Re: 'mode' for a scene?

On Mon, 26 Sep 2005 23:35:04 +0100, usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(Catja Pafort) wrote:

>R. L. wrote:
>
>[Nicky]
>
>> >I am quite intrigued by your approach it
>> >is different from mine.
>>
>> From what I've seen posted here* about your 'circular diagram' and planning
>> peaks and valleys of tension, I'm not sure our basic working approaches are
>> so very different. I also start with emotion and a feeling-shape for the
>> whole book, and look for events to fit inside that shape/feeling.

I don't usually contribute to the "process" threads (because I'm too
busy posting off-topic, er, no, I didn't say that ... :).

I don't usually contribute to the "process" threads because the ones
that aren't as straightforward (to me) as Nicky's seem amazingly
complicated. Even Nicky's is too complicated for me to fully grasp.

But, from what I've seen posted here, it does seem to me that your
processes are very different. I can understand "I draw my circular
diagram, then I just write." Anything more seems, to me, to be a very
different process.

FWIW, my process is:

I get an idea. If that grows into a plot idea, then:
Either: I start writing,
Or: I do an outline (using outline view in Word) and then I start
writing, based on the outline (which can be changed).
Or: I do a little plot summary, then I start writing.
In each case, as I go along, I'll make notes in a separate folder
of notes. (Things like: characters' ages, bits of character biog
which isn't part of the story, etc. Perhaps some world-building
details, e.g. currency/coinage: how much a manual worker earns in
a day, v. cost of a hotel room for the night etc. Just so I can be
consistent. In absence of a cat to vacuum, I'll even draw maps.)

For revision, I read through the same way I'd read through someone
else's manuscript, spotting things that need fixing. Then I fix 'em.

One disadvantage of my process, is that it's entirely possible for
me to forget what the plot was going to be - and, if it was a
plot-driven idea, losing the plot also means losing any urge to
continue with that piece. (For a "scenario" driven story, I'm happy
to let the characters invent a new plot, if I forget the original.
And I don't (till now) do character-based stories, except inasmuch
as sometimes I have unusual characters, but I think they really are
just a variant of a scenario-based story.)

That's the purpose of the plot summary or outline - in case I
forget the plot.

>> What seems very different is our ways of recording this, and of posting
>> about it, and the kind of input we want from others here.

I don't think so. I looks from here like you genuinely have different
processes. Why would it bother you that your process is different?

>A certain basic understanding before you start is a fine thing. Too much
>knowledge, too much booklearning can leave you paralized, and that seems

I feel that a lot of the discussions here have made it *harder* for me
to write: it is, perhaps, one reason I don't always contribute to the
more on-topic threads.

At some point, you have to decide that you can't please everyone: as
an example in my own writing, critiques often say that might writing
needs more description (and such has been said when I've posted
snippets here). However, they are *more* likely to say that when I
consciously try to add description: when I just write, sometimes the
lack of description is never even noticed. (Sometimes it is: but I
suspect the fault lies elsewhere.)

If my own personal style is low on description, trying to force it
may not be the best way to proceed.

But, being *aware* of the issue, I think that I now tend to add *some*
more description naturally, as I'm writing (and I notice it more when
I'm reading). So perhaps my potential readership is increasing.

If the discussion here have made it harder to write, why do I read
them? In part because it helps me to see what is wrong with pieces of
my own writing which *don't* work. It doesn't make it easier to
revise them, but I think being aware of faults makes the *next* piece
of writing more likely to come out better - as long as I don't think
about it too much.

>> Also, the things I've found most helpful, come from *terms* that others
>> here have used. Many from Patricia. Some from a reference here to Bickham.
>> There's much to dislike in him and to disagree with, but at least he
>> supplies some memorable terms and gives many simple examples of those
>> terms.
>
>What you then do is to try and refer _everything_ back to them, rather
>than seeing them as an enhancement or a springboard.

I'm someone who can't even remember what all these Bickham terms mean.
Obviously Rosemary finds them useful in some way but, perhaps, a
relatively small number of us find them useful? If Rosemary wants to
discuss process with the rest of us, again perhaps, some alternative
ways of talking about process, or pov, or scene transitions etc. might
be appropriate?

This is not to say that there is anything wrong with reference to
Bickham, if that's how she wants to talk about things: there have been
some quite long threads, which I hope and presume the participants
enjoyed and found useful. But I think it's worth adding my voice to
those who don't find it a particularly useful or interesting approach,
because it might not have been obvious why more people were not
joining in such discussions. (Assuming that was the reason.)

Jonathan

--
Mail to spam auto-deleted, use jlc1 instead.
(That's jay ell cee one, if your font makes l and 1 look the same)

.

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