Piecing It All Together
There's a little known secret we writers like to keep to ourselves, because we fear that if word got out, readers would immediately become disillusioned and abandon us. It's not as bad as a reviewer spoiling a twist in the plot of a book, I suppose. Those people should be tarred with onion dip, feathered with potato chips and released to a crowd of hungry football fans on the day of the Super Bowl. But it is a little like the magician showing you how he fooled you.
Here's the secret: stories are rarely written from beginning to end without rough spots along the way.
This might sound obvious, but if you're a good writer it should never be obvious to the reader. Your stories should read seamlessly. I know the process is anything but seamless. Piecing Frankenstein's monster together was less daunting. You've got stitches all over the page. Scotch tape. Different colored inks. Scribbles in the margins. Stop and goes. And this is your third draft. But after that final draft, all of this must be invisible to the reader.
What you should take away from this is the understanding that you have incredible freedom as a writer. No one has to ever see your early drafts, your wastepaper basket full of crumpled paper, that climax that was so ingenious when you first thought of it but turned out to be a cliché on the page. Those are yours to keep. No one need ever read them.
The process doesn't have to be painful, either. In fact, if you remove some of the constraints you place on yourself as a writer, it can be down right enjoyable. For instance, you don't always have to write a story from beginning to end. Connie Willis likes to write her endings first, then write the story back toward the beginning. Jeffrey Deaver prefers to spend months working out every detail of his story in an outline, with specific places for twists. Dean Koontz, who used to outline his stories, now lets his characters provide the impetus for his books. He follows along behind and lets himself experience surprise much as his readers will.
Every writer has to find what works best for him. And every writer has to understand that what works best for this story might not work best for the next. Don't be afraid to experiment. Don't be afraid to let go and see where it takes you. (This will, of course, be easier if you stuff a dirty sock into the mouth of that little editor sitting on your shoulder. You know who I'm talking about. He's the one who never has anything nice to say. So do that now. Dig out a dirty sock and use it.)
What I'd like you to take away from this is the comfort that a word on a piece of paper (or on a computer screen, for that matter) is not the same as a word etched in stone. It's okay to work on the description of a character until you get restless, then toy with the opening sentence or try reworking the dialogue in that early scene. It's okay to toss out pages, try different words, add scenes. Tinkering goes hand-in-hand with creativity.
And again ? no one will ever know.
It may resemble Frankenstein's monster to you, but all the reader will see is a living, breathing story.
Just don't forget to pull the stitches before you're finished.
David B. Silva
The Successful Writer
http://thesuccessfulwriter.com/creativewriting/
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 Bay News 9 | Test scores plummet — so Florida drops passing grade Washington Post (blog) Florida gave a new writing standardized writing test to students in various grades and the scores were worse than awful. Only 27 percent of fourth-graders had proficient scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), which was down from ... Florida test scores bring more questions than answers Treasure Coast school boards poised to join campaign to de-emphasize ... FCAT hotline opens amid grading controversy |
VS confirms writing letter to Karat IBNLive.com PTI | 03:05 PM,May 21,2012 Thiruvananthapuram,May21(PTI) In further embarrassment to CPI(M), Marxist stalwart VS Achuthanandan today confirmed that he had written to party general secretary Prakash Karat seeking the intervention of the central ... |
Writer For Content Writing King Published Social Marketing Article Houston Chronicle A new blog post written by Content Writing King has been released. This post is about article writing, content marketing, and social marketing. Recently, the article writing writer for Content Writing King has released a new blog post about content ... Content Writing King Releases Link Building Educational Material |
MTSU grad is writing her own ticket for multimedia success The Daily News Journal 10:09 pm MURFREESBORO — If there's a script for success in broadcasting, Fadia Patterson is writing—and rewriting it—every day. The newly minted master's graduate from MTSU has barely had time to finish writing thank-you notes before packing up for ... |
Boxing writers honor Fernandez for first-place column Philadelphia Daily News RECENTLY RETIRED Daily News sports writer Bernard Fernandez, for the 11th consecutive year, had placing entries in the Boxing Writers Association of America writing contest, known as the “Barneys” in honor of the late former president of the BWAA, ... |
 Wall Street Journal | Hold politicians accountable for education MiamiHerald.com The FCAT writing fiasco is not a failure — it's an opportunity to slow down and get things right. But you do have to wonder, after a decade of increasing education standards and accountability, is the point to strengthen public schools or to des By ... Regraded Test Upends Florida Schools 80 percent of 4th-graders pass FCAT writing portion State needs remedial help on FCAT writing standards |
Dean Minnich Writing Again: It's a public government, not a church or cement plant Carroll County Times (blog) As the Carroll County Commissioners trudge through the budget process, it occurs to me that they have no shared vision. Commissioner Robin Frazier apparently wants to use government for missionary work. An online service is needed to view this article ... |
 Farm Futures | Farm Bill Writing Underway in the House Farm Futures House Ag Committee wrapped up last subcommittee hearing Friday, now the work of crafting a farm bill begins. It'll look different than the Senate's. Friday, the House Ag Committee wrapped up hearings on the 2012 Farm Bill using a series of subcommittee ... |
 Independent Online | Bongi has the write stuff Independent Online By Debashine Thangevelo Hard work paid off for head writer Bongi Ndaba, who was appointed as co-producer of SABC1 s Generations. Picture: Generations Nursing a cold, Bongi Ndaba wasn't about to call in sick. Apologising in advance for the ... |
 The Hindu | 'Da Vinci Code' author Dan Brown speaks in NH Boston.com PORTSMOUTH, NH—Best-selling author Dan Brown made a rare public appearance in New Hampshire on Friday, saying very little about his next novel other than he's well into the writing process. "The Da Vinci Code" author, who grew up in New Hampshire, ... 'Da Vinci Code' author Dan Brown speaks in NH, says writing under way on next ... 'Da Vinci Code' author Dan Brown speaks |
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