tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post2956327147372311401..comments2023-12-26T23:07:08.005-08:00Comments on TOMORROWVILLE: Walking, Drifting, and Staying LostDavid Isaakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-44908292096441123122008-08-02T10:43:00.000-07:002008-08-02T10:43:00.000-07:00Hi, Lorrie--Talking about "scene goals" does make ...Hi, Lorrie--<BR/><BR/>Talking about "scene goals" does make it sound rather cut-and-dried, doesn't it? <BR/><BR/>Poe talked about a "totality of effect" that a good short story or poem ought to have, and I think scenes are like that, too. But we don't have a vocabulary for the kinds of effects we want to get from a scene, because they are multidimensional effects. A lot of it is emotion, but we often want the reader to not only feel combinations of emotions, but to sense a change in pace, and to absorb certain information, or catch an element that involves foreshadowing...David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-52719880166488365392008-08-02T10:33:00.000-07:002008-08-02T10:33:00.000-07:00Hey, Usman--I wouldn't worry about it. I think it'...Hey, Usman--<BR/><BR/>I wouldn't worry about it. I think it's common for novelists to discover what the book is really about while writing it. Or even in the second or third draft!David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-72513780590360031802008-08-02T10:31:00.000-07:002008-08-02T10:31:00.000-07:00Hi, Sam--I'm not a short-story writer, and the few...Hi, Sam--<BR/><BR/>I'm not a short-story writer, and the few times I've tried the form the story has tended to try to turn itself into a novel.<BR/><BR/>But one thing about the short story--or so I'm told--is that you can hold the big picture in your head. Novels tend to be places where the writer gets lost (and some of us start out without maps anyway).<BR/><BR/>Short stories need to be damn near perfect, simply because they <I>can</I> be. John Gardner argued that when a novel works as perfectly on all levels as a good short story, it tends to have a contrived and lifeless feeling--something that feels too neat and designed.David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-78056906405250670712008-08-02T10:23:00.000-07:002008-08-02T10:23:00.000-07:00Hi, Creative--Well, that's why my my walks get so ...Hi, Creative--<BR/><BR/>Well, that's why my my walks get so long sometimes. If I've been noodling around in the Big Stuff, I keep on going until I get back down to ground level and am so involved in at least of few details of the scene that I've got a glimmering of moments I'm excited about, and even have the opening phrases running through my head. Probably makes me walk funny.<BR/><BR/>If I've been thinking about overarching issues, I rush to the keyboard again until it feels urgent--to put it crudely, it needs to feel as if my writerly bladder if full and needs to be emptied!David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-82089234725712030302008-08-02T10:17:00.000-07:002008-08-02T10:17:00.000-07:00Hi, Aliya--Whatever it is that you do, it seems to...Hi, Aliya--<BR/><BR/>Whatever it is that you do, it seems to work out quite well. So you should keep doing it.<BR/><BR/>Like you, I can't play the piano and sing. But for me, thinking about all those other issues while writing a scene is more like trying to play the clarinet while singing.David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-44529607828209423162008-08-02T10:11:00.000-07:002008-08-02T10:11:00.000-07:00Hi, Tim--When I'm well into a book, I find myself ...Hi, Tim--<BR/><BR/>When I'm well into a book, I find myself worrying about all manner of amorphous, high-level things, including technical things like pace and balance. But I can't really think about any of that <I>while</I> I'm writing. <BR/><BR/>As to "theme"--well that's another post.David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-17921607492207330062008-08-02T01:39:00.000-07:002008-08-02T01:39:00.000-07:00My themes tend to be based on an emotion which act...My themes tend to be based on an emotion which acts as a central support to the whole story. When I'm writing, though, I like to get into the physicality of the scene. I also try and keep hold of my scene goals, but they can be slippery things at times.lorrie porterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01774993612792784563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-84629383877662545292008-08-01T22:11:00.000-07:002008-08-01T22:11:00.000-07:00I started my WIP with a definite theme. Now after ...I started my WIP with a definite theme. Now after upteen revisions, the theme is gone, the original one. Its been replaced by a story that focuses on a different theme, IMO.<BR/>I think, I've got a better story in the end BUT I'm not entirely happy with this waywardness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-5739235586105539102008-08-01T13:38:00.000-07:002008-08-01T13:38:00.000-07:00For short stories, I find that if I don't do some ...For short stories, I find that if I don't do some prep work -- writing down a list of possible themes and images and different connections and ideas -- then my work is very shallow and stays on the surface. And sometimes the story or the action dies part way through. <BR/><BR/>But shorts have to have a laser-like focus. Novels -- well, I'm not really happy with my finished novels yet, so I don't feel qualified to say.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-22078820187034198522008-08-01T12:52:00.000-07:002008-08-01T12:52:00.000-07:00"I don't even try to remember why I'm writing the ..."I don't even try to remember why I'm writing the scene--I just remember the general idea and the atmosphere and effect I'm striving for. I don't try to remember the big picture while I'm writing."<BR/><BR/>That sounds like a very smart idea. Unfortunately for me, after I go helicoptering, I can't zoom in until the next day. So I only do that sort of thing when I'm deeply blocked or out of it or something. <BR/><BR/>I have a very hard time zooming into scenes, with this novel. No matter how hard I try to get into the mood and figure out exactly what I want to write for those moments, I can't really figure it out until I start writing. When I finish, I finally know what I need to say, and I rewrite it the next day.<BR/><BR/>I'm keeping like 23% of everything I write these days.<BR/><BR/>-ACreative Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02960292977608812418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-73879529428479043492008-08-01T02:19:00.000-07:002008-08-01T02:19:00.000-07:00I'm all about the theme, even when working on the ...I'm all about the theme, even when working on the small detail. While reworking my current novel, I've ended up changing from one theme to another, and am now writing new action and putting in imagery into old scenes to reflect that. It's a weird challenge, and I've no idea if it will work yet. Probably not, but it's a great exercise if nothing else.<BR/><BR/>I can't play the piano and sing at the same time, though.nohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00398443646324855212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8371628584376797540.post-15429707486317199662008-08-01T02:14:00.000-07:002008-08-01T02:14:00.000-07:00When I'm writing a scene I don't think about 'them...When I'm writing a scene I don't think about 'themes' or anything higher-level. What I'm trying to achieve is to make a scene that works in logistical terms: is the characters' behaviour consistent with what we've seen before, is the location fully realised? etc.<BR/><BR/>Indeed, I'd argue that I don't put themes into my books at all. Maybe my unconscious does, but in general I leave that to the reader. If you write a story with believable characters interacting in believable ways, the themes are already there.Tim Strettonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08598897603628943741noreply@blogger.com