He has a heartbeat and a pulse.
Okay, so that title has absolutely nothing to do with me writing a
blog. The song I was listening to just said "I need a heartbeat"
and so I wrote something along those lines.
I'm currently writing a story in which the main character is a werewolf. I'm not a fantasy person, never have been. I'm a thought-experiment, philosophising, breaking the boundaries of what a story should be, kind of person.
And so I'm afraid that this is not really my normal kind of ground. But I'm going to write it to the end, and I hope it will be brilliant as a study of denial and acceptance of what we have done or something of that sort. But who knows, it might end up as a simple novel of simple themes. I've exceeded the 10K mark, which I'm extremely pleased with, I only expect it to get to about 40 to 50 thousand words though. It'll be my biggest finished project I've done to date. (The list of finished projects can't really qualify as a list, if we're being honest here.)
I'm curious though, what do you look at your stories as? Because when I think of writing a story I generally want to do something magnificient with it. I have tried (and failed for the time being) several projects where I really want to create some literary power. I wanted to change the idea of the telling of a story, where there were stories in stories in stories, where the author had died and other characters were picking up the pieces, or where the story itself was not real and that what was happening was an exercise in insanity. I love the idea of the writing being told in the mind-frame of the characters. So there are flows that are happening because the character can do no other due to what is happening to him or herself.
So, what am i doing here? Goodness knows. I'm just curious about other people's thoughts on writing, and would love to hear about them.
Hope to hear from you all!
I'm currently writing a story in which the main character is a werewolf. I'm not a fantasy person, never have been. I'm a thought-experiment, philosophising, breaking the boundaries of what a story should be, kind of person.
And so I'm afraid that this is not really my normal kind of ground. But I'm going to write it to the end, and I hope it will be brilliant as a study of denial and acceptance of what we have done or something of that sort. But who knows, it might end up as a simple novel of simple themes. I've exceeded the 10K mark, which I'm extremely pleased with, I only expect it to get to about 40 to 50 thousand words though. It'll be my biggest finished project I've done to date. (The list of finished projects can't really qualify as a list, if we're being honest here.)
I'm curious though, what do you look at your stories as? Because when I think of writing a story I generally want to do something magnificient with it. I have tried (and failed for the time being) several projects where I really want to create some literary power. I wanted to change the idea of the telling of a story, where there were stories in stories in stories, where the author had died and other characters were picking up the pieces, or where the story itself was not real and that what was happening was an exercise in insanity. I love the idea of the writing being told in the mind-frame of the characters. So there are flows that are happening because the character can do no other due to what is happening to him or herself.
So, what am i doing here? Goodness knows. I'm just curious about other people's thoughts on writing, and would love to hear about them.
Hope to hear from you all!
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19 Comments
Maryluv - being human is so good. Looking forward to seeing last night's episode later. Not sure why the beeb call it a comedy-drama though.. too dark for that!
ProjectAlice - That sounds really sweet, yet a little worrying. I have the unfortunate tendency to not really feel my characters as real human beings, I suppose they're more like experiments or tests on ideas i have. Maybe I'm heartless. I love the enthusiasm you have for your story, I only get that for the idea itself, the story is the holder for it.
Ele - That sounds like such a good book! I love weird books like that. Can't wait to hear what it's called, I'll start reading it before I get through all the other books I'm supposed to (definitely prioritising it!).
Aonghus Fallon - Thank you! I couldn't do a story just about the killing or about mindless violence. There would have to be something much much more important than that. So I've chosen this struggle with his demons (the classic, i suppose. Well, not THE classic, but one of...).
I've heard of that author before... not sure where. But I will definitely have a look for it! To be honest I'll more than likely read the translated version, my Norwegian is awful for reading.
Anyway, thank you! I'm assuming you're maybe reading the Stieg Larrson books or something? Aren't they Swedish? (Just guessing, really)
Yeah, I joined this in hopes to meet people who would help with my own writing and that I could find other interesting and talented writers. And no, I'm afraid I haven't. Any good? I'm currently reading a novel called Pilcrow by Adam Mars-Jones, it's really really good! (That isn't my whole critique of the novel, 'really really good' would be an awful way for a writer to describe other works in full... but I think i'll leave it at that for now)
Is it Under The Skin that you're reading currently?
So only a couple to go!
The werewolf story is coming along, i have an ending, and I have a halfway mark (possibly) but I don't have all the little fleshy bits in between. This is a problem because it's where I am and I almost feel as though i'm making some things happen for no reason. But I'm pretty much just trying to get to the end of the story with a written (horribly) piece. But once the first run is done, i shall edit like I've never edited before! Or something like that...
You working on something just now?
Have you thought about putting the werewolf story away for a day or so? Write something else (or maybe read something!!) and you might find it easier to fill in the little fleshy bits when you pick it up again. Just a thought...
I'd love to read any of your stuff! I don't know what hyper-text fiction is, but it sounds erratic if anything. The werewolf story that I'm writing just now is for both me and my college course. I have a Creative Project part to my course and I could've done any number of smaller or quicker challenges, but I started the course in the hopes of writing a book and so I'm going to get out of it having written a book. Except, I have to admit one problem with it, this isn't my kind of book. I'm twisting the story enough to be more of my kind of thing, but it's the time limit for it that's restraining me from going all out and twisting barriers and jumping through hoops and prancing around and making every word have its own secret significance. I often started stories with the idea that everything that I mention in the first chapter would each have massive significance to the rest of the story. Writing the first page or paragraph, those words themselves would tell me exactly what this tale is about.
The werewolf one I'm currently undertaking is different, I wrote the beginning as it came to me, but I had no idea what was to happen until the next sentence arrived. And this continued for a while. I know now how it is to end (mostly) and I know the supposed primary plot, too. But this is not me through and through, I'm not twisting minds in this. I guess what I'm actually writing is more commercial than my style. I aim to be as sophisticated as I can in my books, but also keep them interesting, but I'm unsure whether it would really be shelf-worthy in itself.
Who knows, we'll just have to see! Oh, and I can't really put it off for a few days because if I start writing something else I'll dive head-first into it. And it's the time-restraint that I need to watch for. I've calculated that I need to write every day, at least 750 words, so that I can finish the first run and give myself two weeks to rewrite the whole thing! I'll continue reading throughout though, just haven't been doing so as much as usual...
To me my stories are a millions things. A picture can say a thousand words but why rush it? I create worlds that are the same or completely different from our own. I come up with characters I love, hate, hate to love and love to hate. I want to see how they stand up to the things I throw at them and I want to say things that haven't been said before. I want to encourage someone to read more when they read one of my stories, I want it to open their mind just a little bit more to the different people in the world, the ones who don't always get their stories told.
But most of all I want some to get lost in the world and people I created and for it to be an escape from whatever is happening in their life the way writing it was for me. I write things that I would love and just hope that other people might agree.
For a while I only write standard fantasy but lately I've been branching out into realism, sci-fi, historical-detectives, psychological just trying to explore new places.
I'm not sure if I'm right or anything but in my experience the best way for a book to be sophisticated is to not try too hard. Just have something worth saying, worth exploring and thinking about and the rest will follow.
But maybe that's just me.
I like your thoughts! :)
I think we're perhaps a little different in ideas on stories, though. Or maybe this is where I go wrong sometimes. I'd say that at times you should try your hardest, try and throw your brain into the biggest walls and see if it can break through and not just splat against it. I sometimes think that challenging yourself by creating almost impossible ideas and then trying to rationalise them, or at least make sense of them is at times the most fun to be had. It's a way of impressing yourself.
But at the same time, simplicity is often the key. Otherwise you're just being arrogant.
I always wrote in the world of realism, myself, but recently stuck my little toe in some fantasy. Just the one toe, though. The other four are still in the land of reality.
Glad to see you joined my group! I shall venture towards it now :)
Shaun
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