Writerly Inquistion

[wayfaringwordhack]

I really, truly, desperately want to know what I'm going to do with this project that is bubbling in my brain. The research fascinates me--I love learning new things--but I'm also finding it overwhelming. When I think of writing certain scenes (perhaps more aptly: certain time periods) with an eye to historic detail, I'm not at all excited. At all. In fact, the emotion I would ascribe to myself is dread. I believe that most of the dread comes from still not knowing what in the blazes is going on. If I knew that, maybe the other aspects wouldn't be so daunting.

Don't misunderstand me; plenty of things interest me about the project. It is just that I fear my interest is going to start fading soon if I don't start writing and concretizing these characters and their desires even more. But in the style of vicious cycles, I feel I can't write without knowing more. With my first-ever project, I knew the ending, more or less, but I didn't know any of the in-between, or the beginning for that matter. In this case, I know the beginning and nothing else. Because TTD took me 6 years of wandering around and bumping into corners, I'm loath to repeat the same, "Here I go on a jolly journey of discovery" scenario, as appealing as I find the notion of discovering things at the same time as the characters.

I can whine about what-to-do? what-to-do? but I think the answer is simply: Sit down and submit the story idea to a Writerly Inquistion. The primordial question being: What kind of story do I want to tell?* When I have the answer to that, I can figure out the elements that need to be in there and how many of them are going to be thorny historical problems.

__________________________
* It isn't as if I haven't already asked this question; I just stopped digging before I got to the correct answer.

Comments

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

Overwhelmed is always scary, but you obviously have a handle on it. You're just not ready to turn it and crank up the engine - not quite yet :)

I tend to shun the Writerly Inquisition and bumble along aimlessly. It's an intriguing way to travel, but doesn't make for good or comfortable progress. So I think the W.I. (Ha! That usually means Women's Institute over here!) is a good thing. When you're ready, of course.

Maybe a start point will also give you an end point?

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Maybe a start point will also give you an end point?

You're brilliant, do you know that? I love to have echoes of the ending in the beginning and vice versa, and yet I hadn't even thought about how that might play out scene wise. I've thought about character arcs and where I want them start and finish, but scenes to carry the arcs...that's what I need. Thanks for setting my brain straight.

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I'm glad that it came to you so quickly!

I'd love to imagine that 'brain-straightening' was a speciality of mine, but unfortunately, when the brain in question is mine....

That sacred distance

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

It's that always the way of it? It is much easier to see where someone else is erring, struggling, etc because of the distance we have from the problem.

Re: That sacred distance

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. It's the 'can't see the wood for the trees' thing - when it comes to my own stuff, I'm blind!

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

If the big story isn;t coming to you yet, maybe you could write little scenelets for teh characters, not necessarily with a point or part of the big story, but just as a way to make them concrete and to get to know them.

Good idea

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

*nods* I've done two little snippets so far, and I think I should do more.

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Why not write some motivational scenes and then add the historical detail later? You could be bogging yourself down in being too rational and "planny" about the whole thing. The scenes might not end up in your finished product, but I don't think they will be wasted, as they'll teach you something about your characters.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

The fear of wasting is what is holding me back, that and the fact that I'm afraid I won't be able to see what is useful and what's needs to be set aside in my word experiments, that I'll spend all my time trying to make unnecessary scenes serve the story. I need to just get over the fears and remind myself, when the long-distant time comes, that it's ok to cut.