UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion
Agony Aunt
>
When the writing is easy
date
newest »
newest »
I have been able to do that on occasion. I tend to do most of my writing in my head, and by the time I get round to writing it, it's already finished. Mostly short stuff though.
Definitely the first part, not so much the second.
Yes. Those things that end up on my blog as very short stories/scenes/fragments or whatever, started out many years ago as a daily writing exercise 1st thing in the morning.I began doing 200 words a day, every day, and gradually worked up to at least 500 words a day.
So now I can - more often than not - come up with a short piece from nothing like those with comparative ease even though I no longer do the early morning thing.
Quite a few of them are rubbish, of course, but many of them give me at least something to work with.
Stuff that needs research is definitely the hardest. I've just started writing an historical novel and I'm forever having to check details. How much would a stable boy earn in 1800? How long would it take to drive a horse and carriage from Surrey to Shropshire? That sort of thing.By contrast, fantasy and science fiction is much easier. If you don't know the answer you can just make it up or hand-wave it.
Star Trek was criticised for its transporter technology. Scientists said that it could never work because of Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle. So the writers of Star Trek casually referred to the transporters have "Heisenberg compensators".
When the scientists asked how the Heisenberg compensators worked, the writers replied "they work just fine."
Will wrote: "Stuff that needs research is definitely the hardest. I've just started writing an historical novel and I'm forever having to check details. How much would a stable boy earn in 1800? How long would ..."Sorry Will, but having researched how dragons could possibly fly, the design and structure of oil tankers, how Machiavelli thought, and the role of winds in mythology and science all for the purpose of writing fantasy, I definitely disagree with you!
Some of the research is fun - how big does a space station need to be to generate its own gravity, and how fast must it spin . . . then how do you dock spacecraft to it . . . how fast can you get up and down a space elevator . . . Is it still 'maximum 8 persons' . . . where do you put it . . . warp envelope design . . . wrist communicator or handheld . . . How much does a rookie space cop earn in 2417 . . . ?
I also write Jim, and I know how research can take up your writing time. It's great that you're really getting into these details to give your readers an immersive experience, but (dare I say it) are you doing too much of that at too early a stage? I don't know, I'm only wondering. Perhaps the way is to explore the human story more at the beginning - look at the simple principle of how claustrophobia, lack of fresh food, lack of fresh air, even the ever present dangers of living in space affects them, or even the thing that threatens all their safety and sanity, roaming the corridors unseen? I love scifi, but many scifi writers get bogged down in the non-human details, forgetting that it's connections with the characters that most readers (if not all) really crave. Fill in the finer details later (leave yourself a flag each time more research is needed) Let your hair down and let yourself just write an imperfect, yet character-explorative draft. Writing is a fun thing to start, it has to be otherwise we really would never finish. Hope this helps. Good luck moving forward Jim!
I had a 'writing day' this week and I came to a halt mid afternoon. Not just a 'need a shot of coffee' type halt which is easily overcome, but a brain dead, 'er, whatever can I write?'. First time ever (that I remember). The following day, while doing something else, of course, the old brain whirred into action again.Like Will, writing an historical novel is what takes the time. It's not just how long does a horse and carriage take to get from a to b, (been there, done that, Will, lots of times 'cos I forget. Have you taken into account their 'pot holes' and changing the wheels and a change of horses and, and, and?) but it's also if certain words were used in those days. They had a much smaller vocabulary to play with two hundred years ago.
But when I wrote my time travel book, the contemporary bit just flew off my fingers. Yet it was the historical bit I enjoyed writing most because I loved all the research. Fascinating. And if I can find a long period of writing time, I can manage about 1,000 words in 5 hours, each day, even in the historical bit and it comes easy and then I can feel it's easy - at last. Those times are rare.
I'm not writing for the loot (just as well!) I write for those lovely times when the writing is easy, the research is quick and fascinating and the results are satisfying. The hard slog is good if it produces first class results...
J.D. wrote: "I also write Jim, and I know how research can take up your writing time. It's great that you're really getting into these details to give your readers an immersive experience, but (dare I say it) a..."the research bit is important in this because that particular project is an account of the growth and development of the Carthaginian army between 500BC and 150BC so I've got to get it right.
When I'm writing other stuff such as the jumbled musings of Tallis Steelyard research is not a problem https://tallissteelyard.wordpress.com/
J.D. wrote: "I also write Jim, and I know how research can take up your writing time. It's great that you're really getting into these details to give your readers an immersive experience, but (dare I say it) a..." Suddenly just realised my reply followed on from Tim's, not Jim's post, hence the space reference. Sorry for the mix up guys!
Will wrote: "Stuff that needs research is definitely the hardest. I've just started writing an historical novel and I'm forever having to check details. How much would a stable boy earn in 1800? How long would ..."Some of that info might be in The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes which had a volume on 'Driving' (as in carriages - published 1889). They're online digitised by Google.
I'm working on one project which needs research, I haven't done a thing with it for a week (other than a bit of reading) and when I do set to I rarely get a thousand words done in a day.
Yet with Tallis Steelyard it just comes pouring out. Somebody shows me a picture or says something and after a short work suddenly everything is in place and I can write a couple of thousand words with very little effort.
Do other people have anything like this, where they can just write?