[stylist] Story development and strategy?

Mon Sep 26 17:45:23 UTC 2011

Hey Jim

Do you have a Victor Stream?  You can record there too.  I like this 
because I can keep my books and my notes together.
Brenda

On 9/26/2011 1:33 PM, Homme, James wrote:
> Hi,
> I'm going to get a cheap digital recorder when I get paid and carry it around with me.
>
> Jim
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ashley Bramlett
> Sent: Monday, September 26, 2011 1:31 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Story development and strategy?
>
> And, I'm not totally blind. But I can't remember dreams. Maybe I don't
> dream. I'm not sure.
> So stories from dreams are not possible. They come from concrete
> experiences.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jacqueline Williams
> Sent: Monday, September 26, 2011 1:16 PM
> To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Story development and strategy?
>
> Bridget,
> How do you remember dreams more than for a fleeting instant. Do you
> immediately write down the details. I have the most wild and wonderful
> dreams, and sometimes can get back into it after re-falling asleep. I even
> invented things. However, after a few moments of waking I do not remember
> details, and sometimes everything fades.
> A technical question. Can one who has been blind from infancy dream? I would
> imagine Yes, but perhaps without color or specific objects. Please, anyone,
> enlighten me.
> I used to sleep with a tablet by my bed, but I can no longer read what I
> write, so I am forced to remember everything.
> Jacqui
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Bridgit Pollpeter
> Sent: Sunday, September 25, 2011 4:59 PM
> To: stylist at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [stylist] Story development and strategy?
>
> Brad,
>
> Whether you use an outline or not, and any strategy followed is a part
> of the writing process. How a writer develops a story is different,
> though outlines are the common plan for most writers especially novel
> writers.
>
> Personally, I don't like using outlines even though I'm a pretty
> organized person. However, the longest story I've written has been 30
> pages for short stories. Perhaps if I ever attempt a longer manuscript,
> I would employ an outline.
>
> I can only explain my process. I like to mull my ideas for a while
> before even putting pen to paper, so to speak. I often am inspired by my
> dreams especially for fiction. Sometimes I have an entire dream that I
> want to use, other times it is just a portion. Either way, when I wake
> up, I'll lay in bed replaying it and developing ideas. Then I will write
> a scene that sticks out in my mind, usually the last thing I saw in my
> dreams. If I don't have time to write when I wake, I leave it until I
> do. At this point, as long as I leave ideas in my head, not only do they
> remain, the inspiration remains until I have time to sit and write
> through the inspiration. This may sound crazy, but it works for me.
>
> One of the reasons I don't like formal outlines is because stories and
> characters have a way of developing themselves. And more often than not,
> I rarely have a full story. I'll have a beginning and end, but no
> middle, or beginning and middle, but no end. Sometimes I have an ending,
> but no beginning or middle. It's as I write and think about
> plots/characters that the story unfolds.
>
> My nonfiction is even crazier in terms of the process. To date, the
> nonfiction I've had published and/or people have praised was written in
> one sitting, usually during a turbulent emotional moment. I certainly
> edit over and over, but most my nonfiction (personal essay/memoir) has
> been done in the matter of a day or two with the initial writing
> happening at one time with little to know thought of a goal or
> structure. If not already present, the structure emerges during the
> revision and editing process.
>
> And I'm extremely visual even though I no longer can "see." When I have
> an idea for a piece, I like to watch it unfold in my mind like a movie.
> This is how I visualize my work in my head. I quite literally see it in
> my head just like scenes in a movie. I still have visual memories of
> people and events even though I didn't visually see them in the moment.
> Like I have detailed visual memories of my wedding six years ago, though
> I couldn't see. I can pull any of this memories up and have a visual in
> my head, whether the actual visual is accurate or not is another story,
> but I have memories nonetheless. So it stands to reason that when I
> write, fiction or nonfiction, it's a very visual process for me. It
> happens inside my head just as much as it happens on the paper. After an
> initial idea pops up, I like to spend a couple of days watching it in my
> head to see if anything more develops from it. In a way, it's
> role-playing just by myself in my head! LOL
>
> Ideas are in our heads no matter what, but most writers I know like to
> write what is happening in their head right away, whereas I like to keep
> it in their to stew for a while.
>
> Nonfiction and fiction alike, when I go back to pieces, I see where I
> can add or edit. One essay I'd been working on had good individual
> sections, but I wasn't finding a thread to make them flow as a
> collective. One night, in dire need of a manuscript for a class,
> inspiration hit and I found a structure that made it flow.
>
> Even published authors go back and want to make changes. I know Stephen
> King has actually published revised copies of books to make updates such
> as with The Stand, which he wrote in 78, but it took place in 88. He
> decided, years later, to update the novel, reflecting changes to make
> the story more realistic to 1988 since it had happened. Rowling has said
> she wished she would have done more editing with the Harry Potter series
> especially Order of the Phoenix.
>
> If I just can't find a direction for something, I put it away and come
> back later. Like Chris, I did a lot of writing exercises only to come
> back to them later and find a diamond in the rough. Writing exercises
> not only sharpen and hone our skills, but they can act as conduits
> providing us inspiration. One exercise done in a class didn't appear all
> that great to me, but three years later I came back to it and turned it
> into an entire personal essay.
>
> Now, when writing something like historical fiction, I suppose an
> outline would be beneficial to keep facts and dates straight. Or any
> writing with factual information. Keeping a timeline helps keep this
> kind of info straight.
>
> Typically outlines are used for academic writing too, but again, I never
> followed an outline unless it was required to turn an outline in. I've
> always just written academic papers as I go, incorporating what quotes
> and facts I need as I go along. This process doesn't work for everyone,
> but I've never received less than an A on an academic paper, in high
> school or college, so I never took the time to use an outline. I
> followed suit with my creative writing. I just write, and it's in the
> editing process that I add and delete and find structure and where a
> piece is going. I have a much more organic process meaning I just do
> what comes natural for me. I think I'm in a minority though. Most
> writers I know follow some type of outline as they commit to a
> manuscript.
>
> Now, I do use outlines as a tool for instructional information or as a
> listing tool when compiling ideas. This helps bring organization. For
> instance, my mom asked me to draft a strategic plan for her dance studio
> since she wants to create a nonprofit supplying scholarships to young
> girls who can't afford dance classes. A strategic plan in and of itself
> is an outline essentially, so I developed an outline detailing the goal
> and direction, and what info was most important. This gave me a
> structure to follow for the plan.
>
> And a while back, our NFB chapter wanted to have written goals and
> focuses for various committees our chapter has created through the
> years. As committee members met and discussed the purpose for different
> committees, I started drafting outlines to discover the purpose and
> functionality of each committee. We didn't end up following through with
> this plan, but the intention was for me to created in a written form the
> purpose and goal of each committee. The outlines were to help me know
> the focus of each committee, making it clear what to state and how to
> state it.
>
> So, now my response is turning into a novel! Perhaps I should follow
> outlines for my Stylist posts! LOL What I could have done is say
> outlines can be useful, but it depends on the person and what they're
> writing. To each his own.
>
> 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: 4
> Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2011 14:32:19 -0500
> From: Brad Dunse'<lists at braddunsemusic.com>
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List<stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [stylist] Story development strategy?
> Message-ID:<7.0.1.0.2.20110925141502.05799bd0 at braddunsemusic.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
> .  At the end of an audio  book I read  a while back they had an
> interview with the author. He was saying with his writing he develops
> the storyline as he writes, puts little to no forethought in the
> story and felt it to be more interesting to a reader that way. To be
> honest I don't recall his name but he had a series of books out and
> was signed with a book deal not self-publishing.
>
> While his story over all in the end was pretty good, I took double
> takes on some of the emotional areas of the book. Only slightly
> exaggerating here he spent an inordanant amount of time with the main
> character begging, gravveling, pleading and balling his eyes out over
> a person he was semik-close to in the story. It kept cropping up a
> number of times.  It was getting to the point my wife and I were
> laughing "Oh no, not again going on and on and on and on with the
> girl", who wasn't even a large character in the book other than real
> estate used up on her. But when his dad died, who he had a good
> relationship with, it was something like "Oh yeah, and dad died. Then
> I applied for a job atso and so's place..."
>
> So my question is on large projects, do you have an outline or at
> least know the big picture of the twists and turns leaving
> flexibility for creative twists or improvs? Or do you just wing it as
> you go and ride the keyboard to the end?
>
> I do the latter in songwriting with my instrument but those are short
> lived and one point or themed writings even if they are a story song.
>
> It seemed to me an editor did a major booboo missing the emotional
> ratio and proportion factor with some of the characters and event
> emphasis in this authors project.
>
> Brad
>
>
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