Lesbian Fiction

dejay · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 2:21 pm Post subject: Time Elapsed

As a wanna be author I'm often frustrated by the amount of time it takes me to write a piece once I have the concept in my mind. I've had some stories come to me in a matter of hours, but at other times I just struggle trying to find the right words. Sad

Any suggestions. Anyone else have this issue???? Please don't tell me I'm alone with this problem.
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HH · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:48 pm Post subject:

Oh, hell, yes, ALL THE TIME. It's the story (heh heh) of my life.
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Baker · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:33 pm Post subject:

Oh, Deej, you are so far from being alone!

Yes, I've had stories come pouring out that I can't type fast enough. Others...well, it's like trying to squeeze blood from a stone.

Words of advice? I hope someone has some for us. Smile

Personally, I just go with whatever is happening: enjoy it or endure it and hope that what comes out is worth it.
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ElaineB · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 8:00 pm Post subject: Re: Time Elapsed

Proofrdr · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:43 pm Post subject:

Robert Olen Butler addresses this in one of his lectures in From Where You Dream, subtitle: The Process of Writing Fiction. Basically he says that art doesn't come from ideas or from thinking; it comes from where you dream. He calls it the writer's dreamspace or the zone.

The idea is that you write from that half-conscious awareness of a daydream. I've found it is possible to get there and the writing does come easily when I've managed it. Getting there requires a regular daily segment of uninterrupted time and, in a way, actually day-dreaming your story. I couldn't maintain a schedule well enough to get good at doing it, but it is possible.

Of course, after that first draft, Olen presents all kinds of ideas and thinking that are necessary in editing and revising what comes from the "dream."
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ElaineB · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:59 pm Post subject:

I always seem to hit that state in the middle of the night when I don't want to/can't bring myself to write in the dark on the pad of paper I do keep by the bed. Mad

Proofrdr · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:34 pm Post subject:

The trick is to achieve that space at times other than just before you go to sleep. wink

That happens to me too, Elaine. But, at this point, I've given up on the novel until I finish editing. I just can't seem to write my book while editing someone else's...I even have trouble reading another book while I'm editing. This one-track mind must be old-timer's disease.
_________________
I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master.
I want the full menu of rights.
-Archbishop Desmond Tutu-

BassGuitarGirl · Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:05 am Post subject:

HH · Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 6:29 am Post subject:

When I first started writing, it was really easy and fun. That's because I had no freaking clue what I was doing. I didn't know you needed to choose words or have a POV or a plot or anything. Once I learned a little bit about the craft, it became a zillion times harder and slower to write because I was aware of those things. Words did matter.

I'm still at that stage. Mad

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ElaineB · Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:52 pm Post subject:

Check out Sterling Editing's latest post on rewrites. And by god, if you haven't read Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott, get it today. That and Writing Down the Bones. You'll see what good company you are in.

teep13 · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 1:14 am Post subject:

Ladies ~ thank-you. I'm gleaning some marvelous recommendations for reading from a discussion about your frustrations... I will also observe that you are not alone, which is not always helpful to know, but it is validation of sorts.
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Baker · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:36 pm Post subject:

Oh, hell, yes, Teep. If you take a sweep through some of the craft discussion threads, you'll see lots of frustration and shared agonies. Ah, the joys of writing! wink

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Life.

HH · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:35 pm Post subject:

Okay, who besides me doesn't finish writing 90% of the stories they start?
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dejay · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:43 pm Post subject:

_________________
I had some words with my wife - she had some paragraphs with me! .

Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is a butch.

grewgirl · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:37 am Post subject:

We're supposed to finish them?