Art is hard #2
Oct. 21st, 2007 09:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stephbgWhist soaking in the bath this evening I thought about my recent first attempt to write fiction to order. I seem to have no trouble churning out lj posts (indeed, some would urge me to restraint) that, while based on reality, often have a certain fictional polish for the sake of personal amusement.
However, when I sat down to write a fictional story I'd been thinking about for a couple of days it was like trying to extract molecules from a great 7 dimensional universe of nothingness. A mere two dimensional blank page had nothing on this.
And yet, later when I started to complain about it in a post, I found I could write at least the precis of the story from memory, and it flowed far more easily and in greater detail than I had expected.
I sense a psychological barrier: when I'm trying to write fiction, I feel the weight of personal responsibility for every word. In contrast, when I write my typical posts I'm writing from memory or just transcribing my inner voice. And that just never stops. Never ever.
So: the test of the theory will become to compose a story in my head (or recall one of the ones I started) and write it from memory. Is that a typical technique? Or am I a special snowflake?
I'd be interested in the opinion of people who write fan or professional fiction, particularly those who teach creative writing. I confess I've not really paid attention to any of the panels dedicated to the subject at Swancon :-)
However, when I sat down to write a fictional story I'd been thinking about for a couple of days it was like trying to extract molecules from a great 7 dimensional universe of nothingness. A mere two dimensional blank page had nothing on this.
And yet, later when I started to complain about it in a post, I found I could write at least the precis of the story from memory, and it flowed far more easily and in greater detail than I had expected.
I sense a psychological barrier: when I'm trying to write fiction, I feel the weight of personal responsibility for every word. In contrast, when I write my typical posts I'm writing from memory or just transcribing my inner voice. And that just never stops. Never ever.
So: the test of the theory will become to compose a story in my head (or recall one of the ones I started) and write it from memory. Is that a typical technique? Or am I a special snowflake?
I'd be interested in the opinion of people who write fan or professional fiction, particularly those who teach creative writing. I confess I've not really paid attention to any of the panels dedicated to the subject at Swancon :-)
