But where are the words?

[wayfaringwordhack]

Of late, I've been posting pictures and anecdotes of life in the new house, perhaps leaving one or two curious souls wondering what I've been up to on the writing front.

I'm still plugging away at it, waffling between my protags, trying to get a grasp on their voices and how they see the world. I often feel like a dilettante hack of the worst stripe in regards to my writing, but I think nothing brings it home quite so forcibly as when fellow writers cite (from my envious standpoint, it sounds like gushing) how easy it is to channel a character. How they just can't get the character to shut up. How they just put fingers to keyboard/pen to paper, and the character shows up, fully-fleshed, sometimes fully dressed, and, most importantly; with a unique voice that just won't quit.

That doesn't happen for me. I have to struggle to get to capture voice, and truth be told, I don't think it's something I've ever succeed at it. I guess what I'm bemoaning here actually goes hand-in-glove with POV. I know I have "voice" when I write; everyone does, if you think about the words we choose,  the way we put them on the page, the rhythms and themes that appeal to us and how we express them. What I'm incapable of, then, is deep POV, specifically 3rd person since I've never tried a novel-length work in first. I can't background my voice and foreground that of the POV character.

So, Witherwilds is moving at a glacial pace because, instead of getting down draft one, or zero, if you prefer, I am hung up on getting the voice right. The icon is misleading--I have no problem with plot, just characters. I've decided I will push on, no matter how flat and uninspired I'm making them sound, but ouch! If I don't have some spark, I feel I might as well not even write. I'm of the opinion that characters make the story, so if I write uninteresting characters....yeah, you see where this is going. Maybe I'm just too close to judge. But the heart of hearts is whispering, "Close or not, you know."

Right then, enough whinging. Housecleaning first, words next. Sucky or otherwise, I will write them. Today it's Onward...

Comments

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

An excellent resolution - on with the Onward!

The first draft is the shitty draft, never forget that. It can be as bad, flat, waffly, dry, verbose, clumsy and downright horrible as your worst nightmares and it doesn't matter. You have to get the book before you can fix it.

And it's very rare for characters to arrive fully-formed, I think. Mine are always stick figures who put on weight as I go. Well, sometimes ;-)

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

And I've had to laugh as I've read that back. Here's me, pontificating as if I know what I'm talking about!

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

The first draft is the shitty draft, never forget that.

And I always forget. Every single day. Usually more than twice. :P

And it's very rare for characters to arrive fully-formed, I think. Mine are always stick figures who put on weight as I go. Well, sometimes ;-)

So glad to hear I'm not alone.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

But, Dahling, I love it when you pontificate! And you do know what you are talking about. :P

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

You're definitely not alone! I keep jawing away at you because that way I stand a chance of reminding myself :D

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Jaw away, friend. Jaw away. ;)

[tatterpunk.livejournal.com]

I often feel like a dilettante hack of the worst stripe in regards to my writing

That's such a self-contradicting sentence. Look at that sentence -- it's awesome. Bad writers say "I suck." Good writers get fancy.


How they just put fingers to keyboard/pen to paper, and the character shows up, fully-fleshed, sometimes fully dressed, and, most importantly; with a unique voice that just won't quit.

Shoot 'em in the face.

Or, well, in less flippant terms, when hearing people talk about the ease of that day's writing I always have the ungracious recall of the Richard Sheridan snippet: "You write with ease to show your breeding. / But easy writing's curst hard reading."

Of course, I am a bitch.


What I'm incapable of, then, is deep POV, specifically 3rd person since I've never tried a novel-length work in first. I can't background my voice and foreground that of the POV character.

I think it's really hard, but the result can be a huge payoff for the reader. It can even improve your 1st person POV -- adding nuance so that you can juggle both the foreground of the character's voice and the reader's awareness of, if not your voice than your intentions. I think good 1st person is actually much harder to pull off than 3rd, but 1st can let you get away with more mistakes.

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

Maybe you could write a few mini-stories with the characters, just to see if anything interesting you didn't know about them pops up?

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I do something a little like that when I question them; I allow them to tell me mini stories in their answers. I do it in first person because their voices are what interest me.

I think I've got a pretty good handle on what makes them tick, and the rest is interesting to find out along the way. It is the layers of their world, their different societies and their places in them that take a lot of work.

I love deeply layered books, and I recognize the work and genius that goes into making them. And I see the great potential to fail at it myself. Not because I don't spend enough time it, more because I just don't have the sensibilities.

Oo la. Apparently I can really ramble on come morning time. ;) Sorry. :P

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Thanks for making me laugh out loud. I needed that. :D *is fancy in her suckitude*

Your flippancy actually did me a world of good, too. And your snippet very closely echoes my own sentiments. I did say that the purported ease made me envious, did I not? Envy is rarely pretty, so pin the bitch sobriquet on me, too. :P

The truth is, I'm always suspicious of easily(quickly)-written novels. I'm not saying that an author can't build layers, whip out subtext, intuitively, masterfully ping emotions and events the first time through and make it all add up to a deep, wonderful, thought- and emotion-provoking read without breaking a sweat or spending more than a few months on it, start to The (real, polished, salable) End. I just think it extremely rare and not as breezily achievable as some would have us think.

I think it's really hard, but the result can be a huge payoff for the reader.

*nods* which is why I labor over it so much, never able to let go of the fear that my labor is vain and I just won't get it right.

I second you on the first being extremely difficult. It is deceptively easy on the surface. What simpler than writing in the natural first person? Ha! As you said, yes, you can make more mistakes, but building an intimate voice that a reader doesn't mind spending 400 pages with remains an enormous challenge.

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

No worries about rambling (not that you were). Sounds like you have your head set right on your shoulders about it, though, so that's good.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if you consider knowing my limits having "my head set right..." :P

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what it is, though! Being whacked is thinking you can do something you can't, and getting all bent out of shape when you fail.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Ah ha! I'll take that as a definition then. :P