Softness
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
NaNoWriMo is coming up soon! And it sparked my curiosity. Have you ever taken part in NaNo or a similar writing marathon in order to help you crunch through a project? What sorts of techniques have you used to push through with your writing? ^^ -Kalli
Lois McMaster Bujold
Nope, such a thing is not for me. In the old days, impending running-out-of-money was enough to keep me focused, if sometimes frantic. Nowadays the pressures are internal, mainly a work demanding its own completion.
I get stuck regularly, and shoving through is not usually a good idea. It just results in me trying to write Wrong Things, which my backbrain perfectly well knows are wrong or the vision-spigot would not have shut down so firmly.
Although "keeping at it" is required, the process is oblique. Sometimes it means backing off for a bit till the well refills, especially if I have just written out the last spate and have to stop and take stock. Other times it means I need to do some more research of some sort, import the key idea or notion that unlocks the present puzzle. Talking out the plot snag with certain friends also sometimes helps, if not directly, stirring things up, brainstorming, what Pat Wrede calls "plot noodling".
I am a sort of mini-burst writer, with the bursts being, generally, one scene long. The vision of the scene comes up in my head -- one scene being all it can hold at a time -- and I marshal it up for the march by making a quick draft in penciled notes to nail the spine and structure and good bits, choreograph the dialogue, and so on. If I am interrupted after this point, I won't lose it. I sometimes wait a few hours or a day to let anything else slot in or shift. Take the notes to the computer and get it down, lather, rinse, repeat. I generally need to know what just came before the scene under construction (which is easy because I've already written it) and what comes after, so it will be aimed in the right direction and come out in the right place for the transition to the Next Bit.
Ta, L.
I get stuck regularly, and shoving through is not usually a good idea. It just results in me trying to write Wrong Things, which my backbrain perfectly well knows are wrong or the vision-spigot would not have shut down so firmly.
Although "keeping at it" is required, the process is oblique. Sometimes it means backing off for a bit till the well refills, especially if I have just written out the last spate and have to stop and take stock. Other times it means I need to do some more research of some sort, import the key idea or notion that unlocks the present puzzle. Talking out the plot snag with certain friends also sometimes helps, if not directly, stirring things up, brainstorming, what Pat Wrede calls "plot noodling".
I am a sort of mini-burst writer, with the bursts being, generally, one scene long. The vision of the scene comes up in my head -- one scene being all it can hold at a time -- and I marshal it up for the march by making a quick draft in penciled notes to nail the spine and structure and good bits, choreograph the dialogue, and so on. If I am interrupted after this point, I won't lose it. I sometimes wait a few hours or a day to let anything else slot in or shift. Take the notes to the computer and get it down, lather, rinse, repeat. I generally need to know what just came before the scene under construction (which is easy because I've already written it) and what comes after, so it will be aimed in the right direction and come out in the right place for the transition to the Next Bit.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Ari
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Hi Lois, We just had a bottle of this before noticing the name. Have you seen it before: https://goo.gl/images/ZwG5Yq ? From their website it looks like their and your choice of names are of a similar vintage, too. (Apologies if you've been asked this too many times before -- I can't find a way to search the questions.)
Kumuyi Jerry Ifyola
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
What were the names of the four mistresses of the palace beautiful in pilgrim progress?
Andrew Van Ness
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I love your work as many do. I was wondering if you ever plan to definitively end the Vorkosigan Series? I want it to continue forever, again as many do, but I also realize that all good things come to an end. You are one of my favorite science-fiction authors because you infuse such realism into your world and characters. In the real world there aren't any definitive endings, and so I wonder, what is to come?
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Oct 17, 2017 09:54AM