Writing

[teleidoplex]

So, I've been trying out this whole writing thing recently.



I've always liked, well, not the process of writing, but the product. To quote someone (it's been attributed to Kurt Vonnegut, Dorothy Parker, Gloria Steinem and Gertrude Stein to name a few), I don't like writing, I like having written. I'm working on the liking writing thing.

In the process of trying to discover the author of that quote, I went to several online quote sites and what I've discovered is that writers are at their most wordy when they talk about themselves and the writing process. I go to quote sites often to look up quotes on one topic or another, and the quote pages they have for writing are several times longer than the quote pages for any of the other subjects I usually look up.

Many of the quotes are inspiring. Taken together they create a strong narrative picture of "the writer", but it is not a picture I really want to live. Shattering the quotes apart into multivocality is more useful for me because I can dismiss some as biased and elitest, but identify with others that seem more inclusive. There is definitely a bias towards the writer as a noble, solitary male, eking out a misunderstood living for a higher, more spiritual purpose. Yeah, I'm so not into that. I love the two following quotes, which appear together in this order:

What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he's staring out of the window. ~Burton Rascoe

The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes. ~Agatha Christie

Who the hell is Burton Rascoe? (for the audience who isn't me, he was a critic, editor and journalist, and apparently his best-known work was a book that talked about other writers). On the whole, I'd rather be Agatha Christie.

So, as I said, I'm trying to revisit my attitude towards writing. I'm writing at least 1000 words of fiction a day, and at least an equal number of non-fiction (usually academic) words. There really is a point to the whole "just write regularly" school of thought. Right now much of the fiction I'm writing is character fic because that's where my inspiration lies, but I figure that the first hurdle -- getting writing -- is the most important towards my eventual goal, which is to write things that could be publishable. I'm not even worrying about cracking the publishing process yet. I have friends who can help with that ;>

There are some things I've noticed that are actually kind of cool. I'm good at writing in cracks and spaces of free time. That is, I don't have to set aside a block of time (like I often feel I do for academic endeavors). I can take that hour and fifteen minutes that I have before I need to be somewhere and crank out a few paragraphs or a scene. In some ways writing in the cracks is good for me because I avoid re-reading what I already have (who has time for that when there's so little time) and I avoid on-the-spot online research that ends up taking all of my crack time. I'm getting much better at just diving into a new paragraph or scene after having been away for a while (as opposed to staring at a white screen and composing endlessly in my head).

Yesterday I had a particularly psychedelic experience while writing. I was nearing the bottom of a page and could see the page break coming. I was also in the middle of an easily flowing thought. As I typed away without any pause or search for the right phrasing, it looked as if the letters were just appearing on the screen completely disjointed from anything I was doing. It felt as if I was reading something that someone else was typing onto my screen. It only lasted for a few moments, but it was very cool and entrancing while it was happening.

So, yeah, the writing aspect of this new project that is me is coming along nicely (despite the fact that I missed my first Scat Hardcore meeting yesterday. It wasn't my fault. The Fox had a broken car!) Other progress reports will appear as I think to write about them.

Signing out with the always-brilliant Lewis Carroll:

When you are describing,
A shape, or sound, or tint;
Don't state the matter plainly,
But put it in a hint;
And learn to look at all things,
With a sort of mental squint.
~Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll)



[Edit]: Oh my god! Click on the link for writer brain to see the places where I might be...that is so cool!

Comments

[ninja-turbo.livejournal.com]

Yay, writing!

I'm glad you can write in the in-between times. They add up, and so frequently get frittered away due to t3h intarweb or TereVi.

Go go writer brain!

[bugsy-siegel.livejournal.com]

I actually heard Kurt Vonnegut say it during an interview a few years ago.
He was asked if he enjoyed writing.
He responded that no, he did not enjoy writing, he enjoyed having written.

Upon hearing that I actually felt a wave of relief rush over me, because I rarely enjoy writing.But alway enjoy having written.

[tooth-and-claw.livejournal.com]

It's strange, I've heared the siren call of writing again recently as well. The main hurdle I have to jump (other than disliking the actual process of writing . . . I understand that completely) is being intimidated by all the ther good writers out there. I don't have many others in the art department in my circle of friends, but there are a million and one writers, and very good ones, and so I dither about even trying. Before I really got into the Changeling group, i was equal parts writer and artist, and until junior year of high school, was certain I wanted to be a writer.

It's strange how dreams get lost sometimes.

BTW, you should send me your dragon Pr0n.

[ninja-turbo.livejournal.com]

1) Don't be discouraged. Every person has a different style and a different perspective on life and the universe. The fact that you know more experienced or more published writers does not make your talent and skills as a writer less relevant.

2) Take the fact that you have lots of writers as friends and make it an asset. Set yourself a goal for finishing a story or novel or doing a revision and have people asking after the deadline to keep you honest. Give your stuff for critiquing to people you can trust to respect you and your intent and give you helpful input. Letting yourself be intimidated is self-defeatism. = T3h Losing.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I personally like re-reading what I wrote previously to make sure what I write next flows smoothly out of it, but let's toss in another quote:

"There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays,
And every single one of them is right!"

So, whatever works for you, works for you. Go you! And the working!