Yeah, I guess they sat down and pounded out words everyday as well, there has to be a certain focus in order to become successful (apart from talent, obviously). You can't be a binge writer and be too successful is my guess. And also, keep submitting and keep thy chin up, eventually somethings bound to happen.
Thanks Shreyass RomanticRose and Torana. The question doesnt have to do with my writing, if im going to write a book im going to write it how im going write it. So my question was just a curiosity on my part. I really wanted to know how they usually did their writing and I'm assuming from the responses no one knows? Ps I coulda sworn I put this under whatever section that said ask a question sorry bout that it was kinda late when I wrote it.
I would suggest looking for interviews or conversations with the writers you're curious about. For example, the Google search Hemingway interview located this 1940 article: Ernest Hemingway Talks of Work and War. You'll probably have some digging to do to get a clear picture of how each writer approached the craft.
not to worry, smtm... it seems to me that torana was answering another post, one about how to get published, not yours and probably just hit the wrong button... you're in the right place here, as far as i can tell...
Thanks Cogito I will try this. Mamma I think I saw in some post that you are published maybe you could tell me how you begin some of your projects? Do you sit down and grind them out or seperate your story into several different areas of plots or character development etc etc maybe?
I'm curious to know too, you being a published writer and stuff. Is it good to just let the words go and then polish later?
Normac McCartey... I really should begin reading his works... What made them great? If you look at the great writers through history, they had 2 things in common: 1) They had something new to say; 2) They said it in a great way. But of course it's not as simple as that... consider this a topic sentence for a long book.
first of all, i've only had short stories and poems of my own published, along with magazine and newspaper columns [all for pay, not counting freebies on the net, since i stopped writing for money]... the books, plays and screenplays were being shopped around by my agent when i left my old life and self behind, gave away my home and all my worldly goods and dropped out of the material world, so i've no idea whether he ever sold any of it or not and don't care to know... as for the writing process, i'm a write by the seat of my pants type... when working on something lengthy. like a book, a stage musical, or a screenplay, i'd do up some sort of simple outline, when the complexity of the plot called for it, but never did and probably never would do all that separate this and that stuff you mention... don't know how else one can write, do you?... it's not very likely that anyone can do the polishing in one's head, so the words do have to be down on paper or monitor screen, before they can be polished... the only question that remains then, is how much later to do the polishing... after every sentence, every paragraph, page, chapter?... or after the whole story or book has been written?... and on that, i can't tell you which is best, because whatever works best for each writer is what's best for him/her, but not necessarily best for any other... hope this helps some... love and hugs, maia
Thanks mammamaia. I read something on google about an author that does a procedure for his books called the snowflake method where he does ten steps or so. First he does a couple of summarys then his characters etc. if you want I think you could find it on google by just typing snowflake method or some variation of that, if youre interested that is.
i'm not, but thanks for the thought... i don't think such a rigidly structured process is needed or will help all that much... and i would never recommend any 'method' to those i mentor, knowing from decades of experience that there's no one-size-fits-all way to write... and, fyi, the 'father' of that method, who touts himself as an 'award-winning author' is not a best-selling author by any stretch of the imagination and his only awards [2] are from a minor coalition of christian publishers...
I found this board a few days ago & think there's a lot of great resources here! I have to write a scene without narrative, but I'm having a hard time with it. How do you write without narrative? It seems difficult to me, but maybe I'm making it harder than it is. Any thoughts?
Hmm... Spoiler "Hold on." "What?" "When you say 'just narrative', do you mean...like, just dialogue?" "Yeah. Just people talking. You're not allowed to see what's happening." "Huh. You're right. That is a toughy. Hmm..." "You know, I was thinking-" "Hold on. Did you hear that?" "Hear what?" "That. Quiet! Listen!" "...oh my God." "Someone's in the house." "he just broke something- it must be a robber. We need to hide." "But-" "Come on, get in here! No, in the closet! Come on!" "No! I have to stop this guy! He could be stealing from us!" "Don't be insane, he could have a gun, we need to- wait! Wait, Jack, come back! Don't go down the stairs!" "Hey, what are you doing here?" "Back away or I shoot!" "What- hey!" "Oh God, oh God, oh God..." Now, I could be totally wrong and you might be talking about something else- writing a script, or something- but that right there was the first thing that came into my mind. You're right- writing a scene like that is difficult, because you want to be able to convey what's happening without sounding too expository or just weird. No body language, no sound effects- but I'm sure if you try hard enough, you can come up with a good scene.
My question involves a technique that I know people use. As writers we have every word we could ask for, all three tenses, and various povs. (1st, 2nd, 3rd) And all of these ideally should be used to determine how the scene flows. Some words can slow things down, others can speed it up. So my question is, what's best for a fast scene? What's best for a slow scene? How do you decide what pace you even want? Thanks, Nate
What's happening in the story is one thing that determines the pace to use. If there's action going on (someone running away from someone else, a fight scene), then you would want to use words that imply a fast pace. For example, instead of "walk" use "run". Instead of, "He ate", you could say, "He gobbled down his food." One thing you could do is look at a thesaurus. Some of the synonyms have different connotations which might be helpful depending on the situation. On the other hand, if someone is walking through the park, then I would say a slower pace is more appropriate. Hope some of this helped.
Well, if I understand you correctly: Fast pace - Straightforward words and sentences, more urgency Slow pace - Longer and ponderous sentences, more attention to surroundings I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for, but that's what I do.
there's no one formula you can follow... each writer has his/her own way of doing things and of presenting the story to its readers... there's no 'best'... there's only what works for your story and what doesn't... and to make things more interesting, there's more than one way that can work in any instance... so, stop looking for a magic bullet formula and just sit down and write!... if you're a discerning reader and a skilled writer, you'll know if what you turn out works or not... and if you're just learning, others will be quick to tell you when it doesn't... seasoned writers know that each piece of writing tends to make up its own rules... it will dictate when to go slow and when to speed up, or if to do either, as it unfolds in your mind and flows onto the paper/screen... the key is to let it!
Well when I was giving advice to someone else about it, I was contradicted but didn't pursue the subject. Pretty much I said that shorter, less words in first person present was the best way to make the pace as fast as possible. Whoever it was, (can't remember now) said that wasn't true.
What I have noticed in novels is faster paced scenes use shorter punchier sentences and stick to mostly action or dialog. Slower scene focus more on narration. I'm not so good with slow. The main complaint I get from people is my stories move too fast; although, that complain mainly comes from older people. It seems teens like fast. I also notice YA novels are mostly dialog and action, with little narration and description.
I realize this isn't helpful in the least, but "flow" is something I don't even think about while writing. It just comes out as it comes out, whether as fast, staccato sentences or longer, meandering ones. I think when one stops to think too much about the flow of a story, they'll work far too hard to capture that flow and the writing will end up nothing but stilted. There's nothing wrong with analyzing how things work, but such things can be taken too far. In my experience it's best to write something first, then ask if it's been done "right," rather than to ask how to write something properly before setting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). I've done fast scenes with longer sentences and slow scenes with shorter sentences. It happens.
I would think if you're writing an action scene you wouldn't want to take lots of time to describe the scenery unless it was relevant to what was going on. You would want to use words that keep the momentum going. But I echo everyone's advice just to write it all down first. If I worry too much about the technique behind it during my first draft, I can't write anything. That's what editing is for.
I completely agree with mammamai. Any scene, however paced is originally constructed in your head. This mental image is the perfect scene and it will have the perfect flow. By just writing what you feel instead of what other people say, you'll wind up with what is meant to be on paper. If it isn't quality (I don't mean grammar. That can always be fixed.) then that merely means you need to spend some more time learning how to apply your trade. *Thumbs up*
I think this accurately describes my problem. I can visualize an entire story, but when it comes to writing it? Nothing. It's a chore trying to come up with the words.
If you find it a chore, then you mustn't have the passion required to keep you at the page or keyboard. That may sound tough, but the reality dictates that you won't stay with it unless you have it in your heart. Maybe you've just lost a little of your umph? Maybe you need a rest, or, more likely, to get some serious practice in. But that takes perseverance and passion. What brought you to writing in the first place? If you go back and answer that, honestly, you might be able to resolve your problem. Good luck with it anyway.
sadly, i have to agree with cheeno... along with the lack of passion, if you can't even think of words to bring your ideas to life, you may also lack the basic skills it takes to be a writer... in which case, you may want to consider taking a creative writing course...
