Ask the Author: Diana Dempsey
Answered Questions (2)
Diana Dempsey
What a good question! The answer that springs to mind is this ...
My mom passed away five years ago. Among her papers I found some articles she'd carefully clipped and saved for many years. They're in Polish, her first language. (She was born in the US, in Garfield Heights, Ohio, in a predominantly Polish neighborhood, and did not begin to learn English until she began school at age four.)
This is a classic mystery set-up, I believe: mysterious papers discovered upon the death of a loved one. One day, I vow, I will have those articles translated. And who knows? Perhaps I may find a novel there ...
My mom passed away five years ago. Among her papers I found some articles she'd carefully clipped and saved for many years. They're in Polish, her first language. (She was born in the US, in Garfield Heights, Ohio, in a predominantly Polish neighborhood, and did not begin to learn English until she began school at age four.)
This is a classic mystery set-up, I believe: mysterious papers discovered upon the death of a loved one. One day, I vow, I will have those articles translated. And who knows? Perhaps I may find a novel there ...
Diana Dempsey
I've never been a big believer in writer's block. True, some days the words flow more easily than others. But even though I love writing and find it deeply gratifying, every time I sit down to write, it's work.
That said, if I'm having more than the usual trouble with a scene, it's probably for one of two reasons. The scene is either just plain hard or it's unnecessary.
In the "just plain hard" category, some scenes are simply more difficult to write than others. Perhaps they're more emotional, or the emotions are complex and nuanced and hence difficult to convey. Usually scenes at the beginning of a novel are tougher, perhaps because I'm introducing characters I need to nail down for the first time. With those scenes, I just have to work longer and harder to get it right.
But sometimes if I'm having trouble, it's because I'm writing a scene I just don't need. Eventually I realize that's why a scene seems flabby or pointless or lacks power: it shouldn't be there. Sometimes for me, boot kicking a scene is the way to solve a writing problem.
That said, if I'm having more than the usual trouble with a scene, it's probably for one of two reasons. The scene is either just plain hard or it's unnecessary.
In the "just plain hard" category, some scenes are simply more difficult to write than others. Perhaps they're more emotional, or the emotions are complex and nuanced and hence difficult to convey. Usually scenes at the beginning of a novel are tougher, perhaps because I'm introducing characters I need to nail down for the first time. With those scenes, I just have to work longer and harder to get it right.
But sometimes if I'm having trouble, it's because I'm writing a scene I just don't need. Eventually I realize that's why a scene seems flabby or pointless or lacks power: it shouldn't be there. Sometimes for me, boot kicking a scene is the way to solve a writing problem.
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