[stylist] Story development/strategy?

Mon Sep 26 11:12:57 UTC 2011

That was pretty interesting. My misuse of the formal writing term 
there.  In songwriting, which is more my background, SOC is compared 
to Object Writing, Discovery Writing, etc. Pick a topic, set a timer, 
and begin writing with no holds barred, just let the dog off the 
leash as it were. For instance pick "coffee cup" and you might drift 
off into what it feels like to be an imaginary  micro organism 
rooting around inside the cup, or inside  the pores of the porcelin 
itself describing tasting, touching, hearing, seeing, or how it makes 
you feel physically or emotionally  etc. Or you might go off and 
remember drinking out of your favorit cup while sitting on the shore 
of the ocean describing the sea breeze and what it'd be like to be a 
gull hovering out on the open water staring down at the fins of 
dolphins and so on which is a long way from the original coffee cup. 
The purpose is to increase creativity without boundaries to dig for 
interesting perspectives, phrases, metaphors, describing them using 
all senses  getting past the cliche'-type thinking. This timed 
exercise helps train you to access creativity so in the key clutch 
moments you are use to accessing it by second nature. Sort of like 
the basketball player practicing 500 strait bank shots so when game 
time comes he doesn't have to think too much about it. In most all of 
our early development years as  toddlers, through our school years 
and into our adults most have become so much a focused responsible 
lifestyle that creativity is discouraged or stifled,  in most 
everyone's day to day living, this is meant to help counter that sort 
of thing. I guess this ought really be called stream of subconscious 
writing. :) At any rate it is a nice 10 minute exercise best done in 
the morning maybe even before the first cup.

Brad

On 9/25/2011  07:54 PM Bridgit Pollpeter said...
>Stream-of-consciousness is actually a writing format that has a
>structure and rules. People like me who write without using a formal
>outline are not writing a stream-of-consciousness piece; we're just
>following a more organic process different from a formal, structured
>process employing tools like outlines.
>
>Stream-of-consciousness writing really boomed in the 50s and 60s, though
>it developed in the late 19th century as a way to turn away from
>realism, and has become popular in recent years. It does follow a
>structure and isn't just a writer writing things as they pop up in the
>head. It is actually difficult to create pieces in a
>stream-of-consciousness style. Today, it is often employed in personal
>essays and memoirist pieces, but fiction writers and poets really
>started the technique. Ginsberg is an example of a poet writing in a
>stream-of-consciousness style.
>
>It's a writing technique relying more on internal concerns with
>characters; it's not the process a writer chooses to follow when
>crafting a manuscript.
>
>SOC still relies on themes and/or motifs and plots. It comes across as a
>free association of sorts, but it's actually a technique that is highly
>structured. SOC and internal dialogue are often considered one in the
>same, but this isn't necessarily true. Again, it depends on if a writer
>is employing the technique or not. If not, then internal dialogue isn't
>SOC; it's just internal dialogue a writer feels is necessary and germane
>to the story. It's often referred to as narrative voice or mode too.
>When writing stream-of-consciousness, outlines are still helpful. It is
>voice, tone and structure that are affected and not how a writer crafted
>a story or what the process was. In fact, many practitioners of this
>form employ tools like outlines.
>
>It tends to focus on psychological and/or emotional aspects of
>characters. Lyrical essays tend to be labeled stream-of-consciousness
>essays too, but this isn't always the case. It just depends. Because SOC
>pieces often don't use proper punctuation or adhere to traditional
>methods of writing, lyrical essays, which follow similar structures, are
>joined with SOC pieces.
>
>Some popular writers who have and are employing stream-of-consciousness
>:
>Sylvia Plath
>Anton Chekov
>Michael Cunningham
>T. S. Elliot
>James Joyce
>Faulkner
>F. Scott Fitzgerald
>Cormac McCarthy
>Brett Easton
>J. D. Salinger
>Jack Kerouac
>
>So SOC is not about the process and whether a writer uses outlines or
>not; it's a literary technique having nothing to do with writing
>strategies except when determining voice and style, all structural
>issues, not about using outlines or "free association" writing as
>opposed to paying attention to every detail. In fact, when using SOC,
>it's vital to pay attention to every little detail to ensure the plot is
>consistent and present for readers.
>
>Sincerely,
>Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
>Read my blog at:
>http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
>
>"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
>The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan
>
>Message: 5
>Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:53:26 -0800
>From: Justin Oldham <j.oldham at gci.net>
>To: Writer's Division Mailing List <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>Subject: Re: [stylist] Story development strategy?
>Message-ID: <53F9B598A3814607A8F6241309291A44 at Justin2>
>Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=iso-8859-1;
>         reply-type=response
>
>Hello Brad:
>
>I'm the author of a few large books, myself.  I do use an outline
>process to
>avoid tangets.  It's my opinion that big stories contain big ideas,
>and/or
>lots of chracters, and/or a long passage of time.  For this reason, an
>outline (no matter how crude) DOES serve a purpose.
>
>Developing the "big" story is hard because you can get bogged down in
>the
>little things.  This results in sub plots that don't need to be there.
>I,
>personally, get better at this with each big book I write.  I overcome
>this
>problem by employing a vicious brutal editor who has no mercy.
>
>Being signed to a major publishing house doesn't confer greatness upon
>any
>writer.  Nor does it guarantee editorial efficiency.  One reader's
>blubbering whiner is another reader's deep sensitive soul.  I will
>hazard a
>guess that you expected more from this writer be-cause they had the big
>time
>book deal.
>
>I get the feeling that you are, in some small way, also taking issue
>with
>the writer's method.  Making it up as you go along is called
>Stream-Of-Consciousness.  Its a very popular way of writing.  It is
>unstrucutred, to be sure.  Some people say its lazy or undisciplined.
>Others call it a higher form of art that shows us the soul of the
>author.
>Its also the only way some people can tell their story.
>
>It's been my experience that one in ten writers are what you'd call
>technicians.  They jot down their outlines and use very specific
>calibrations to mold their work.  I, personally, am a technican.  Every
>word
>that goes on to one of my pages is plotted, schemed, and re-thoguht
>before
>use.
>
>I don't force this on any of the writers I mentor.  It all comes down to
>how
>you are wired.  Story-telling dates back to the beginning of time.  Oral
>
>traditions have carried over in to writing.  Stream of consciousness
>doesn't
>work for me, but it does work for almost everybody else.
>
>The one best piece of advice I can give on the matter is this.  Make a
>note
>of what somebody did that you don't like and remember it.  Then, don't
>do it
>in your own work.
>
>
>
>
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Brad Dunse

"Every day is a new one full of hope and possibility, absolutely 
unaffected by those previous to it minus the wisdom gained by their 
passing" --Capt'n Frank

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