More on Writing
So, here are a few other short tips that I have learned as I have started working on the second book in the Pivot trilogy, I have started working on ANOTHER book not in the Pivot universe, and have been reassessing and revising the first book.
1. In a story, you do need to lay out both the chessboard and chess pieces; however, you need to do more than that. You need to play the game, and the game must at all times follow the rules you have set down in the first portion of the book. The problem that I have is that I enjoy putting down the chess pieces, and I enjoy laying out the chessboard, but I tend to lapse in playing the pieces against each other in an actual game. I have discovered I can't just put down pretty pieces of glass or stone. I need to move them forward, pit them against each other with their own logical motivations. I can't just create and recreate the pieces and board each chapter.
2. Stephen King's statement that "Only God gets it right the first time" can be read two ways. It can be read as an assurance - that it's alright your story isn't perfect in the first or second draft. It can also, however, be read as a demand. In other words, DON'T turn your first or second draft in. "Only God gets it right the first time," so give your story six weeks and then go over it again, no matter what.
The truth is that, if it wasn't for the people I'm working with now, I would not have realized the necessity of hindsight. The magical nature of hindsight. No matter how great the first draft feels to me, it's not going to be perfect in the read through. I should NOT expect it to be.
3. An explanation for why hindsight is so magical is the following: The difficult thing about writing is that, unlike an art where you already have the substance you're going to manipulate, you have to first create that substance you're going to shape and form. So, writing a story or article is kind of like making the clay while you're also forming the clay into something, and then going back and molding the clay again. You're never going to get it perfect the first time because half of your effort in the first draft is just getting the monster out on the table, so you have to make peace with your errors. You are incapable of getting it right the first time because that's just part of the messy, messy process. That is probably why King says to just get the first draft out there. Just get it on the table, no matter how awfully ugly it looks. Because then you finally have the clay you are going to manipulate, add to, and form. Give it a few weeks, or a month, and then take another hard look.
1. In a story, you do need to lay out both the chessboard and chess pieces; however, you need to do more than that. You need to play the game, and the game must at all times follow the rules you have set down in the first portion of the book. The problem that I have is that I enjoy putting down the chess pieces, and I enjoy laying out the chessboard, but I tend to lapse in playing the pieces against each other in an actual game. I have discovered I can't just put down pretty pieces of glass or stone. I need to move them forward, pit them against each other with their own logical motivations. I can't just create and recreate the pieces and board each chapter.
2. Stephen King's statement that "Only God gets it right the first time" can be read two ways. It can be read as an assurance - that it's alright your story isn't perfect in the first or second draft. It can also, however, be read as a demand. In other words, DON'T turn your first or second draft in. "Only God gets it right the first time," so give your story six weeks and then go over it again, no matter what.
The truth is that, if it wasn't for the people I'm working with now, I would not have realized the necessity of hindsight. The magical nature of hindsight. No matter how great the first draft feels to me, it's not going to be perfect in the read through. I should NOT expect it to be.
3. An explanation for why hindsight is so magical is the following: The difficult thing about writing is that, unlike an art where you already have the substance you're going to manipulate, you have to first create that substance you're going to shape and form. So, writing a story or article is kind of like making the clay while you're also forming the clay into something, and then going back and molding the clay again. You're never going to get it perfect the first time because half of your effort in the first draft is just getting the monster out on the table, so you have to make peace with your errors. You are incapable of getting it right the first time because that's just part of the messy, messy process. That is probably why King says to just get the first draft out there. Just get it on the table, no matter how awfully ugly it looks. Because then you finally have the clay you are going to manipulate, add to, and form. Give it a few weeks, or a month, and then take another hard look.
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