3 Random Writerly Things Make a Post

[babarnett]

1) The theater company I work for just recently finished the run of a new play called Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins.  I've been meaning to share the very opening of the play since I found it particularly amusing as a writer.  It opens with Molly Ivins leaning 
back in her chair, feet propped up on her desk.  She stares off into the distance for a while before finally speaking:


I’m writing.

This is what writing looks like.

I’m letting some ideas steep. Which is not the same as letting them stew. Every reporter with a brain--which is a subset of the profession and by no means the majority--knows that writing is seventy-five-per cent thinking, fifteen percent typing, and ten per cent caffeine.

2) I was in an analytical mood the other day and started looking at how my short stories break down genre-wise for no particular reason other than plain old curiosity. I ended up with 22 fantasy stories (the majority of them secondary world fantasy), 12 horror stories, 4 science fiction, and one goofy little mainstream-ish romance.  Then there are the 5 stories I've never been entirely sure what to call.  Most of them I would toss into the fantasy camp if pressed, though when one was published at Every Day Fiction I was surprised by a reader calling it "almost sci-fi noir."  EDF tagged it "surreal."  And then there's my "Lunch with Dead Trees" story that's currently making the submission rounds.  I have no idea what the hell to call that one.  I mean, while I don't think there's actually an expensive restaurant in the city where overly rich people pay good money to dine beside dead trees on purpose, there totally could be.

3) Not too terribly long ago I was following a good discussion in a writing forum about POV in novels and whether it's jarring to break from a pattern once you've established it, not to mention the pesky question of how many chapters does it take to establish a pattern in the reader's mind.  Like if your first three chapters alternate character A's POV, character B's POV, back to character A, and then the fourth chapter breaks with that and is from the POV of character C.  So I was looking at the POV pattern in what I've finished re-writing of My Big Fat Epic Fantasy Novel so far, and it makes my eyes cross a bit to look at it: A B C D C B B B C B C B C B E C B E B C.

Comments

[araken.livejournal.com]

I've been a little worried about POV patterns in my own Big Fat Epic Fantasy Novel too. I have four primary POVs, but the fourth doesn't make her first appearance until about a third of the way in. (That I intend to fix.) And of course, several more temporary POVs I needed because none of my primaries were going to be around to see or do something important.

I don't rotate in any particular pattern--I just use the most interesting or dramatic POV for a given scene. The frequency with which a given character has the POV varies over the course of the book too--it seems like in each of the five sections, two of the four are prominent with the other two more in the background.

The annoying thing is, I can't decide whether ANY of these things are features or bugs!

[babarnett.livejournal.com]

I say go with features. :)

I have two primary POVs, plus three or four others that slip in on occasion. Though one of those will likely get switched to one of the primary POVs when I rewrite that particular scene since I don't think it's going to work as well with all the changes I've made to the story.

I haven't been any using any particular pattern either, just whatever seems to best fit for the scene. The story does fall into this back and forth between the two primary POVs for a bit, but I'm hoping the fact that I started out the first several chapters without that pattern makes it not so jarring when another POV starts slipping in again later on.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

This is what writing looks like.

Yes, this! That is exactly how I write a whole lot of the time. The only difference is that I always have music going.

That pov thing... Every novel I've written has a different pattern. They all seem to establish themselves with little to no planning on may part.

I think that is mainly because I view each character as having a different part of the story to tell and I let them tell their parts as I get to them. The order evolves as I go along. Not sure that is the "proper" way to do it, but it's worked so far.

[babarnett.livejournal.com]

I don't think there is a proper way. Or at least I hope not, because letting it evolve as you go along is totally how I've been doing it too. :) I think because I'm re-writing something that was pretty polished rather than writing something new, I'm probably thinking about issues like structure far more than I normally would.

Yes, this!

When I was watching the play and people in the audience were laughing at that bit, I couldn't help thinking, "Most of you are laughing because the idea of a writer not physically writing and calling it writing is funny. I'm laughing because it's so totally true."

[isleburroughs.livejournal.com]

I'm sure your pov choices rock. I fought with myself over that for fear of losing the reader but I really like to switch vps. I stick with the rule of one chapter or scene at a time.

[babarnett.livejournal.com]

I'm sticking with the one POV per chapter or scene as well. Head hopping is tough to do well, especially since current editorial tastes run toward the "don't do that" end of the spectrum.

[bondo-ba.livejournal.com]

Number 2 is interesting. I used to write mainly SF mixed with a little mainstream now and then, but have recently been writing lots of fantasy and some horor, because it's been selling well.

[babarnett.livejournal.com]

I hadn't looked at what I've been selling vs. what I've been writing overall, but now that I have...the fantasy-horror ratio stays about the same, but my SF batting average with sales is better than with fantasy and horror.

[justin-pilon.livejournal.com]

Now I want to go break down all my stories by genre. I guess it would be heavy on the horror end, but I tend to mix.

[babarnett.livejournal.com]

Mixing is good. :)

One of my pieces I call SF definitely has some horror elements to it, and one of my horror pieces has some SF to it. There's one that is fantasy, but just barely--up until the end, it's more of a cute little historical romance.

I though about breaking down humor vs. non-humor as well since most of my horror also tends to be humorous. Perhaps for another blog entry. :)