[stylist] questions

Sat Dec 29 17:30:45 UTC 2012

Lynda,
A couple of thoughts. First, that's a remarkable story about the woman
coming to the writer as he worked in the woods. 

The Red Badge of Courage story reminded me of C.S. Lewis's Voyage of the
Dawn Treader, which is part of the Chronicles of Narnia. The book starts
with the kids looking at a painting of a sailing ship on the ocean with a
square sail. Then, they travel into the painting and have their adventures
on that ship. 
Donna
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda Lambert
Sent: Friday, December 28, 2012 4:18 PM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] questions

Donna,
I was thinking as I read this of an author I met a long time ago. I was a
"fellow" at the Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, GA, during the summer of 1988.

One of the other "fellows" there was working on a novel at the time. He was
writing, with his typewriter every day. There were no computers to write on
then as we do now.  He was doing a work project while there, in exchange for
being a  fellow for a couple of summers. His project was to reconstruct the
old grinding mill that was located in the woods, along Betty's Creek. He
worked at his leisure, and he worked on his writing every day in the same
location as the mill he was reconstructing.

In the evenings, all the fellows would gather at the main house for a gormet
dinner and time together.  We would talk about our projects, and share our
inspirations.  He was talking about his novel, in progress.  His main
character was an Indian woman.  While he sat in the woods pecking away on
the typewriter, she had appeared to him, there in the woods. When he looked
up from his work, she was standing there. Day after day, as he worked, she
would come to speak with him and guide him, telling him her story.  His
character had materialized there in the solitude of this place while he
worked.  He realized something holy had taken place as he wrote.

Another example that came to my mind was the writing of a famous novel by
Stephen Crane.  In the novel _The Red Badge of Courage_ he spins  a tale
that takes place during the American Civil War. It was so real that readers
could see and smell the war experiences along with Crane.  But, the
interesting thing is that Crane's inspiration bagan one day as he was
sitting in a room, looking at a painting.  He was drawn into this painting,
and it became so real to him, he bagan writing about what he was
experiencing as he looked at the painting.  He had never been a soldier, and
had not been in a war - yet, he could clearly describe in great detail what
the experience of a soldier at war was living. In fact, he was not even born
at the time of the American Civil War!

All this, because he sat down to look at a painting one day. It was not a
glance; not a quick look; but a long thoughtful meditation on what he was
seeing that day.

It is very clear to me, through the many literary works I have read, that we
do not ever have to have lived through an experience to be able to describe
it fully and to bring it to life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Badge_of_Courage
Here is a link for more information on Crane's work and his inspiration.

There are numerous examples like this - but these two came to my mind this
afternoon as I thought about your note to us.

Lynda

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, December 28, 2012 3:26 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] questions

> Lynda,
> My pleasure; I'm glad you liked it. You're right; there is some sense in
> which we find the creation by pursuing the craft. I've heard many writers
> say that their characters seem to take on a life of their own and dictate 
> to
> the writer what they will and won't do.
> Donna
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda 
> Lambert
> Sent: Friday, December 28, 2012 1:23 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] questions
>
> Donna,
> This is absolutely excellent. I have copied it and put it in my word
> document file so I can look it over again and again as time passes. You 
> have
> given us all an "end of the year" gift. Thank you.
>
> So often, I have found the beginning of the story as I was writing the end
> of the story. In fact, we really find the "story" as we write, usually. I
> may begin with an initial idea and theme, then as I get into the writing 
> it
> takes on a life of it's own and takes me on a journey I never anticipated
> when I began. This is true of all of the arts, when the perceptual passes
> into the conceptual.
> Lynda
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
> To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, December 28, 2012 12:05 PM
> Subject: Re: [stylist] questions
>
>
>> Hi Wallace,
>> I'm not much of a poet, but have written many articles and one novel. I
>> believe that an extensive thought process/fantasy is the best 
>> ground-work,
>> which it sounds like you have already tackled. In terms of translating
>> your
>> ideas into an actual work of fiction, I would recommend that  you just 
>> sit
>> down at your computer and start a document. Don't worry about anything
>> just
>> write down your ideas. You can start with "In this story, ..." and say
>> what
>> happens or "My main character is ... " and get a character profile going.
>> It's really important to just write, let the thoughts come, even if you
>> start thinking "hey that can't be right because ..." just write that down
>> too. The important thing is to keep going and don't go back to correct
>> anything. It can take the form of an outline, if you're more comfortable
>> with that. It can even start with you talking your ideas into a recorder.
>> If
>> you start with an outline and then sense yourself going into a different
>> form like maybe writing out a conversation, just go with it; get it all
>> out
>> into a form you can revisit.
>>
>> Once you're done with that, save it as is. Then, go back and edit it for
>> clarity. Always use the "save as" function to save your work, and do
>> something different in the title to differentiate the new draft from the
>> last one. I date mine, but you could have them numbered. This becomes 
>> more
>> important as you go, since you may include a scene or plot thread in one
>> version, and then you think that maybe you don't want to use it. The 
>> thing
>> is, though, you may change your mind. It's more liberating if you know 
>> you
>> can change things totally around and still go back, if you think there 
>> was
>> something in an earlier version that worked better.
>>
>> In order to make things easier to find, I created a folder for "stray
>> scenes" where I kept all the little scenes I didn't think I needed. Some
>> of
>> them were re inserted; others are sitting there waiting for a possible
>> place
>> in the next book. I have eliminated things only to realize later that I
>> was
>> right at the time that the scene or thread didn't belong where it was, 
>> but
>> now that I'm further along, I realize that it does have a place -- just
>> not
>> what I had originally thought.
>>
>> The beginning of a story is so important that I advise not stressing over
>> it
>> till you're really a lot further along. Just start with something.
>> Remember
>> that every story starts in the middle. Even the Bible -- what was God
>> doing
>> before creating the universe? The trick in fiction is to find that 
>> perfect
>> point  to begin writing, and that often presents itself down the road.
>>
>> Since we both write articles, I'm thinking that some of what I do in that
>> area has spilled over into my fiction writing and it might be useful to
>> you.
>> The basic questions that a fiction writer has to answer are exactly the
>> same
>> as those a journalist must answer -- who, what, when, where, why and how.
>> In
>> fact, my mind-set for the two forms doesn't differ much, except that in
>> journalism, I look for the answers outside myself.
>>
>> As an article writer, I have often interviewed subjects and typed out 
>> what
>> they are saying as the conversation proceeds. I like to go over it right
>> after the interview, so I can flesh out my shorthand. I add things that
>> clarify what I asked and add some context that didn't make it onto the
>> page.
>> Then I start writing around the notes, putting the information into the
>> kinds of sentences that  will eventually be in the article. I don't worry
>> about order until I have everything I want to include in the article in
>> one
>> document. Then, I start moving things around by cutting and pasting and
>> grouping information into sections.
>>
>> This same process can be applied to what you write up during your 
>> original
>> brainstorming. You might, for instance, end up with several things -- an
>> outline, one or more character profiles, a description of the 
>> surroundings
>> and a bunch of thoughts and ideas that you don't really know how to
>> categorize. As they start to come into focus, create separate documents
>> for
>> them -- always keeping the original, of course.
>>
>> Most of the work I did on my novel was editing. I find that liberating as
>> well. Once you have the idea in your mind down on paper, the rest of the
>> process is to put it into a form that will best communicate that idea 
>> with
>> the reader. It's not like it won't require some creative thought, but 
>> your
>> analytical brain can aid you greatly by pointing out what is either
>> missing
>> or what is necessary to move the story forward and keep the reader's
>> attention. You might look over your notes and think, "I don't really have
>> much here about the physical surroundings," or "I'd like to get some of
>> the
>> character's background in here, but I don't want to just say what he went
>> through 20 years ago." In those cases, I like to go for a walk and just
>> look
>> around for the scene in my mind. Once you've thought it through, getting
>> it
>> on paper is simply a matter of style.
>>
>> One thing I was particularly conscious of as I did my many revisions
>> concerns the timing of and the way in which information is parceled out 
>> to
>> the reader. Deliberateness in this area can create and sustain the 
>> tension
>> of a mystery. Do you really want to let the reader know, for instance,
>> that
>> your hero has already decided not to load the gun? Information does two
>> things beyond that; it educates the reader, and it limits the writer. You
>> may say something that you feel is completely immaterial to the plot or
>> character development in the beginning of the book only to realize that
>> you
>> may have boxed yourself into a corner later. Some of those well-crafted
>> descriptions that get you going in the writing process are the very 
>> things
>> that need cutting or revising later on. But, you don't want to try to
>> figure
>> all of that out in the first draft.
>> HTH,
>> Donna
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kyle
>> woodard
>> Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2012 7:27 PM
>> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>> Subject: [stylist] questions
>>
>> Hey all Wallace Kyle Woodard here just had a few questions for you 
>> wanting
>> to get some peoples advice and opinions from those of you who may have
>> some
>> advice to share. I have always been a poet and a writer of articles and
>> have
>> had some success in these areas as shows my job and my book, however I
>> have
>> always wanted to write fiction and stories and have some really great
>> ideas
>> however am struggling to form those ideas and scene images into words on
>> paper. I was looking for advice on processes and techniques that work for
>> you as well as any other advice you may have thanks in advance.
>>
>> Wallace Kyle Woodard
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