- Joined
- Mar 17, 2017
- Messages
- 13
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Hello all.
I'm about as new as they come to the writing game, and still trying to find a way of doing things that works for me. Following my own consideration and a discussion with a friend, I've picked up on something that I'd like to address, or at least discuss, with anyone who'll listen and who feels sagacious enough to advise.
Essentially, she observed that my writing so far has been very 'insular' in nature - that is to say, preoccupied with ideas rather than people. I quite like writing this way, but I have a real fear about only doing this sort of work. The issue is that when I sit down to write something short, my first instinct, and the one that I invariably follow, is to re-frame whatever it is I've been thinking about that day in the form of a little monologue, vignette or story. I enjoy this process and am usually not totally displeased with the results, but for very short pieces it does inevitably subordinate character almost entirely in service of the driving concept. Ultimately, I feel it would be rather complacent of me, as a writer and just as a human being, to stick to this first instinct in a field (and life...) whose beauty derives in no small part from the unbounded range of its possibilities. I want to write about people, in all their diversity, and in dialogue with ideas that aren't my own, but doing this as of now requires me to go against the grain of my natural process. In the end I just audible into an idea that flows more readily.
So, I suppose what I'm interested in is people's wisdom and experiences with:
A: Character work and character pieces in general.
B: Breaking one's own mould and becoming more flexible as a writer.
C: Basically, anything that seems at all pertinent.
Any of which will be humbly and graciously appreciated. Many thanks to one and all.
I'm about as new as they come to the writing game, and still trying to find a way of doing things that works for me. Following my own consideration and a discussion with a friend, I've picked up on something that I'd like to address, or at least discuss, with anyone who'll listen and who feels sagacious enough to advise.
Essentially, she observed that my writing so far has been very 'insular' in nature - that is to say, preoccupied with ideas rather than people. I quite like writing this way, but I have a real fear about only doing this sort of work. The issue is that when I sit down to write something short, my first instinct, and the one that I invariably follow, is to re-frame whatever it is I've been thinking about that day in the form of a little monologue, vignette or story. I enjoy this process and am usually not totally displeased with the results, but for very short pieces it does inevitably subordinate character almost entirely in service of the driving concept. Ultimately, I feel it would be rather complacent of me, as a writer and just as a human being, to stick to this first instinct in a field (and life...) whose beauty derives in no small part from the unbounded range of its possibilities. I want to write about people, in all their diversity, and in dialogue with ideas that aren't my own, but doing this as of now requires me to go against the grain of my natural process. In the end I just audible into an idea that flows more readily.
So, I suppose what I'm interested in is people's wisdom and experiences with:
A: Character work and character pieces in general.
B: Breaking one's own mould and becoming more flexible as a writer.
C: Basically, anything that seems at all pertinent.
Any of which will be humbly and graciously appreciated. Many thanks to one and all.