Been working through another failure of my efforts to work from an "outline" of my stories. ;) ... the damned things keep jumping off that page. They insist on following their own tales without the constraints of those "rules"...
Makes it hard for a fella that has to work with the lil' bit of what he's got left between his ears to keep track of things though!
Sometimes maybe better to just sit and look, and not try to explain all you see. You just... look and let the thoughts wander around and land where they will.
Here the sunrises drift into the sunsets and sometimes it's tough to tell the two apart...
Another week goes by...
Brian
5 comments:
Having an outline is all well and good when doing technical writing and software documentation as there is usually five or six "editors" and "technical advisors" mangling my carefully chosen prose to suit their f.u. idea of what such writing should look like and how it should stagger off the mental tongue. The outline helps me to focus on the information to be conveyed and gives the "dirty dozen" justification for continued paychecks.
Writing fiction, on the other hand, is a more creative and demanding endeavour in my experience. Other than broad strokes, sort of like a national interstates map - looks pretty, but not too useful for determining if the next exit is the one you want - you can't rely on such a device to help you to spin a yarn. Characters once born make demands of their own upon the author no outline can anticipate. Accept it as part of the process. Robert Heinlein used to throw virtual cocktail parties so his characters could schmooze, complain and otherwise exorcise their demons where they wouldn't distract from a novel's progress.
Keep the faith. I've read your books, you'll get there eventually.
Ah yes, outlines are born of beginnings, whereas characters and plots develops as the story marches on. To demand that the story conform to the outline is a little like bemoaning when life does not conform to our 'plans' for the future.
Wow your writing is very prolific. " A picture is worth a1000 words " you just pumped out a 21000 word blog post..
Wow! I think this is your best group of photos yet. Awesome pics Brian.
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