About Writing

[Christine62]

I thought I would start a thread about writing since Mr. King is so generous about educating us about his process. I was listening to a talk of his where he was speaking to writing students and he said, "Listen, you have to look." He was talking about that fly on the wall quality that all great writers have.

I would also say that you have to listen too. Because every life has weaved in it, 10,000 stories--freakin unbelievable stories--no imagination necessary. I heard a story from a classmate 20 years ago that her grandmother and her ladies group were invited and went to Chancellor Hitler in Germany in 1933 from Oklahoma. I always wanted to write about that--maybe I will.

So folks, lets keep this thread going, show Mr. King, we are looking and listening and trying to write all down.

P.S. It's great to be back on the board.

c

 

[GNTLGNT]

I thought I would start a thread about writing since Mr. King is so generous about educating us about his process. I was listening to a talk of his where he was speaking to writing students and he said, "Listen, you have to look." He was talking about that fly on the wall quality that all great writers have.

I would also say that you have to listen too. Because every life has weaved in it, 10,000 stories--freakin unbelievable stories--no imagination necessary. I heard a story from a classmate 20 years ago that her grandmother and her ladies group were invited and went to Chancellor Hitler in Germany in 1933 from Oklahoma. I always wanted to write about that--maybe I will.

So folks, lets keep this thread going, show Mr. King, we are looking and listening and trying to write all down.

P.S. It's great to be back on the board.

c

...good to have you back girl!...and to your point, that is one reason I have always listened to and asked questions of elders in my family and elsewhere....it's the only way to keep history alive....and as you say, makes good jumping off points as idea starters.....

 

[Grandpa]

Oh, sure. Mark Twain taught us that we can actually write in dialect. Not to say that we want to try to do exactly what the masters do. If you're writing dialogue of a guy in Minnesota, you don't want to go all caricature and go, "O yah, I'm frum Minnesohhh-tuh." But you do want to have an ear for the tongue, the arrangement of words, the cadence, and find ways to translate that to the black and white of the text.

Not to say I'm a master at it. I'm assuredly not. But to make characters distinct and identifiable, each one needs that one's own voice.

 

[Christine62]

Oh, sure. Mark Twain taught us that we can actually write in dialect. Not to say that we want to try to do exactly what the masters do. If you're writing dialogue of a guy in Minnesota, you don't want to go all caricature and go, "O yah, I'm frum Minnesohhh-tuh." But you do want to have an ear for the tongue, the arrangement of words, the cadence, and find ways to translate that to the black and white of the text.

Not to say I'm a master at it. I'm assuredly not. But to make characters distinct and identifiable, each one needs that one's own voice.

I am lucky, I hear my characters voices in my head--I take pills so they don't come out <smile>

 

[Lepplady]

If you're writing dialogue of a guy in Minnesota, you don't want to go all caricature and go, "O yah, I'm frum Minnesohhh-tuh.".

I totally heard that in a full-on "Minnesoh-tuh" accent. I've got family up there, and the funny thing is that they ARE a caricature of themselves when it comes to how they speak. It really is that exaggerated.

Gramps is exactly right about exploring ways to express the little things that make characters and settings believable, but sometimes, it's okay to throw a little caricature in the mix. I mean, if it applies.

 

[Christine62]

Don't you love it when you spend all day writing and go to bed thinking about your story and you wake up thinking about your story? It's great~ Writing for me is like a baby walrus on land who slips into water and discovers it can fly~

 

[Grandpa]

Don't you love it when you spend all day writing and go to bed thinking about your story and you wake up thinking about your story? It's great~ Writing for me is like a baby walrus on land who slips into water and discovers it can fly~

What a lovely metaphor.

When a story has ahold of you, you start to understand terriers, because the dang thing doesn't want to let you go until the job's done. And even when you finally write those two great words, you simply trade the write-terrier for the edit-terrier.

 

[Lepplady]

Don't you love it when you spend all day writing and go to bed thinking about your story and you wake up thinking about your story? It's great~ Writing for me is like a baby walrus on land who slips into water and discovers it can fly~

I love it even more when I wake up with a story fully formed in my head. An upcoming book hit me like that. I don't feel like I wrote it. More like it presented itself to me and demanded to be written down.

 

[Lepplady]

What a lovely metaphor.

When a story has ahold of you, you start to understand terriers, because the dang thing doesn't want to let you go until the job's done. And even when you finally write those two great words, you simply trade the write-terrier for the edit-terrier.

You don't edit your own, do you? I mean, a couple of drafts, sure. But actual editing, the final process, should never be done by an author upon his or her own work. A patient doesn't perform surgery upon him or herself. It hurts too much to cut stuff out. Somebody else has to do it.

 

[Grandpa]

You don't edit your own, do you? I mean, a couple of drafts, sure. But actual editing, the final process, should never be done by an author upon his or her own work. A patient doesn't perform surgery upon him or herself. It hurts too much to cut stuff out. Somebody else has to do it.

For me, the editing never stops. I'm like the guy that our Gracious Host mentioned in On Writing who kept editing his manuscript after publication.

 

[Lepplady]

For me, the editing never stops. I'm like the guy that our Gracious Host mentioned in On Writing who kept editing his manuscript after publication.

It's a hard thing, to know when a work is done. It's like that with artwork, too. At some point, it just has to be done. There's no yardstick to measure by or rule book to follow. Ya just gotta feel it.

 

[TheRedQueen]

I've been plagued with stories my whole life, but have never succeeded in writing one down. I'll dabble for a few days, hit a snag and stop. I've got excerpts of my own writing from way back, when I was just a kid. I'm not terrible, I think I could go somewhere, but...I'm scared spitless. All I ever got from my folks was critism, and even anger for daring to write certain things. After a while, the stories and characters almost seem like ghosts in my head, voices that refuse to be silenced. If only I was brave enough to breath life into them, they might leave me alone and make way for new voices. Ah, well. I have all the years ahead of me to figure this out, "write"?

 

[Christine62]

Gosh, I think we have to be courageous enough to write even if it's criticized, my dad said, "If your hand writing wasn't so messy maybe we could read something." That was when I was ten and it made me feel ashamed but the flight of happiness I got when I wrote was BIGGER AND STRONGER than any fear or shame I felt. Focus on how writing makes you feel. I love idea of ghosts of characters in your head, write, DarkKrystl WRITE!

 

[Christine62]

And this is for all of us when we think no one is paying attention to our writing:

How to Keep Writing When No One Gives a **** — Jennifer Garam

 

[morgan]

And this is for all of us when we think no one is paying attention to our writing:

How to Keep Writing When No One Gives a **** — Jennifer Garam

I received an error message when I clicked on the link.

 

[Christine62]

I received an error message when I clicked on the link.

Try this one:

Blog — Jennifer Garam

 

[Grandpa]

Try this one:

Blog — Jennifer Garam

Thanks for posting. That made the rounds in my writing group. We wondered if this posting might be the writer's most-read piece and the irony of that possibility.

 

[Carolyn Qt]

Hi. I must have come to the right place if nothing makes sense. Thank you for reading my post. I'm a bit lost but have finally stumbled upon some place I can type something into a little box so progress has been made. Care to visit my free blog and do some reading? Stephen says you should all read everyday . Thanks so much for visiting and do let me know if I'm bugging you or where else I can post my meagre offerings. Cheers, Qt Ellis.

 

[FlakeNoir]

Hi. I must have come to the right place if nothing makes sense. Thank you for reading my post. I'm a bit lost but have finally stumbled upon some place I can type something into a little box so progress has been made. Care to visit my free blog and do some reading? Stephen says you should all read everyday . Thanks so much for visiting and do let me know if I'm bugging you or where else I can post my meagre offerings. Cheers, Qt Ellis.

If you would like to link us to a blog you can make a thread in the Self Promotion area of the MB.

(Also, as a new member your messages will be moderated until you reach 100 posts and have been registered for 10 days.)

 

[Lepplady]

We all went through the same initiation.
Glad to have you around. I look forward to reading your posts.