posted
That's my writing style. I need to vent. My writing style works like a midwest football game of a different era. 3 yards and a pile of dust.
I read about how writers can whip out pages at a time, when it takes me days to craft a single scene. I write a paragraph, and then I go back and tighten up that paragraph and and a few sentences in another.
Before long 500 good words are written and I'm exhausted.
I'm not lazy; I'm just slow. Painfully slow. The only writing I can pen with any type of speed are these posts.
Is anyone else terribly slow? Are there authors you respect that are slow? OSC has written over fifty books. Now not all books are good books, but there is something to be said for that sort of speed and volume of work.
Now I know that a lot of bad authors write quickly, but what about the good authors? Do they write as slowly as I do? Are they operating in an "I" formation getting 3 yards and a pile of dust.
It's not that I don't have direction, or don't research, it's just that I'm slow. I need to know that I'm not alone.
I'm consistent, just consistently slow.
[This message has been edited by Tanglier (edited January 18, 2002).]
But how long have you been writing? It's a matter of experience also.
A friend of mine wanted to start writing, but did the same as you say now. He wrote a paragraph and looked it again and again, so he couldn't move on. The trick is to write NOW what you have to write and edit later. Write down you're story/chapter/scene first, and enjoy it. Then make it perfect (as perfect as anything in this world can be). As you become more experienced (I take it you're new), you'll need less and less editing, b/c your writing would become better as time passes.
Personaly, I write a chapter. Then edit it. Then, when I have finished my novel, I edit all chapter from the begining. I also much latter, seeing s-things I don't like, may change them, and make the book all the better. Aahh, I love MS WORD --changes are made so easy!
posted
I have to agree with the above poster. Your first task is NOT to make the scene you're writing this moment perfect. Your first task is to TELL THE STORY.
Get it down first, then edit. My personal style: I hate leaving anything hanging, so I write until I have finished a scene or a chapter. A solid chapter of about 5,000 words will take me about 3 hours of writing. Not editing, mind you, just writing. Once I've finished the chapter I will come back through and re-read, catching errors, fleshing out stuff, smacking my head saying "What was I thinking?!", etc. Once I'm satisfied with the preliminary edit, I'm done... and usually done for the day.
The next time I tackle writing (which is usually the next day), I always come back through my newly edited chapter one more time. Not only does this help me catch things I missed in the heat of writing, but it helps get my juices flowing for the next chapter.
I recommend Stephen King's "On Writing." It is an excellent book that may help. If you're not interested in King's biography, just skip to the last half.
Hope that helps! Good luck.
[This message has been edited by SiliGurl (edited January 18, 2002).]
posted
I understand that Patricia McKillip writes slowly, using the same kind of process you do, Tanglier.
But many other good writers do it the way Bardos and Siligurl have advised.
The problem is that what works for one writer may not work for another. Even for the same writer, what works with one story may not work with another story.
People can tell you to let yourself write and wait until later to edit, but that's easier said than done.
They encourage that because they know that all across the land there are file cabinets full of beautifully executed and edited first paragraphs or first chapters that will never be read by more than a very few.
I suspect that what you are doing, Tanglier, and other writers like you, is similar to what a poet does when writing a poem.
Because poems are so relatively short and must be so precise, it may be best to write them with an "editor on the shoulder." Whether this is a good approach for prose is another question.
However, I'm not going to urge you to try to be a faster writer, nor am I going to tell you to allow yourself to write badly so you can get something down on paper. I give that kind of advice to people who don't want to be slow writers.
I don't think you're asking for that kind of advice. I hear you asking for permission to write slowly.
If you ever decide you want to write faster, then we can advise you on things to try.
In the meantime, you should write the way that works best for you. Prolificity is not the goal of writing. It's a good goal to have if you want to make a living at it, but it isn't the only or even the main goal.
You are not alone. Many writers write slowly and carefully. We may not hear about them because they're not as sensational as the prolific ones. But they're out there.
posted
I can't suggest anything else but what everyone else has said, but i wanted to get my two cents in, too. I know how you feel Tanglier, at least sometimes. I write in no particular order, but when I have to tie two chunks together, I grind to almost a complete stop. I'll write a sentance, and then go through both bits again, to make sure eveything matches up.
It's tough, but if you keep at it, you do get somewhere eventually.
posted
I think one thing we can agree on is that good writing takes time. The question is where to assign that time so that it works most effectively for you. Some write quickly and edit afterwards. Some write very slowly, editing painstakingly as they go along. But rare indeed is the writer who can produce high-calibre material quickly and with little editing. Lucky!
I, personally, as far as my fiction is concerned, am of the school of 'edit as you write'. I sometimes wish I could write more quickly, and I have lately been experimenting with not-quite-stream-of-consciousness writing, in an effort to strike a better balance of speed and quality. However, I still find that the fastest good things for me are monologues, because if I can get inside the head of the character, I can just let them do the talking.
My advice, for what it's worth, is to try and develop some fast-writing exercises. If you're like me, you have a file folder/cabinet full of scraps of paper with ideas scribbled on them. If so, the next time a brilliant concept occurs to you, jot it down in a sentence or two if you have to, but then sit down right away and just write until you have to stop. Don't worry about technical points, or about pesky little things like continuity. Don't worry if you flatly contradict yourself sentence after sentence. There's a value in all this.
Hopefully, the result will be that you slowly become more comfortable with a more direct approach to writing, and that your pace will begin to increase as you tackle your main writing. Plus, these exercises have the added benefit that they can sometimes produce some fascinating little vignettes/scenes which can take on a life of their own later on.
Just let me say one more little thing too. Time can also come into play through peer review and your own growing acquaintance with your piece. Most of my recent writing has been songs. I have trouble really getting to know them until they've been performed a bunch of times. And even then, I go back and listen to the show recordings. I find it strange to listen to the CD, which we recorded at the end of 1999, because teh songs have really evolved since then, through repeated performance. So in writing material for the second, I'm really trying hard to give myself the opportunity to get to know the songs, through my own experience and through the reaction of others...
posted
Thanks all. Kathleen, you are right. I need permission to write at my own pace. I finished the _Storm of Swords_ by George Martin, and he packs so much ingenuity and innovation into every phrase without sacrificing clarity or character development, that I feel bad rushing.
There is hardly a wasted metaphor. The power of Martin's prose reminds me of OSC's Hart Hope, but Martin seems to have a clearer vision and more control of his images.
A Storm of Swords left me breathless, but I can't imagine that that book was written easily or at all sloppily.
I want to capture that sort of power and intent with every phase, but I fear I don't have Martin's well of metaphors to drink from. I spend time spicing up my own prose, making sure that the story telling is tight, and that clarity not only abounds, the quality is shamelessly exposing itself in everyone of my sentences. Then to do all of and still make sure that I'm am drawing all of the attention to the color of the characters as opposed to myself as the writer is especially difficult. And not something I can do quickly.
For me, rhetorical innovation + ideological clarity + subtle plotting + telling characterizations = Time. I just needed to know that it's okay to write like the turtle.
btw, it's especially frustrating knowing the if I finish before the sun burns out, I'm going to cut scenes or whole chapters in the name of efficient storytelling.
I have 43 chapters meticulously outlined, volumes of notes on world-building and character histories, and now that I'm actually writing. I take two steps forward and one step back to make sure everything is developing exactly like the pace it should.
But with this labor intensive approach, by the time I make sure that the plot is moving briskly, the my prose is artful, and above all, the character motivations are clear, it's already been entirely too long.
Thank you for the permission to write like the turtle. I figure as long as I'm consistent, even at a turtles pace, I should be finished before Social Security kicks in, even if I'm 24.
I've heard that Connie Willis is also a slow person. She works on 8 or 9 stories at a time. Planning and writing meticulously and slowly.
But I know there that the bulk of them can just write at a terrifically impressive pace.
[This message has been edited by Tanglier (edited January 18, 2002).]
posted
Well, if you want an example of how writers write, I have to hand write the first draft of anything to get it out. I edit and edit again when I type it, so I find that I write faster when I type it into the computer after it is already done.
posted
I'm in the get-it-done-NOW school of writing, so I write as fast as possible, to get an idea out, and then go back and edit. Still, there's nothing wrong with being meticulous. If that's your style, game on, go for it. I just couldn't handle it. I read faster than I write, so any scenes I write now will be longer when I go over them with a fine-haired brush and a magnifying glass. Otherwise, they'd be garbage, for the most part.
posted
I don't think fast equals sloppy or poorly written. I am a fast writer. Most days I turn out 5,000 plus words. Not that I keep them all later---or that they are perfect---but I get the story down and then worry about mechanics. (my drafts go quickly as well) I used to be the I have to handwrite this first writer as well---I found it slowed me down, I type very quickly---over 80 words per minute on a slow day. But my first drafts never see the light of anyone else’s screen. They could not read it. I do not space often times and rarely hit the return key. One big long line of thought as I write. Dialog often happens with a quick cntl I and ends the same. Also I skip over descriptions---gadds I hate doing rosy prose description---so I put that in last. So no one else could read it. Not that they could read my handwriting either-- --LOL
posted
Nothing wrong with fast. Michael A Stackpole can write books in a matter of days (after meticulous planning, of course), and he's one of the best writers on the planet. I'm not as fast as Stackpole, but I am quite quick. I don't think it matters how fast you write. What matters is quality and planning. JK
Posts: 503 | Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
Tanglier, I think we're kindred writing spirits, at least as you've described here.
As for me, I'm slow, and quite frankly not in a hurry. I hand write all of my notes, fragments, and first drafts. I can't create as well at the pc, because it's way to easy to edit and delete, and thus to have a blank screen at the end of the day. At least with hand writing my work, I can edit, scribble out, block off and arrow pieces together, and even go back and reuse or move things I've scribbled out previously. Often what I find myself doing, as I (sometimes painstakingly) write a scene (as you said, Tanglier, 500 words worth of exhaustive work) what's happening is it's actually evolving as I write it, so I see the demon stick his arm in the fire, then realize it's not shaking, and then see the sweat drip off it, then see the sweat create little tonguelets of fire that lick at his thick red skin. Well, unless I simply see it all at once, which does occassionally happen, I have to go back and rework it to get all the detail I want in a coherent fashion.
So, carry on, my good, slow-writing, friend. You are not alone.
I may churn out page after page in a day. But the next day, or maybe the next week, I may feel as if the well has gone dry and do nothing. If there's some way to sustain the effort, I'd like to know it.
posted
I write in short bursts. I'll write anywhere from a paragraph to a page, and then start fiddling with something on my desk, (usually some silly putty I have laying around). I write fast, but I can't stay concentrated. It's like I'm looking for any excuse to stop concentrating so hard, (kind of like doing math homework back in highschool.)
So in the end, I probably turn out as many pages as you do, which is not very many. I guess everybody has their own writing style, so whatever suits you best and makes you feel good is what you should stick with. The readers don't care about how long it takes to write something, they only care about how good it is.
posted
Of course it's not a problem...if you finish at some point. But take a look at, say, Robert Jordan. His fan base is at least fraying around the edges because he's been taking so long to come out with the next book. I worry that the delays will cause me to depress potential readers so that they don't buy the next book, should I ever publish anything for money.
Posts: 55 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Tanglier, this is something I do myself and something I've gotten from several of the How-To-Write type guides I've written.
HOW TO WRITE 1) Put it all down on paper. 2) THEN rework it.
That way, you don't just look at individual sentences and paragraphs, but on the story and the work as a whole. Which is a GOOD thing. Not only do you get to look back and notice that you've missed things in the begining and should add them, but also you know how every sentence and every paragraph and every chapter fits into the whole story.
I mean, honestly: When you read, you don't read sentence by sentence. You read paragraph by paragraph. The paragraph is the basic unit of writing, not the sentence. So, to be quite honest, you don't need to worry about things on such a minute level. [that's not to say you can't; the first rule of writing is that you're allowed to do ANYTHING if you can get away with it.]
Partially this is writing style. I mean, I can't imagine going over things sentence by sentence; sometimes I can't even bring myself to revise. Of course, the way you write, you don't need to; revising is part and parcel of the writing process. So I don't know what to say, for it's not my place or anyone else's to criticize anyone's style. But it seems to me that most people do it differently, that they write first and revise later. It also seems to me that doing that is probably faster.
...And if I might be allowed to speculate. All of this is completely unfounded and I can't guarantee its accuracy at all. However, I trust my instincts, and this is what they tell me:
I think, partially, you write the way you do because you're scared that your writing is bad. You put down a sentence and you think, 'Oh, my God, this is such complete and utter crap, I'd better fix it before someone sees it,' and it goes from there. I'm not sure how you would cure yourself of that impulse, but I think that if you did, you'd be able to write, if not better, then at least more quickly.
Assuming, of course, that you even feel that way. Feel free to yell at me if I'm completely off the wall here.
posted
My brother in-lam upon learning that I had finished my fifth book----said---"how in the H do you so that? I get stuck on the first pages and never get past them."
He was reworking those first pages until they were in his mind perfect. Guess where it got him? He has never finished anything.
I have read about published writers who write only a page a day and then re-work that page to perfection and never do a re-write or edit of the entire project. But even at a page a day, you will have 365 pages. With one-inch margins and 12pt Times New Roman---that's about 90,000 words or a book a year.
So that works as well.
As others have said here---basically--JUST DO IT! What ever works for you, do it, and plow on until you have the story down. It doesn't even really matter if you finish anything----unless you want to share in the agony of finding agent or editor.
posted
Well, I only write poetry, once tried a book, but never got further than 2 chapters.
writing poetry can be hard at times, it doesn't have to rhyme, but it does have to fit. sometimes I can write half a poem staight, other times it takes a week of gradually putting the words down.
basically how I get the words is playing computer games whilst listening to music (Fantasy/Folk metal). sometimes a word pops in, I scribble it down, and play on, for hours or days, till the paper is half-full and I write it into a poem.
posted
I started off going really slowly when I started my novel, and while I’m still no speed-demon, as I’ve gotten a better feel for the characters and the world it seems to be coming together more quickly. Sometimes I just sort of sit and stare at the computer, which is frustrating as far as getting words down. But after having that chance to really think things through I often can get a burst going because I have a clear picture of where I’m going. I’m doing a lot of editing as I go since I feel compelled to keep everything logical and reasonable. It seems to be working for me at least. That seems to bring out how single words and phrase become very important for setting the entire tone of a scene. Every time I go back through it seems to flow better and have a tighter focus that more clearly directs the reader (at least my test reader anyway) to what I was really trying to say. So even though my style is slow, it’s been very rewarding.
posted
I am inclined to write and re-write each line. (Actually I'm inclined to read baseball info, walk the dogs, or do anything but write anything at all. But that's another story, as they say.)
I've been trying to get more words written in a day because I need that feeling of making progress. (I'm a bit older than you - and lefthanded to boot. My personal sun will go out in a smaller time.) It's working sort of. I am writing more words, but sometimes I'm taking massive detours where I lose track of plot, character, what have you.
There's no easy answer.
By the Way, Annie Lamott's Bird by Bird talks about this issue in a humourous way. She is a firm believer in the "crappy" first draft.