tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32085591.post7634906713181475771..comments2023-11-07T21:12:19.852-06:00Comments on Wyrdsmiths: Writing Yourself Into a Cornertate hallawayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06631759014508937940noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32085591.post-53510895703396369142007-04-04T11:54:00.000-05:002007-04-04T11:54:00.000-05:00I forget who said this, but some screenwriting gur...I forget who said this, but some screenwriting guru said that the key to becoming a really good writer was becoming fearless at redreaming the dream, in revision. <BR/><BR/>For a really intuitive writer- and this is its own special cross to bear, argh - since you essentially skip full drafts by doing fiddly things that don't seem like writing, it invariably ends up happening in the middle of the big push, in a serious piece (not the fiddly distraction stories so much).<BR/><BR/>I'm not surprised at how the storyline you've ended up with is the classic romance novel storyline - the nice guy is who the reader has to come back to and be able to embrace when the novel ends. It's a powerful metaphor, and hanging in the stars right now too. Trust your instincts; works every time.<BR/><BR/>-CJDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32085591.post-84114471041369407852007-04-04T10:43:00.000-05:002007-04-04T10:43:00.000-05:00This is from a lecture from one of my Loft clases:...This is from a lecture from one of my Loft clases:<BR/><BR/>The trick isn't not writing yourself into corners, it's learning how to write yourself back out of them. Don't fear the corners, think of them as opportunities and plunge on. Everyone writes themselves into corners.<BR/><BR/>I did it on Chalice - the climax scene has to be a surprise, but because of the nature of theater and the setup I had to show Robin gathering the artists necessary and rehearsing his final show. Too often what a writer does here is to say "here's my plan" and then cut away. This is cheating and it drives readers batty. So I had to find some other way to deal with it. It took effort and thought and some careful bending of the reality of putting on a show (with magical justification built in), but I managed it by continuing to write. In some ways I think I produced a better conclusion for the story by getting stuck. <BR/><BR/>If the writer doesn't see a way out of the corner when they get there, chances are good that the reader won't either, and that's what you want, a reader who doesn't know what's going to happen next, but who wants to know. Writing yourself into a corner is an opportunity to heighten reader impact.Kelly McCulloughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06399122960869198042noreply@blogger.com