ACH! and the details
Apr. 11th, 2005 12:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
albionidahoI just wrote a great entry and lost it. Grrrrr...
Alright.
So, what I was saying, and probably won't be able to write as well again (isn't that the way for these things?) is that I think sometimes, when writing fiction, I get too bogged down in the details. At least, I think that's the primary reason why this story I've been working on for months and months has me so stumped and stuck. I know what happens. I know what needs to happen, where things need to go, but I'm having a hard time getting there because there's all these other things being written.
Details can be good, important and essential even to the success of a story. At the same time, some details just end up being unnecessary (and frustrating for me, the writer if not the reader). The key is to pick up which details are good and which details should be killed, or even not written down in the first place. In terms of back story and my understanding of the story and characters, knowledge of certain details could be a good thing, but again, not necessary.
I have three ideas of what I can do so I can get this story written:
1) Write it from the conclusion back wards, scene by scene, focusing only on those things that are important for how the story turns out.
2) I could write it as a piece of flash fiction, making sure I've got the nuts and bolts, and then go in and expand it as necessary.
3) Though I've done a bit of outlining a couple of months ago (when I got a bit stuck), I could try some more outlining and mapping out of the story, only doing it in a different manner than the traditional outline form.
Stuff to think about and try. And in the end, I'll probably even learn something.
Alright.
So, what I was saying, and probably won't be able to write as well again (isn't that the way for these things?) is that I think sometimes, when writing fiction, I get too bogged down in the details. At least, I think that's the primary reason why this story I've been working on for months and months has me so stumped and stuck. I know what happens. I know what needs to happen, where things need to go, but I'm having a hard time getting there because there's all these other things being written.
Details can be good, important and essential even to the success of a story. At the same time, some details just end up being unnecessary (and frustrating for me, the writer if not the reader). The key is to pick up which details are good and which details should be killed, or even not written down in the first place. In terms of back story and my understanding of the story and characters, knowledge of certain details could be a good thing, but again, not necessary.
I have three ideas of what I can do so I can get this story written:
1) Write it from the conclusion back wards, scene by scene, focusing only on those things that are important for how the story turns out.
2) I could write it as a piece of flash fiction, making sure I've got the nuts and bolts, and then go in and expand it as necessary.
3) Though I've done a bit of outlining a couple of months ago (when I got a bit stuck), I could try some more outlining and mapping out of the story, only doing it in a different manner than the traditional outline form.
Stuff to think about and try. And in the end, I'll probably even learn something.
