Ian Dawson's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing-experimentally"
Writing Tip of the Week: Write Experimentally with Pride
As I wrote about in a post last week, your initial drafts should be for your eyes only. That means that you should have the freedom to write your story how you want, in whatever way you want, with all the profanity, sex, violence, and other crazy stuff you want.
In these uncensored moments, you allow your creativity to stretch to its limits, experiment, and let elements of your story go off the rails in ways you would never imagine releasing into the world.
Go a Little Crazy
Fiction allows you to experiment and play around with the world and the characters that inhabit that world. If you are stuck on an idea or are unsure what direction to take a character’s choices, take the crazy train and see what happens. You may like or hate what you write, but at least you’re taking the time to explore options you normally wouldn’t have tried.
This is also a fun way to escape cliches and tropes that can bog down a story. Sometimes, you must break through a genre’s constraints to find something fresh for readers to experience. By taking the guardrails off and jumping into the abyss of insanity, you may find the story solution you’re looking for.
Have Some Fun
If you usually write in a specific genre and have been curious about exploring others, this is an excellent opportunity to experiment and see what you can do. You can even see what boundaries you can explore within a genre you’re comfortable with. Are there aspects you’ve been afraid to incorporate into your work?
Remember, this phase of the writing journey is classified and never to be seen by anyone else. If you write stuff that’s too out there, too nuts, or even too awful, it’s okay. This is merely an exploratory mission. If it doesn’t work, at least you tried.
Keep It or Cut It?
Ultimately, you will release a draft of your work to a few people for feedback. If you discovered some intriguing things while writing uncensored that you want to keep in your manuscript to see how they are received, go for it. These elements should still be part of your story and not shock value for the sake of shock value. Based on the feedback, you can make the call to keep it or cut it out.
(Obviously, if you write stories meant to shock and offend, do what you gotta do!)
You also have to consider if these uncensored scenes or chapters fit your genre’s parameters. A cozy mystery probably wouldn’t have a bloody massacre described in detail. Likewise, a middle-grade novel probably shouldn’t have overt violence, sex, or profanity.
If you choose traditional publishing, you will face more restrictions than self-publishing, but you should still be mindful of the genres and age groups you are writing for.
Final Thoughts
I advocate initially experimenting with your writing and writing uncensored drafts, then pulling things back and cutting where necessary. You shouldn’t place unneeded restrictions on yourself in the drafting phase that could hinder creativity and the flow of your writing in the early stages. Get it out there, see what works, and cut the rest.
Write Experimentally with Pride, and I’ll see you next time!
In these uncensored moments, you allow your creativity to stretch to its limits, experiment, and let elements of your story go off the rails in ways you would never imagine releasing into the world.
Go a Little Crazy
Fiction allows you to experiment and play around with the world and the characters that inhabit that world. If you are stuck on an idea or are unsure what direction to take a character’s choices, take the crazy train and see what happens. You may like or hate what you write, but at least you’re taking the time to explore options you normally wouldn’t have tried.
This is also a fun way to escape cliches and tropes that can bog down a story. Sometimes, you must break through a genre’s constraints to find something fresh for readers to experience. By taking the guardrails off and jumping into the abyss of insanity, you may find the story solution you’re looking for.
Have Some Fun
If you usually write in a specific genre and have been curious about exploring others, this is an excellent opportunity to experiment and see what you can do. You can even see what boundaries you can explore within a genre you’re comfortable with. Are there aspects you’ve been afraid to incorporate into your work?
Remember, this phase of the writing journey is classified and never to be seen by anyone else. If you write stuff that’s too out there, too nuts, or even too awful, it’s okay. This is merely an exploratory mission. If it doesn’t work, at least you tried.
Keep It or Cut It?
Ultimately, you will release a draft of your work to a few people for feedback. If you discovered some intriguing things while writing uncensored that you want to keep in your manuscript to see how they are received, go for it. These elements should still be part of your story and not shock value for the sake of shock value. Based on the feedback, you can make the call to keep it or cut it out.
(Obviously, if you write stories meant to shock and offend, do what you gotta do!)
You also have to consider if these uncensored scenes or chapters fit your genre’s parameters. A cozy mystery probably wouldn’t have a bloody massacre described in detail. Likewise, a middle-grade novel probably shouldn’t have overt violence, sex, or profanity.
If you choose traditional publishing, you will face more restrictions than self-publishing, but you should still be mindful of the genres and age groups you are writing for.
Final Thoughts
I advocate initially experimenting with your writing and writing uncensored drafts, then pulling things back and cutting where necessary. You shouldn’t place unneeded restrictions on yourself in the drafting phase that could hinder creativity and the flow of your writing in the early stages. Get it out there, see what works, and cut the rest.
Write Experimentally with Pride, and I’ll see you next time!
