Monday, July 14, 2008

My Best Foot Forward

Our topic this week is “What is the easiest part of writing”. That’s a tough one. I’d have to say, the easiest part for me is dialogue. It seems to come easier to me than most of the rest. I hope I’m good at it, since I think it’s my strong suit, LOL.

I actually have the conversation running through my head as I’m typing it. I hear my characters better than I visualize them. I do still visualize them, but it just seems they really like to talk more than anything.

Another thing that I tend to do well, is to just sit down and write the rough draft. I have to plot it all out before I start writing, but once I do that, I can write like fire to get it done. Of course, it really needs a lot of revising, but I’ve got the storyline out there and ready to fix.

I’m not the best at plotting, but I’ve been working on it and I think I’m getting better at it. I have to because if I don’t plot, then I don’t write. And that is definitely not an option.

I think my weakest points are subplots and description. I have to go back in and add description when I’m revising. I do put some in when I write the rough draft, but not near enough. I think I’m improving, but it’s still difficult for me.

I’m not sure about subplots. I’ve been working on that too. One of the WIP’s I’m working on now, I thought I’d added quite a bit of subplot to, but it’s still going to be shorter than I’d hoped. It will be my longest story yet, but not what I was hoping for. I have been getting a little longer with each story, so that’s a good thing. Maybe eventually, I will make it to 100k.

Let me know what your best points are. I’d love to hear about them.

5 deadly screams:

Molly Daniels said...

I'm so glad I'm not the only one:) I also have no trouble (usually!) writing down the conversation as I'm 'hearing' it in my head.

Description as always been my weak point...I have a tendancy to assume the reader can see what I'm picturing, and I've discovered this isn't always the case. I used to hate those writing exercises..."Describe your trip from point A to point B..." because I'd forget to describe the colors! I mean, heck, everyone knows what a sidewalk, dorm, brick building, etc, looks like, right? WRONG! Apparently my teachers didn't, ha ha:)

But twenty years later, I'm getting slightly better at it...

And I can't write suspense. I tried to write a few lines and gave away the ending before I even got there!

K.T. Bishop said...

The first thing I usually do is write an outline, giving me the chance to put the story together. Ideas come from anywhere with me, then I get into writing the story.

Description is something I am working on to get great at. I've made improvement in the last year, but need to continue improving.

I'm having a little coming up with the main plot in my third installment of Cotton. I'll eventually come around after consulting with other authors.

Sierra Wolfe said...

Thanks for the comments! It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who has trouble with certain aspects of writing.

I think it does help to talk with other writers. Sometimes, just having a good brainstorming session with someone else can really get the creative juices flowing. And it's always nice to get other opinions in the mix.

Apparently, description is one area where a lot of people have trouble. I think it just takes a lot of practice to get better at it. Here's hoping we all become experts!

Sarah Mäkelä said...

Hey! Great blog entry, Sierra! I also have trouble with description. Subplotting is something I've really been trying to work on so I can gain the length that NY pubs want. Keep up the good work! I KNOW you will make it to 100k! :D

I'd say my best points are dialogue and action, perhaps character names, too. hehe

Gracen Miller said...

*mad face* I wrote this big long response to your blog and when I hit the button to publish it, blogspot crashed for a moment and it was LOST! *mad face*

Okay, I'm over it. ;-)

Great blog, Sierra. Dialogue is my favorite to write. I'll have dialogue going off in my head and another 10 chapters to write before I get to it. My characters like to talk. What I struggle with is getting the mannerisms and body language of the characters while they're doing all this talking.

I don't struggle with the 100K words, but rather struggle with writing 120K words and figuring out what needs to be culled and not culled. To me it's all important, so that's something I'm working on. I actually had fun writing the novella with you, Sierra, simply because it forced me to stick to a 50K maximum. That was a fun exercise for me to prove that I could write something less than 100K. ;-)

Don't forget to keep me updated on your submission. I'm antsy for you here and have every digit crossed for good luck! :-)

Molly...the point A to point B assignment is nothing more than an assignment in frustration. Who cares what color the sidewalk is??? I don't unless it has footprints or handprints it in from the pouring. Otherwise, no point in describing it.

K.T., keep us updated about your release date on Picking Cotton!