Softness
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
NaNoWriMo is coming up soon! And it sparked my curiosity. Have you ever taken part in NaNo or a similar writing marathon in order to help you crunch through a project? What sorts of techniques have you used to push through with your writing? ^^ -Kalli
Lois McMaster Bujold
Nope, such a thing is not for me. In the old days, impending running-out-of-money was enough to keep me focused, if sometimes frantic. Nowadays the pressures are internal, mainly a work demanding its own completion.
I get stuck regularly, and shoving through is not usually a good idea. It just results in me trying to write Wrong Things, which my backbrain perfectly well knows are wrong or the vision-spigot would not have shut down so firmly.
Although "keeping at it" is required, the process is oblique. Sometimes it means backing off for a bit till the well refills, especially if I have just written out the last spate and have to stop and take stock. Other times it means I need to do some more research of some sort, import the key idea or notion that unlocks the present puzzle. Talking out the plot snag with certain friends also sometimes helps, if not directly, stirring things up, brainstorming, what Pat Wrede calls "plot noodling".
I am a sort of mini-burst writer, with the bursts being, generally, one scene long. The vision of the scene comes up in my head -- one scene being all it can hold at a time -- and I marshal it up for the march by making a quick draft in penciled notes to nail the spine and structure and good bits, choreograph the dialogue, and so on. If I am interrupted after this point, I won't lose it. I sometimes wait a few hours or a day to let anything else slot in or shift. Take the notes to the computer and get it down, lather, rinse, repeat. I generally need to know what just came before the scene under construction (which is easy because I've already written it) and what comes after, so it will be aimed in the right direction and come out in the right place for the transition to the Next Bit.
Ta, L.
I get stuck regularly, and shoving through is not usually a good idea. It just results in me trying to write Wrong Things, which my backbrain perfectly well knows are wrong or the vision-spigot would not have shut down so firmly.
Although "keeping at it" is required, the process is oblique. Sometimes it means backing off for a bit till the well refills, especially if I have just written out the last spate and have to stop and take stock. Other times it means I need to do some more research of some sort, import the key idea or notion that unlocks the present puzzle. Talking out the plot snag with certain friends also sometimes helps, if not directly, stirring things up, brainstorming, what Pat Wrede calls "plot noodling".
I am a sort of mini-burst writer, with the bursts being, generally, one scene long. The vision of the scene comes up in my head -- one scene being all it can hold at a time -- and I marshal it up for the march by making a quick draft in penciled notes to nail the spine and structure and good bits, choreograph the dialogue, and so on. If I am interrupted after this point, I won't lose it. I sometimes wait a few hours or a day to let anything else slot in or shift. Take the notes to the computer and get it down, lather, rinse, repeat. I generally need to know what just came before the scene under construction (which is easy because I've already written it) and what comes after, so it will be aimed in the right direction and come out in the right place for the transition to the Next Bit.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Talli Ruksas
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Did you write Ethan and Labyrinth at the same time? Ethan clearly comes first but Elli mentions an 8 foot tall bioengineered super soldier in it. Was it your decision or GG's that Enrique should lose his Escobaran accent? I suppose he could have lost it in the 4 years between ACC and Flowers...
Gard Evyr
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Lois, what is your personal favorite cover of all your books' covers, and why? Maybe you might demur on the question out of fear of inadvertently disparaging some artist or another, but it doesn't have to be the cover with the best art per se, but simply your own personal favorite for what might be a sentimental or personal reason?
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