Musing on the fine art of writing... [Welcome to my perfumed garden]

I’ve been writing fic all morning. I have tons of other stuff to do, but I’m feeling self indulgent; got a massive coffee and a choc-chip cookie; I’m waiting for the kitchen floor to dry and not at all inclined to do real work.

So, I’m writing this TS fic; just finished a bit of exposition between Jim and one of the OCs and realising I haven’t really much of a clue where the story is going – I mean, I have the basics sketched out; I know who Jim and Blair are in this universe, I know what’s happened to them, their traumas; how they got to where they are; I even have a vague idea about the complex case-history that’s bringing them back together, but details have I none, where it’s going to end – not a clue; what’s going to happen along the way? Beats me.

And – thinking about that (and my total lack of a problem with this state of affairs), my most popular stories to date (Wind Whispering, Chasing Rainbows and other stories in other fandoms) were all written like this. Like Mike Leigh and Larry David; I have only the vaguest ideas about where it’s all going and who’s going to be involved, but I know all my characters intimately. I have all the details of their back-story – what made them the way they are - so, I’m OK with letting them dictate their own story; happy to be surprised when they take the tale off in whole new, totally unanticipated directions (as Eli Stoddard did in Chasing Rainbows – I didn’t even know he was going to be in the story till Blair spotted that poster advertising his lecture) without any apparent input from me.

And the more I mused on this (as I brewed my second cup of coffee), the more I realised that, this is the joy of writing, for me. This is what keeps me at it – it’s that voyage of discovery; never knowing what’s coming up over the horizon. Whole new characters might appear and do - who knows what? Someone might suddenly blurt something you had no idea they were going to say and send the tale spiralling off in a direction you’d never even dreamt of, and that’s what makes it all so damn strange and wonderful and magical and fun.

IMO.

What do you think?

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it’s that voyage of discovery; never knowing what’s coming up over the horizon. Whole new characters might appear and do - who knows what? Someone might suddenly blurt something you had no idea they were going to say and send the tale spiralling off in a direction you’d never even dreamt of, and that’s what makes it all so damn strange and wonderful and magical and fun.

Oh yes, most definitely I totally get this. I find that, even in a story I have mapped out beforehand, the unexpected often happens. It's a very organic type of thing - the way unexpected stuff pops up, making the story grow in unpredictable ways.

I'm finding that is most definitely the case with Immersion, which began as a couple of snippets with no direction whatsoever. After a short while, it became clear to me where it was headed, and I've had a plan for it in my head ever since. But the path it is taking to get there is anything but direct, and all the more fascinating for me to write as a consequence. Naomi, in particular, keeps surprising me, much to my delight!

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It's the best thing, isn't it? The way the totally unexpected happens and you're left floundering at the keyboard wondering; 'how the hell did that happen?' And loving it all the same.

::smooches you again for Immersion, because it makes me feel good::

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Yep, absolutely!

::smooches you back and points out that the next part has just gone up:: ;-)

::see icon::

The not a clue way is the way I write most of mine. I get a seed of a story but I don't know what colour the flower will be; or, hey, it might turn out to be a vegetable.

It's more like digging out something buried and discovering what it is than creating it, in a way; as if you're an archeologist, not a sculptor and the story exists already.

"as if you're an archeologist, not a sculptor and the story exists already."
Oh that's very interesting; so, you get the feeling that a story is already written and you're discovering, rather than creating it?

I like the sound of that! That's not what I get at all; my creative process is a barely controlled anarchy, in which I have the idea, the situation, usually a well-visualised environment and the characters, who I always know intimately before I begin; either because they're old friends, like Jim and Blair (and if I've changed their situation/background - whatever - as I usually have, I do know exactly what those changes are and how they're affecting them) or OCs that I seem to know well already (though they sometimes surprise me) so I'm quite happy to let everyone roam in their new world and see what they make of it.

I don't go in totally blind, I do know, more or less, what's supposed to happen (though rarely have an end) but much more often than not, the characters get away from my plans and take things in all sorts of unanticipated directions.As Jim just did this morning, bless him.

you get the feeling that a story is already written and you're discovering, rather than creating it?

Sometimes, yes :;nods::

I mean; I've gone into scenes wanting them to do X and thye've done Y; that has to mean there's a conspiracy ::g::

It's a fascinating process, writing...

I don't write so I wouldn't know, but as a reader I love where they take you!

::simper:: Thank you, honey. ::smooches::

lol That's exactly how the Infamous Novel developed! I had to re-write one section because one character kept trying to seduce the heroine just to bug the hero. *g* And then at what was supposed to be the end, I realized that I was introducing new characters (Del & Brynne) who were threatening to take over. And *have* taken over the sequels! lol

I thought I was bringing Chasing Rainbows to an end when Eli suddenly popped up and suddenly the thing was 70,000+ words long (so I feel your pain. lol!)

heh The Infamous Novel is around 176,000 words...

That's some epic! (o:

So, I’m writing this TS fic; just finished a bit of exposition between Jim and one of the OCs and realising I haven’t really much of a clue where the story is going – I mean, I have the basics sketched out; I know who Jim and Blair are in this universe, I know what’s happened to them, their traumas; how they got to where they are; I even have a vague idea about the complex case-history that’s bringing them back together, but details have I none, where it’s going to end – not a clue; what’s going to happen along the way? Beats me.

Yep, that's how I work too. It always feels to me that the story is like a journey. I know whereabouts I'll end up (happy ending, thank you!) but I have no idea what I'll see on the way. Sometimes, the most surprising things can happen - like a story that's supposed to be 5 pages long turning out to be 70 pages. :oD

Oh yeah; the little snippet of a thing that ends up a novel. Been there, done that, had the tattered remains of the T shirt fall apart in the wash.

But I love the journey! Just this morning, when I woke with a banging headache, wondering why my sinuses were on fire (see following post) I had a sudden revelation about Jim; I suddenly saw a whole new direction for my story because of one little something I stuck in his backstory. Tis a wonder and a joy. (o:

And I'll go in the opposite direction, and declare that I have utter control freak tendencies. It's why I approach ficathons and challenges with caution. Outside influences - affecting my story? Hmmm... Not that I have all the details worked out before I set words to pixels, but I always know the basics first. Who, what, where, why. There are some minor exceptions - how I dealt with Alicia in Hazard for example, but generally I have it somewhere in my head well before it gets written. How may develop over the course of the story, but your approach would drive me bonkers. Clearly, it works for you, and that's the important thing. :-) Events sometimes get away from me, but not characters. I want all my puppets doing their bit, thank you very much indeed.

Possibly, I might write more if I was a bit more free and easy - except that I have absolutely no idea as to how to be free and easy. ;-) For me the fun is seeing something that was fairly inchoate take a form and a structure - end up telling a story.

"Events sometimes get away from me, but not characters."
So, are you saying that the plot sometimes goes in directions you hadn't anticipated? And if so, how does that work? How does the plot 'get away from you', if not pushed that way by the players in the scene?

Interesting. (o:

It's a bit of a mix, I think. I have this idea for 'what's going to happen'. Obviously, that's affected by characterisation issues. For me, writing a story is like building a house. You have a plan, but you realise you've cut that joist too short, and you have to cut a new one; you can't get that variety of tile and have to go with something else. I think that you, Gilly, go with 'content defines form'. I go with 'form defines content'. :-)

To go back to Hazard, I was going to have Alicia just as affected by the sentinel attraction thing as Jim, but I soon realised that it wouldn't work. The scene where Jim licks her hand was originally intended as a way for Alicia to drug him and put Jim even more off his game. However, no. Alicia is a survivor, and she can't do the things that I want her to do if she's swanning around in an uncontrolled puddle of lust. So, I changed the emphasis. So yes, things are character based, but it's more me thinking, 'what sort of person will do the things I want to have happen here' rather than having the character determine the flow of action.

OK, that all makes sense.

This is all getting really interesting; it's like a window into all these writery minds, all working in completely different ways. Fascinating. (o:

::envies::

(and apologizes -- I appear to be stalking you, don't I? catching up a little in a least *one* direction today, not actually lurking outside your house in a suspiciously fixated manner)

But really, I do envy you -- all of you -- who can get to that point when writing. If I'm lucky, I might start something, but the odds ain't good it's ever gonna get anywhere. I had a tiny little bit of that feeling with one fic, when I didn't know where it was going to end up, and it was really cool. To have that happen more powerfully and frequently -- and to know you have the skill to write whatever comes up -- God, that sounds like heaven...

I wondered who the strange, pale, staring creature, looking like something from an existential silent German film was. Would you like to come in and have a nice hot toddy? You look awfully chilly in those floating muslin rags...

But... Your own writing is so beautiful. I have nommed you for multiple awards, not because I like you (though I do ::simper::) but because your stories are so damn good and the writing is astonishing... breathtaking. And as for your drabbles (sighs, for I know, I shall never write a drabble)...

Why the angst? You are a wonderful writer and we all have our own ways of going about it. My way tends to be this haphazard, spatter gun approach that works for me, but I can see it wouldn't for everyone.

Would you like to come in and have a nice hot toddy? You look awfully chilly in those floating muslin rags...

Heh, thanks, but I think I'll wait just a leeeetle bit. Until your kitchen floor is less, um... dangerous? (Seriously, I hope you and Mark didn't breath too much of the fumes. And your slippers -- that's flat-out *scary*.)

And sheesh, thank you for the lovely, lovely, so wonderfully lovely words about my writing (well, and me, too :-)). You're being enormously kind, and I clutched your kind words to my frustrated heart last night -- and well, damn. They worked. ::showers Gilly with tea and coffee and smooches and non-toxic'ly-sealed kitchen floors:: I've been beating my head against a wall for forever it feels like, unable to get anywhere on my Moonridge fics, or anything else to speak of (and yes, angsting shamefully-- I so want a brain that creates *plots* and I rarely seem to have one of those) -- and this morning I'm all revitalized and making honest-to-God real progress on one Moonridge fic, and I really think it might work okay, and I've almost got the whole first draft written, which seemed impossible even just yesterday and --

::SMOOCH.SMOOCH.SMOOCH::

And I know everybody works differently. I just do incredibly admire the inventiveness of Rainbows and Rainbows 2 and Wind Whispering and the Academy fic, not to mention Alpha and Omega and all your other fics... And to be able to work the way you describe working does sound like a -- probably unattainable -- heaven to me. (But I'm not angsting about it anymore, 'kay? Not this morning. Just writing. And when that's happening, no matter how it comes about, I'm happy...)

Ah, we have a bit of a mutual smooching thing going on here; you should come and join me and Bev in a weird, writery luuurve triangle. Not kind though, never kind - just the truth, babe.

I'm thrilled you're writing again; for you, because I know it's thrilling when it's happening, and for me, because I love your writing. Maybe there's something happening in the cosmos; I'm on a major writing vibe myself today; I was even scribbling in the car.

As for the way the writing works - it seems to be different for everyone. Your way works for you, that's plain - at least the results are always marvellous.

I think you are making magic!

But, aren't we all???

(o:

However it is you write, your stories always come out as "strange and wonderful and magical and fun", and I love them! *g*

Oh... You. (o:

Thanks for the lovely thought.

I'm not a writer but when I write letters I sometimes get the same feeling. As fan of fanfics-writers I felt immensely grateful for the surprises, the emotions, the discoveries I get from reading your works. Sometimes it's a word or a sentence or a character or the story's events that do the job for me, but it's always interesting, attractive and alive. Thanks.

It's a kind of magic, isn't it? Is that how it is when you're painting?

It's magic, indeed.
When I paint I do in very relaxed after a meditation about someone or something,then I keep nothing in my mind, no idea, no goal, only focusing on my senses. The pencil's touches and the colors are done eyes closed . I have tricks to help me to shut out my mind in the first step of the watercolors . So it's always a surprise for me. Then I search with my computer the more meaningful versions and details.

Okay, so lots of people have answered this post already, but I'm gonna do a quick comment, too, since I'm only just catching up.

I think you're right that that's the best thing about writing. On the other hand, I write best, when I have reached a compromise between not knowing what'll happen and knowing what will. Too little information leaves me lost. I write lots of crap that has absolutely no bearing on the story and will need to be cut right away once I've found where I'm going. And, with my writing time being restricted as it is, those are the times when I'm most likely to put a story down for something that seems more easy to write (unfortunately, those are most likely new instead of old plot bunnies). But then there are the stories, where I know all that's gonna happen, and then a) it's merely "work" to finish writing or b) I tend to think it's all boring and come up with new twists, which inadvertently will require me to change stuff around a lot even in the parts I've already written. Oh, and also, when I know how things are supposed to go too well, I'm also very prone to not like the way they turn out on the screen, further slowing my progress actually writing it down. Sigh, I should just write more. That way I don't spend so much time just thinking about stories, hence do less planning etc. I used to write so much quicker then. And you probably didn't really want to know all this... but I hardly ever pass up opportunities to write about my writing ;-)

PS: I'm glad you're starting to work on your novel again. I was sad to hear about how frustrated you were when you "gave up on it" a few months ago. I'm crossing all my fingers and pressing all my thumbs (that's what we do in Germany instead of crossing fingers for luck) that it goes well!

Welcome to my perfumed garden

Musing on the fine art of writing...

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