Andy Free's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing-methods"
The Eagle’s Gift
E. L. Doctorow wrote that writing is like driving a car at night: “It's like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” I don’t agree. For me, writing is like being an eagle flying through high clouds and errant sunbeams: Soaring out from the chill dank fog of the clouds, suddenly the eagle sees a far-away mountain valley, shining in the golden sun of evening. “That is where I must go,” he thinks, for there is something powerful there that calls to his heart. He will never forget that image, nor will he lose that incredibly clear vision of those in the high valley. He can see their faces, he can hear their voices, and he knows the secrets of their hearts. “Though the clouds close in and the storms come,” he vows, “I will find that place again. I will find a way.” This is the eagle’s gift. (See a picture at pic.twitter.com/kyHtOa8q5b).
For me, writing is intense daydreaming. I dream in vignettes, in scenes where characters interact in the defining moments of their lives. Dialogue has always come easily to me, for I have spoken the words in my heart first. I feel a sense of deep certainty when the words are right.
Over time, these vignettes are peppered all over an imaginary country, but the problem is, they are not always connected. That is when the eagle must fly higher still, where the air is thin and cold and the sun is a shining hammer of light. Now the clouds are far below and the eagle can see the shape of the lands. He sees the dynasties rise, the armies march and clash in bloody combat, and the foul treacheries that set the course of doomed generations. Not all these streams of history connect the vignettes directly, but the eagle finds the ones that do. Now he knows the route he must fly to make the story live for readers.
Of course, writing is still hard work and editing was invented as a cruel form of necessary torture for creative people – which is why I remember to soar when I can, and stay off E. L. Doctorow’s road at night. That road at night may be a paradigm for some writers – and I can see how a linear approach to story writing might actually have some advantages – but I have absolutely no interest in driving down it.
Looking at the kind of historically-based novels that Doctorow wrote, I can see that his style and writing paradigm of the road at night had a lot to do with his choice of genres, which required an immense amount of historical research. By contrast, my chosen genres of fantasy and science fiction (with elements of romance and mystery/thrillers) require some historical research but give me a lot more flexibility. It also helps to have the Internet and search engines as research tools as opposed to the more cumbersome methods that E. L. Doctorow would have had to use during most of his career.
So how much has the eagle’s gift helped me as a writer? See for yourself and let me know what you think! My second novel (first published novel) is Avalon: Companions, a science fiction thriller set in present day Arizona, but the story soon moves into the alternate world of Avalon. Avalon is a hidden world across a dimensional divide, a world that only a few with special abilities can reach. We have both friends and enemies there, but now the enemies have the upper hand. Their technology and abilities are far beyond ours, and their most cherished dream is to wipe the earth clean of humanity. Join Dan Monroe and Claudia Chantal as they race against time to save humanity from the most dangerous threat it has ever faced...
Avalon: Companions
For me, writing is intense daydreaming. I dream in vignettes, in scenes where characters interact in the defining moments of their lives. Dialogue has always come easily to me, for I have spoken the words in my heart first. I feel a sense of deep certainty when the words are right.
Over time, these vignettes are peppered all over an imaginary country, but the problem is, they are not always connected. That is when the eagle must fly higher still, where the air is thin and cold and the sun is a shining hammer of light. Now the clouds are far below and the eagle can see the shape of the lands. He sees the dynasties rise, the armies march and clash in bloody combat, and the foul treacheries that set the course of doomed generations. Not all these streams of history connect the vignettes directly, but the eagle finds the ones that do. Now he knows the route he must fly to make the story live for readers.
Of course, writing is still hard work and editing was invented as a cruel form of necessary torture for creative people – which is why I remember to soar when I can, and stay off E. L. Doctorow’s road at night. That road at night may be a paradigm for some writers – and I can see how a linear approach to story writing might actually have some advantages – but I have absolutely no interest in driving down it.
Looking at the kind of historically-based novels that Doctorow wrote, I can see that his style and writing paradigm of the road at night had a lot to do with his choice of genres, which required an immense amount of historical research. By contrast, my chosen genres of fantasy and science fiction (with elements of romance and mystery/thrillers) require some historical research but give me a lot more flexibility. It also helps to have the Internet and search engines as research tools as opposed to the more cumbersome methods that E. L. Doctorow would have had to use during most of his career.
So how much has the eagle’s gift helped me as a writer? See for yourself and let me know what you think! My second novel (first published novel) is Avalon: Companions, a science fiction thriller set in present day Arizona, but the story soon moves into the alternate world of Avalon. Avalon is a hidden world across a dimensional divide, a world that only a few with special abilities can reach. We have both friends and enemies there, but now the enemies have the upper hand. Their technology and abilities are far beyond ours, and their most cherished dream is to wipe the earth clean of humanity. Join Dan Monroe and Claudia Chantal as they race against time to save humanity from the most dangerous threat it has ever faced...
Avalon: Companions
