A Confession

If not for writing, I would probably be a very crazy person.

But then, writing makes me pretty crazy anyway, so...

I admit, it's a bit of a conundrum, but the two balance each other out pretty well, I think.


--Cris

On Outlines

The decision to outline was, believe it or not, more of an epiphany.

For a long time, I held with the belief that outlining was a weakness, of sorts, that it bound into some sort of pact from which you couldn't escape. You wrote the story in outline form, and was thereafter destined to fulfill the contract. And if you didn't, Lucifer was waiting on the periphery, willing, and in fact eager, to unleash upon you, the reneger, the hound hoards of hell.

Intellectually, of course, I knew it was hogwash. I've heard of plenty of writers (some published, some not) who outline, and who've had a story veer terrifically off-road, to its benefit. That's intellectually.

In my heart, it felt like a weakness, like I wasn't a real writer if I outlined. Idiotic, I know, but I can't help my feelings. If I could... well, that's a post for a different blog.

In any case, I've gotten over it. I'm outlining both stories, and am the better for it. Now, I feel like I'm getting somewhere. Scenes, even scenes written out of the blue and unconnected to anything while I write them, are going somewhere. That's important, I think. It's important to feel like you're not just spinning your wheels in the mud without getting anywhere. It's important because I don't write stories. Not really. I write scenes.

It took me a long time to come to this conclusion, and a while to come to terms with it. When I try to write stories, they don't turn out well. On my own, without intending to submit to any sort of contest (in which I do quite well, for some reason), stories I write tend to peter out, to dissolve into nothing, until even the reason for writing them eludes me.

I write scenes, the musings of some single character, or interactions, conversations between groups of two or more. Those, I think, I do well. I like writing dialogue. I'm getting better at writing action (which had, for a long while, been a big weakness of mine), but dialogue always tended to flow pretty smoothly for me. More so in real-world settings, but also in fantasy.

These scenes will be seeded throughout the story, and connections will be made; if one scene is put after another, I'll write transitions from one to the next. If two scenes written are separated by some passage of time, I'll write, quickly and in wide brush strokes, how they're related.

I'm getting better at writing chronologically, as well, at starting at Chapter One and going from there, but this piecemeal writing comes most naturally to me. I'm still wondering whether or not that's detrimental.

Outlines.

I should have done this ages ago.

-- Cris.

An update

I'm trying to work out a regular schedule. Usually, I save my writing for... well, whenever I feel like it, really, but that's no way to finish a story. So I've set aside a few hours in the morning where I can plant myself in front of my computer (the one without the internet access, cuz I'm lazy, and weak-willed) with the express knowledge that I'm not moving until either the time is up or the world is ending. (The world doesn't end nearly as often as I'd like).

In any case, it's good for me. The stories are progressing at slow but steady rates. With a lot of luck and a little bit of diligence (or, conversely, no luck, and a lot of diligence), I can realize the goal of finishing Out of Tadara by Dec. 31st. Getting more than 50% of Scamper's story done by then (no title, yet) would be a bonus, but it's not something I'm holding my breath for.

Towards this end, I'm working out detailed outlines for both stories (something I've never really done before). Oddly, it's easier to outline Scamper's story than OoT, but that's nothing to worry about.

--Cris

Issues abound

I am wracked with doubt, and plagued by insecurities.

It sucks. :/

-- Cris