McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
On the Utter Drek we write and Show verus Tell
The Deposed King:
On another thread I comment on what I've read from other authors. And it all comes down to this sort of Zen like acceptance of the crap we write and the need to let yourself write with the intention of coming back later to fix it during your 2nd and 3rd draft editing.
Here are a couple of links. the first is on acceptance. The other was a nice little article on Showing versus Telling.
http://www.ilona-andrews.com/writing-tricks/writing-crap#comments
http://www.ilona-andrews.com/writing-tricks/articles/show-dont-tell
Essentially if you are posting here, instead of on your own forum or blog. And even if you are already a published author, you will look at your work and say ick. Its the second and third passes after you've put the words down that make an exciting book people want to read. For the most part anyway.
The Deposed King
synthesis:
Perfect! So I'm not paranoid when I "guard" what I'm working on and when I don't say anything to anyone about working on anything other than that "I've been writing." It makes a lot of sense -- that whole cliche about two many "heads in the kitchen" or whatever it was (I might be mixing clichés)
Also loved the advice on revising. That's been something I've been struggling with because every time I go back, I want to rip, rip, rip apart, which I've very slowly discovered is its own little "sickness" :P
LizW65:
When I first took up writing after a hiatus of many years, I struggled a LOT with the idea that it had to be perfect right out of the starting gate. It took a while to convince myself that the edit buttons were there for a reason, and it was OK to write crap the first time around. (And I refuse to show my work to anyone unless it's up to a certain level, so I don't think the conventional writing workshop environment would work well for me.)
Paynesgrey:
I tend to gravitate towards "showing" I suspect, mainly because it's more fun and gives me greater opportunities to do amusing things with my character's inner monologues. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't go back through what I've written so far and look for obvious, dull telling, where it would be better to some showing. Thanks for the links.
I'm not sure how much Drek I produce. (Although since this, my first foray into painting with words, is basically as Star Trek fanfic that gradually shifts to my own original Trek characters, there are those who would argue that I'm Drekking by definition.... Hey, I like Star Trek, and I want more stories to happen there.) *Puts on his Fighting Trousers.* ;)
Anyway, I tend to spin through the whole story, constantly in daydream cycle. Envisioning, wording, re-wording, coming up with key scenes and (to me) killer lines that I jot down to use later. I basically do rewrite after rewrite in my head, then when things go "KA-CHUNK!" into place, I sit down and hammer out a chapter or scene. I still go back and polish and massage, then ship things off to my valued Tell Me If This Sucks Team of Experts. (I pay Shecky in beef jerky. Which reminds me I owe him a shipment.) Then I implement or address the fixes, changes or corrections they point out to me, but at that point it's not what I'd call a re-write.
The Deposed King:
--- Quote from: synthesis on March 30, 2012, 03:21:56 AM ---Perfect! So I'm not paranoid when I "guard" what I'm working on and when I don't say anything to anyone about working on anything other than that "I've been writing." It makes a lot of sense -- that whole cliche about two many "heads in the kitchen" or whatever it was (I might be mixing clichés)
Also loved the advice on revising. That's been something I've been struggling with because every time I go back, I want to rip, rip, rip apart, which I've very slowly discovered is its own little "sickness" :P
--- End quote ---
I recieved some advice once.
"It boils down to don't cast pearls before swine"
If you have what you think is a pearl, don't put it in front of someone who is a swine and won't appreciate it. You need someone who will appreciate what you're doing not automatically dump on it.
Now that doesn't mean that what you don't won't fail and fail spectacularly. Nor that at some point you don't need some critisizing. But when you are just getting started you need support and encouragement otherwise you'll give up. Enthusiasm for an idea can carry you a long way all by its lonesome.
So don't go casting your pearls before swine and being surprised and discouraged when they poop all over it. That's why you avoid the swine.
On the other hand. Being a writer involves being told your stuff sucks. Its the only way you're stuff will get good enough to be put out there and succeed. So ra ra team until its done, then its find someone you can trust, to give you the down low. I've found for myself that creating and editing require two different mindsets. Never the two should twine. Or at least not very often. Editing kills creativity. But editing is essential to producing something you can be proud of. Conversely if you edit before its created most of us will lose our momentum and stop.
Its tricky.
Good luck with what you're doing.
The Deposed King
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