The Process
There was a funny bit on the Oscars last night about writers and the process. In one scene from a movie, a writer tossed her typewriter out the window. Way back when writers worked with typewriters, these movie scenes flashed of ripping the page out of the Selectric, crumbling it, and tossing it toward an already-full trash can.
Did you see Adaptation? Nicholas Cage hunched over his screenplay. AGONIZING.
So I started thinking about process. For one thing, the computer changed my writing life. Totally different now. Cut and paste is my friend. So is "Save As." I will often have as many as FOUR different versions of a book going on until I absolutely commit to one particular voice or opening scene. Neurotic as I am, I won't delete the losing versions until midway through the book.
But in general, my process is to write fast, without stopping, in a flurry where I am honestly not thinking, it's just happening. Some people say they are "channeling" something, as in some cosmic force. I think that's a load of well . . . . To be kind, perhaps they feel that way. Perhaps there's some cosmic jetstream of creativity in the universe and they hitch a ride on it. But I don't think that. I think I've just learned to get in the zone and write without self-editing. The editing has already taken place in my brain as I've been germinating the story.
THEN, when the chapter is done--because I usually write a whole chapter at a time--I go back and craft every word.
This was my sentence in my work in progress in the frantic, just-write-it stage:
Elena Girard looked out on the mosaic of tents spanning into the distance.
And this is the edited version:
Elena Girard gazed out on the weary mosaic of tents undulating into the distance.
The thesaurus is my friend.
Now, my process also involves my iPod, a lot of green tea, four kids darting in and out, stopping to yell at said four kids, the phone ringing, emails, popping Chinese herbs, occasionally talking to myself, and a LOT of staring out the window. Oh, and prayer. For inspiration, world peace, and all the rest of it.
And how about you? What is your process like?
Did you see Adaptation? Nicholas Cage hunched over his screenplay. AGONIZING.
So I started thinking about process. For one thing, the computer changed my writing life. Totally different now. Cut and paste is my friend. So is "Save As." I will often have as many as FOUR different versions of a book going on until I absolutely commit to one particular voice or opening scene. Neurotic as I am, I won't delete the losing versions until midway through the book.
But in general, my process is to write fast, without stopping, in a flurry where I am honestly not thinking, it's just happening. Some people say they are "channeling" something, as in some cosmic force. I think that's a load of well . . . . To be kind, perhaps they feel that way. Perhaps there's some cosmic jetstream of creativity in the universe and they hitch a ride on it. But I don't think that. I think I've just learned to get in the zone and write without self-editing. The editing has already taken place in my brain as I've been germinating the story.
THEN, when the chapter is done--because I usually write a whole chapter at a time--I go back and craft every word.
This was my sentence in my work in progress in the frantic, just-write-it stage:
Elena Girard looked out on the mosaic of tents spanning into the distance.
And this is the edited version:
Elena Girard gazed out on the weary mosaic of tents undulating into the distance.
The thesaurus is my friend.
Now, my process also involves my iPod, a lot of green tea, four kids darting in and out, stopping to yell at said four kids, the phone ringing, emails, popping Chinese herbs, occasionally talking to myself, and a LOT of staring out the window. Oh, and prayer. For inspiration, world peace, and all the rest of it.
And how about you? What is your process like?
Labels: writing process
posted by Erica Orloff at 8:11 AM
6 Comments:
I saw the writer clips from the adapted screenplay, I loved it!
My process is not so great, I sit, I write, I edit, and I go back and forth between the writing and my daughter. I write the first chapter or two and wonder why it's not so great. haha. And I wait for that cosmic force. Just kidding.
I do slip into a zone, though, and after a book is done I wonder where it all came from. How I could have created a world and these characters from pieces of thoughts? It's a gift I value. ;)
Hi Kelly:
I talk to myself when I write dialogue. I stare out the window a LOT. But then when I get in that zone, my fingers fly across the keyboard. But I do think the impression of writers is we're all alcohol-pickled wretches screaming at our computers. Which may not be far off sometimes. I loved the clips.
I usually write one scene (or a fraction of a scene) at a time, and then edit myself fiercely.
Your sentence is lovely, Erica, but I would probably boil it down to:
Elena Girard gazed at the weary mosaic of tents.
Distance is implied, IMO, and the image you want to leave your reader with--tents--should be at that all-important end-of-the-sentence spot. The fact that they were undulating (bitchin' word, and the perfect one, I think) can be expressed in the next sentence, perhaps even with a simile.
That said, I surely do want to know more about Elena and those tents. Very intriguing sentence.
Jude:
Thanks. Still playing around with it.
E
I try to get it out of my head as fast as possbile. Some chapters are lines and lines of dialogue with some stage direction in parenthesis. The weird part of my process is that I slow down at the end. Usually I can spit out two chapters a day but as soon as I'm ten chapters away from the end, I slow down to one maybe one-half chapter.
I've got one more chapter to go on this mariachi story and then, I'll take a couple days off before jumping back in again!
Mary
mary;
Congrats on the end being in sight.
Funny . . . I am fast at the beginning, S-L-O-W in the middle. When I hit page 150-175ish, I speed up again.
E
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