A Writer's Mind--The Adventure Begins
I'm finding out that I have two minds. I have my mind that I think with, solve problems with, use for every area of my life--except my writing. For my writing, I have a completely seperate mind. Sometimes, I wonder if it's because of the accident. I never had this kind of mind before that. When I wrote as a kid and a teen, I wrote the same way I thought about things. I'm an analytical type, a thinker, a planner, the kind of person that sees a problem from all sides and then once I understand it, I can figure out the solution. When I was working, I would make out my to do list every morning and then I'd prioritize my duties and carry them out. I'm a linear thinker and I think chronologically.
When it comes to my writing, it's completely different and at first it really freaked me out, because I don't feel in control at all of this process that my mind goes through to come up with the story or scene. That's why I say, it's like having a second brain. I thought when I decided I'd write this book and got the idea for it that I would start writing the story at the beginning and follow it through to the end, writing ten pages a day. NO problem, right? Only no matter how hard I tried to do that, the words just wouldn't come. I just couldn't see the story unfold in my mind.
See, I see the story, like a film or a screenplay in my head. It flashes on and I start writing as fast as I can to keep up with the events. As soon as it's over, then I stop writing and it's over. I then go back and fill in the holes or write in the transitions and make things more smooth, think things through more logically, do my research if it calls for that to make sure that what I've written is indeed possible.
The problem came up when I found that the story wasn't coming to me chronologically. It comes in "scenes". My subconcious is almost always working on the story. And then when it has a scene worked out, I feel this urgency in my gut, almost like I'm gonna throw up or something. It's really weird and I know I've got to get to the computer right away. So, I do. Even if I'm sound asleep when this happens or in the middle of something else. I just know that if I don't get it down right then, it won't ever get written exactly how I want it to sound/read. So, I sit down to write, but it's just a scene and sometimes I have no idea where in the story that scene is going to go exactly. I may have a rough idea or like after I write it I'll look at it and go, Oh, yeah, that'll go in the middle or that'll be in Chapter 3, etc. I don't know how I know these things and until the book is written, I won't even know if my hunches, my instincts are right on or not. So, rightnow, I have several scenes prepared for my book, but only one entire chapter mostly written. I still have to do a little work on it, because I researched and found out that I couldn't do a certain thing, so I need to find a different way of doing it. And I need ot put in some transitional phrasing. But, beyond that. I've basically got it written out in a rough format. The second chapter, I have the first half written. I have a scene ready that will go in the fourth chapter. I have a few other scenes also and know that they'll go in themiddle and in the last third of the book.
The only thing I really don't like about writing the book this way is that I can't plan it all out the way I wanted to. I mean, I know generally what's going to happen in the story, but how I'll get there and how I'll go from there is anyone's guess basically. The other part of that is that I can't exactly self-edit or do rewrites, because I dont' know what's going to come before or after that part, so if I rewrite it, I could end up cutting out some vital information that will be necessary for those other parts, you see? So, it's really been an interesting journey so far, if you can call it that. It's just so unexpected and somethign I really wasn't aware would happen. It's like, well, it's an adventure that's what it is. Not a journey, an adventure. And in htat sense it's exciting and I'm full of suspense waiting to find out how it will look when I'm finished.
Until next time...
When it comes to my writing, it's completely different and at first it really freaked me out, because I don't feel in control at all of this process that my mind goes through to come up with the story or scene. That's why I say, it's like having a second brain. I thought when I decided I'd write this book and got the idea for it that I would start writing the story at the beginning and follow it through to the end, writing ten pages a day. NO problem, right? Only no matter how hard I tried to do that, the words just wouldn't come. I just couldn't see the story unfold in my mind.
See, I see the story, like a film or a screenplay in my head. It flashes on and I start writing as fast as I can to keep up with the events. As soon as it's over, then I stop writing and it's over. I then go back and fill in the holes or write in the transitions and make things more smooth, think things through more logically, do my research if it calls for that to make sure that what I've written is indeed possible.
The problem came up when I found that the story wasn't coming to me chronologically. It comes in "scenes". My subconcious is almost always working on the story. And then when it has a scene worked out, I feel this urgency in my gut, almost like I'm gonna throw up or something. It's really weird and I know I've got to get to the computer right away. So, I do. Even if I'm sound asleep when this happens or in the middle of something else. I just know that if I don't get it down right then, it won't ever get written exactly how I want it to sound/read. So, I sit down to write, but it's just a scene and sometimes I have no idea where in the story that scene is going to go exactly. I may have a rough idea or like after I write it I'll look at it and go, Oh, yeah, that'll go in the middle or that'll be in Chapter 3, etc. I don't know how I know these things and until the book is written, I won't even know if my hunches, my instincts are right on or not. So, rightnow, I have several scenes prepared for my book, but only one entire chapter mostly written. I still have to do a little work on it, because I researched and found out that I couldn't do a certain thing, so I need to find a different way of doing it. And I need ot put in some transitional phrasing. But, beyond that. I've basically got it written out in a rough format. The second chapter, I have the first half written. I have a scene ready that will go in the fourth chapter. I have a few other scenes also and know that they'll go in themiddle and in the last third of the book.
The only thing I really don't like about writing the book this way is that I can't plan it all out the way I wanted to. I mean, I know generally what's going to happen in the story, but how I'll get there and how I'll go from there is anyone's guess basically. The other part of that is that I can't exactly self-edit or do rewrites, because I dont' know what's going to come before or after that part, so if I rewrite it, I could end up cutting out some vital information that will be necessary for those other parts, you see? So, it's really been an interesting journey so far, if you can call it that. It's just so unexpected and somethign I really wasn't aware would happen. It's like, well, it's an adventure that's what it is. Not a journey, an adventure. And in htat sense it's exciting and I'm full of suspense waiting to find out how it will look when I'm finished.
Until next time...
posted by Jessica at 11:37 AM
1 Comments:
It seems there are as many ways to write a book as there are writers. Whatever works. It is exciting to get the scene in your mind and then write it out.
Enjoy the journey!
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