." That's because I'm a "writer / editor," and "author" is a shorthand way of expressing that. But I digress again.)
It seems easier to edit than to write. Editing can be done in little bite-sized snippets, re-reading a scene or two and "tightening up" the prose, checking continuity, adding beats, making the text generally "sing." On the other hand, writing new text requires a commitment. I must get myself into the proper frame of mind, think about where the story should go, put on the mantles of each of the characters and consider where they want to move the action. I often spend more writing time staring into space, thinking, considering, than actually typing.
(Sorry, note a third time: I was going to say "chewing on my pencil," but I don't generally use a pencil, and "chewing on the keyboard" just sounds desperate. Right, back to the point.)
Writing is like building a bookcase, and editing is like sanding and staining it. Walk into an empty workshop, no plans in hand, and start putting together a piece of furniture. This takes some thought, some work, some time, and a creative mood. Walk into a workshop with a constructed but unfinished bookcase standing at its center, and it's easy to pick up the sandpaper and start removing the imperfections, without very much consideration. Sanding is easy to do piecemeal; building is best when done at one go.
I find it entirely too easy to fall into the trap of editing and re-editing what I've written. It needs to be done, but not to the exclusion of adding new prose—of actually finishing a novel. To do that, I'm going to have to start setting aside specific periods in my day to write, as I did during last year's NaNoWriMo, so I can take the time I need to get myself into the writing mood. I keep telling myself this, but I haven't done it yet. Here's hoping I can start this week. It's never too late to re-ingrain a good habit.
(Note a final time [to self]: I really need to go back and edit this entry. It needs tightening up; there are too many distracting asides. Hmmm. Maybe I'll just go write some prose instead...)
Creating a masterpiece of modern literature consists of two completely different steps: writing and editing.
(Note: The process of actually getting said masterpiece into the hands of the masses consists of many more additional steps, which I'll not treat here. I digress.)
These two operations—writing fiction and editing fiction—are wholly different from each other. They require different skill sets to do well, and they require / evoke different moods in me, the author.
(Note again: I've taken to calling myself an "author," as distinct from a "writer." That's because I'm a "writer / editor," and "author" is a shorthand way of expressing that. But I digress again.)
It seems easier to edit than to write. Editing can be done in little bite-sized snippets, re-reading a scene or two and "tightening up" the prose, checking continuity, adding beats, making the text generally "sing." On the other hand, writing new text requires a commitment. I must get myself into the proper frame of mind, think about where the story should go, put on the mantles of each of the characters and consider where they want to move the action. I often spend more writing time staring into space, thinking, considering, than actually typing.
(Sorry, note a third time: I was going to say "chewing on my pencil," but I don't generally use a pencil, and "chewing on the keyboard" just sounds desperate. Right, back to the point.)
Writing is like building a bookcase, and editing is like sanding and staining it. Walk into an empty workshop, no plans in hand, and start putting together a piece of furniture. This takes some thought, some work, some time, and a creative mood. Walk into a workshop with a constructed but unfinished bookcase standing at its center, and it's easy to pick up the sandpaper and start removing the imperfections, without very much consideration. Sanding is easy to do piecemeal; building is best when done at one go.
I find it entirely too easy to fall into the trap of editing and re-editing what I've written. It needs to be done, but not to the exclusion of adding new prose—of actually finishing a novel. To do that, I'm going to have to start setting aside specific periods in my day to write, as I did during last year's NaNoWriMo, so I can take the time I need to get myself into the writing mood. I keep telling myself this, but I haven't done it yet. Here's hoping I can start this week. It's never too late to re-ingrain a good habit.
(Note a final time [to self]: I really need to go back and edit this entry. It needs tightening up; there are too many distracting asides. Hmmm. Maybe I'll just go write some prose instead...)
(Note: The process of actually getting said masterpiece into the hands of the masses consists of many more additional steps, which I'll not treat here. I digress.)
These two operations—writing fiction and editing fiction—are wholly different from each other. They require different skill sets to do well, and they require / evoke different moods in me, the author.
(Note again: I've taken to calling myself an "author," as distinct from a "writer." That's because I'm a "writer / editor," and "author" is a shorthand way of expressing that. But I digress again.)
It seems easier to edit than to write. Editing can be done in little bite-sized snippets, re-reading a scene or two and "tightening up" the prose, checking continuity, adding beats, making the text generally "sing." On the other hand, writing new text requires a commitment. I must get myself into the proper frame of mind, think about where the story should go, put on the mantles of each of the characters and consider where they want to move the action. I often spend more writing time staring into space, thinking, considering, than actually typing.
(Sorry, note a third time: I was going to say "chewing on my pencil," but I don't generally use a pencil, and "chewing on the keyboard" just sounds desperate. Right, back to the point.)
Writing is like building a bookcase, and editing is like sanding and staining it. Walk into an empty workshop, no plans in hand, and start putting together a piece of furniture. This takes some thought, some work, some time, and a creative mood. Walk into a workshop with a constructed but unfinished bookcase standing at its center, and it's easy to pick up the sandpaper and start removing the imperfections, without very much consideration. Sanding is easy to do piecemeal; building is best when done at one go.
I find it entirely too easy to fall into the trap of editing and re-editing what I've written. It needs to be done, but not to the exclusion of adding new prose—of actually finishing a novel. To do that, I'm going to have to start setting aside specific periods in my day to write, as I did during last year's NaNoWriMo, so I can take the time I need to get myself into the writing mood. I keep telling myself this, but I haven't done it yet. Here's hoping I can start this week. It's never too late to re-ingrain a good habit.
(Note a final time [to self]: I really need to go back and edit this entry. It needs tightening up; there are too many distracting asides. Hmmm. Maybe I'll just go write some prose instead...)
Wait, What Was I Supposed to Be Doing?
Thursday, October 1. 2009
The weather in Central Florida has finally turned autumn-like, the rainy season is over, and I was able to ride my motorcycle to work yesterday for the first time in weeks, if not months. On Friday, my second batch of prototype circuit boards is due to arrive, and I expect to spend most of the weekend getting some devices up and running. The Epcot International Food and Wine Festival is in full swing, its constant siren call luring me over to the Tourist Zone to eat, drink, and be sick on Mission: Space. I'm up to the eight-mile mark in my weekly long runs, in preparation for the back-to-back half and full marathons I plan to run in January.
Oh, and I've actually started working on writing again this week.
I managed to earn another "Most Productive Critter" award on Critters yesterday, having done 11.5 critiques for the week. I'm almost caught up to the required 75% participation level, and I'll probably grab another MPC in the process of getting there, for a total of three outstanding. Then I guess I'll need to have some of my own prose ready to send through the queue. So I'm re-examining the status of my in-process stories, and I'm going to start getting a few of them dressed up and made presentable.
Meanwhile, I also took a look at BMtL again, for the first time in a couple of months (to my chagrin, embarrassment, and disbelief...but ext3 timestamps don't lie). I was not at all happy with the first few pages, but before I start tearing that novel apart and re-building large parts of it, I'd like to finish the story arc. So that's going to be my primary focus (again) for now—and it will consume my November, in place of National Novel Writing Month 2009.
I'll miss doing NaNoWrimo this time around, but it's best for my writing that I skip it. As I've said before, I feel that I need to finish a novel before I start any more of them.
I think I've helped convince a friend of mine to try NaNoWriMo this year. She's got the kernel of an idea, and I think she's going to have fun turning it into a bunch of text. She's concerned (as we all are) about having enough time to follow through, and I've been trying to convince her to take advantage of some of the NaNo "meet-ups" to help with motivation. I'm considering going to a meet-up or two myself, even though I'm not going to be "officially" participating this year. I'm thinking that all the writing vibes floating around at these get-togethers will help me along with my non-NaNo writing. It worked for novel starting, perhaps it will work for novel finishing.
There's nothing dishonest about that, is there? Unauthorized vibe absorption? I guess I could pretend to start a new novel, if I had to...
The weather in Central Florida has finally turned autumn-like, the rainy season is over, and I was able to ride my motorcycle to work yesterday for the first time in weeks, if not months. On Friday, my second batch of prototype circuit boards is due to arrive, and I expect to spend most of the weekend getting some devices up and running. The Epcot International Food and Wine Festival is in full swing, its constant siren call luring me over to the Tourist Zone to eat, drink, and be sick on Mission: Space. I'm up to the eight-mile mark in my weekly long runs, in preparation for the back-to-back half and full marathons I plan to run in January.
Oh, and I've actually started working on writing again this week.
I managed to earn another "Most Productive Critter" award on Critters yesterday, having done 11.5 critiques for the week. I'm almost caught up to the required 75% participation level, and I'll probably grab another MPC in the process of getting there, for a total of three outstanding. Then I guess I'll need to have some of my own prose ready to send through the queue. So I'm re-examining the status of my in-process stories, and I'm going to start getting a few of them dressed up and made presentable.
Meanwhile, I also took a look at BMtL again, for the first time in a couple of months (to my chagrin, embarrassment, and disbelief...but ext3 timestamps don't lie). I was not at all happy with the first few pages, but before I start tearing that novel apart and re-building large parts of it, I'd like to finish the story arc. So that's going to be my primary focus (again) for now—and it will consume my November, in place of National Novel Writing Month 2009.
I'll miss doing NaNoWrimo this time around, but it's best for my writing that I skip it. As I've said before, I feel that I need to finish a novel before I start any more of them.
I think I've helped convince a friend of mine to try NaNoWriMo this year. She's got the kernel of an idea, and I think she's going to have fun turning it into a bunch of text. She's concerned (as we all are) about having enough time to follow through, and I've been trying to convince her to take advantage of some of the NaNo "meet-ups" to help with motivation. I'm considering going to a meet-up or two myself, even though I'm not going to be "officially" participating this year. I'm thinking that all the writing vibes floating around at these get-togethers will help me along with my non-NaNo writing. It worked for novel starting, perhaps it will work for novel finishing.
There's nothing dishonest about that, is there? Unauthorized vibe absorption? I guess I could pretend to start a new novel, if I had to...
Oh, and I've actually started working on writing again this week.
I managed to earn another "Most Productive Critter" award on Critters yesterday, having done 11.5 critiques for the week. I'm almost caught up to the required 75% participation level, and I'll probably grab another MPC in the process of getting there, for a total of three outstanding. Then I guess I'll need to have some of my own prose ready to send through the queue. So I'm re-examining the status of my in-process stories, and I'm going to start getting a few of them dressed up and made presentable.
Meanwhile, I also took a look at BMtL again, for the first time in a couple of months (to my chagrin, embarrassment, and disbelief...but ext3 timestamps don't lie). I was not at all happy with the first few pages, but before I start tearing that novel apart and re-building large parts of it, I'd like to finish the story arc. So that's going to be my primary focus (again) for now—and it will consume my November, in place of National Novel Writing Month 2009.
I'll miss doing NaNoWrimo this time around, but it's best for my writing that I skip it. As I've said before, I feel that I need to finish a novel before I start any more of them.
I think I've helped convince a friend of mine to try NaNoWriMo this year. She's got the kernel of an idea, and I think she's going to have fun turning it into a bunch of text. She's concerned (as we all are) about having enough time to follow through, and I've been trying to convince her to take advantage of some of the NaNo "meet-ups" to help with motivation. I'm considering going to a meet-up or two myself, even though I'm not going to be "officially" participating this year. I'm thinking that all the writing vibes floating around at these get-togethers will help me along with my non-NaNo writing. It worked for novel starting, perhaps it will work for novel finishing.
There's nothing dishonest about that, is there? Unauthorized vibe absorption? I guess I could pretend to start a new novel, if I had to...
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