TECH: Lost Creativity

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Thu, 7 Jul 1994 18:35:02 JST

Terrance Bond

Hi, guys. Since the smoke has cleared(I hope), I was wondering if someone could possibly give me some inspiration for a story. I am beginning to feel as if I have no talent. That actually may be the case,and even if it is, humor me anyway. In the meantime, here's another poem.
<snip>
If not one likes this piece, I'm retiring my pen and devoting my spare time to a comprehensive study on the mating habits of wildebeasts.

drat. got some time to listen up, 'cause the "I ain't got no talent" and the "give me inspiration" raps take a while?

okay, here's the nickel version (since you haven't got a lot of time).

don't sweat "talent" and "inspiration" right now. instead, focus on the perspiration--techniques, theory and practice thereof. if someone says you aren't there yet (wherever that is!), tell 'em you know that, but you're working on the way. Then try again.

A quick "system" for doing stories (with the note that some or all of these may be modified or discarded at need or when you really know what you are doing):

1. Pick at least two characters. Identify one of them as your main character. (develop details as desired)
2. List five (5) desires or goals for each character.
3. Identify conflicts, real or potential, in trying to fulfill those desires or reach those goals. (e.g. if both want to date the same girl, there is a conflict!)
4. Make a rough outline of scenes. The main character should lose or have more problems set in his/her path in each scene, up to the end. Also, if possible, the stakes (what is it going to cost him/her) should rise with each scene. Rearrange as needed.
5. Make sure you can answer each of these questions:

a. Where are we? (setting)
b. Who is involved? (characters, strengths, flaws)
c. Where are they headed? (goals, motives)
d. What stops or blocks them? (obstacles)
e. What are they going to do? (plans)
f. What hook or bait for the reader will you use to start? (What is the key story question?)
g. What backfilling do you need to do? (background)
h. What buildup follows? (scenes)
i. What is the climax? How does the character (or characters) change? How is the plot resolved? (What answer does the reader have for the key story question?)
j. (optional) What purpose, theme or moral are you writing about?

6. WRITE.
7. REVISE.
8. SUBMIT.
9. KEEP GOING!

You might want to look at "Scene and Strategy" by Bickham (Writers Digest Books). Check out the writing section in almost any library or bookstore (in bookstores, it often is hidden in the Reference section). Plenty of books which offer help and advice (too many, perhaps).

Read. Pay a lot of attention to the fiction or poetry that you like--what are those authors doing to attract you?

As for talent and inspiration, I don't think I can beat the advice: "writing is easy. just open a vein."

Keep bleeding.

And if/when you have a chance, drop by WRITERS again and I'll be glad to give you the high-price lecture on making your own inspiration and being a good steward of talents (don't bury it, don't throw it away, but do use it, invest it with others, and watch your interest grow!).

[shoot, that's at least a dime's worth. Oh, well, ain't gonna stop on a dime...]

TECH: Leading Yourself to Write

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Mon, 5 Sep 1994 18:35:02 JST

Since I'm re-reading "Becoming a Technical Leader" by Gerald Weinberg (ISBN 0-932633-02-1) and someone asked about finishing pieces...

Weinberg suggests that change happens when the environment has three ingredients:

Motivation--trophies, rewards, trouble, some push or pull that moves the people involved. So consider what kind of reward you'll have when you finish a piece. Make it something you like or want, something you can control, and something that you won't let yourself have if you don't finish.

Organization--the existing structure that enables the ideas to be worked through into practice. Outlines, old plots, some of those books on writing that gather dust in many libraries, or some other skeleton that lets you work through the idea to the end. Or maybe knowing that you promised this bunch that you would finish (even if the promise is all in your own mind!). Make sure there is a method and steps to reach the goal behind your madness, then do it.

Ideas or innovation--the seeds, the image of what will become. You need some idea of what you are trying to build as a whole. Is it a novel, short story, poem? What genre? What kinds of writing skills are you trying to build up this time (e.g. maybe you really want to put in pages and pages of dialogue, or action-packed narrative, or even the lazy description of the countryside)? Take at least a few moments to dream about what kind of overall structure you are working on. Some people do well with a detailed outline, others just jot a few notes about the main points, and some scribble a note about the ending, then set out boldly. Whatever method you prefer, give yourself a chance to think about the whole work every now and then--step back from the canvas and look at the piece as a whole.

Okay? So set yourself up with motivation, organization, and ideas, then write!

Since the flow of ideas is often talked about as the stumbling point, let's see what Weinberg suggests about how to manage that process:

1. Contribute clever ideas--or at least grab them and hold onto them when they come by (he mentions that there are very few new ideas).

2. Encourage copying useful ideas. read about them, summarize them in your own terms, study, and steal proudly (be careful to mix them up and sand off the labels so they look more like your ideas...)

3. Elaborate on ideas. polish, rearrange, and perfect the ideas. Don't be afraid to reuse your own notions, extended, simplified, and in a different spotlight...

4. Let go of ideas when another one wants to be developed, and don't let an idea drop until you have finished it. Contradictory! But you need to be able to let go of some ideas when something else really calls to you--and you need to make sure you have taken an idea you are working on as far as possible before you drop it. At least make notes so you can come back to it later.

5. Resist time pressure, and take the time to listen to yourself explain your own idea. One of the hardest parts of developing an idea is slowing down enough to really let yourself develop it. I find myself making fevered little notes and scraps...then losing interest. BUT if I put those away and wait a while, then come back, there often is a good idea in there (after I throw away some of the froth that came with the first enthusiasm). It's important not to hurry it, either in the development or in the discarding.

6. Try ideas suggested by other people. Luckily, we aren't restricted to inventing everything ourselves. There are books and magazines out there full of writing, discussions of writing, and other interesting topics. Dig through some of that and borrow...

7. Withhold quick criticism of ideas. Don't shoot down your own ideas too fast. Give yourself a while to work with it, develop it, let it link up with other ideas, and so on.

8. When you do criticize the idea, be careful to criticize the idea, not yourself. Even smart people have stupid ideas. Don't cut yourself down--just chop the idea into kindling for the next mindblaze, and go on with the knowledge that you are stronger, smarter, and a real thinker for having the idea, even if it was a bit wild.

9. Test your own ideas before spending much time on them. There are lots of ideas around. Admittedly, you don't want to kill off a notion too fast, but you also don't need to spend the next 20 years trying to force one idea into words. If you don't see how to develop it now--make a note, and go on to something else.

10. (and the companion notion) When the time comes, stop working on new ideas and pitch in! Sometimes forcing yourself to work on that notion, even if it isn't clear or you aren't quite sure what to do with it, will help. An easy trap is to keep looking for the next good idea...and never spend the time to finish one.

My own trick to this is to set a quota--five new ideas or ten, something like that. Lay them out fast and furious, then pick one that looks best and start working on turning that into a complete story. If I can't get anywhere with it, I've still got several ideas to "fall back" on, but usually I can work that one out. But I make myself stop dreaming up new ideas and get down to the nitty-gritty (sometimes), even though I really like coming up with ideas more than finishing them...

11. Don't be afraid to drop ideas that had succeeded earlier, but don't extend to the present situation. E.g., maybe one of our Dead White Males could get away with massive chapters detailing the exact methods of fishing for mammals and rendering the results, but most publishers aren't very interested in seeing a chapter like that now. Or maybe you've started every story with a line of dialogue, but it doesn't seem to be working for your current story.

12. Revive ideas later, when they fit another part of the problem. Those discarded ideas or methods may be just the right thing at a different point. Don't be afraid to change your mind, and write the second chapter from the pet's viewpoint, or whatever...

So--motivate yourself, organize yourself, and get those ideas rolling. Then manage the flow of ideas so that you know which one you are working on now, and don't stop the flow for later, but don't get drowned in it while you are polishing one glittering gem...

But don't forget that there are lots of gems in the flow, so don't get too hung up on today's piece of fool's gold, either.

Mostly, write!