I think there must necessarily—or at least there is very often—an oddness before parturition. There is a fullness, a discomfort, a readiness to burst forth from the bud.
You sound much more on than off. I feel the process you express because you used the most expressive words and put them in a delightful order. Words have become so much more since the world went to hell. I appreciate writers much more than ever in my life and I’ve always been an avid reader. Thank you for the sharing the spirit of a writer with us. We depend on you all to help us create our new reality. Put out some beautiful thoughts and motivate us to elevate our thoughts, deeds and all that are slowly manifesting our future.
I agree Sammie, not feeling off in these times would be a bigger reason for concern. Hearing you, I think you will like the new story. It starts in 2042 and ends thirty years later. An unexpected manifestation in great detail....
Thanks Nathan, I find diving into the very American style approach to storytelling totally fascinating at the moment. Feels like a reversed approach, like backwards engineering. Reminding me a lot of the black magic advertising applies.
Seeing how conditioned readers are by now, I see it as a great experiment to see what happens if I follow 'the rules' of genre writing but still allow the 'spirit' to lead the way. Which feels like the perfect framework/limitation for creativity to thrive. Up to now I have always written scenes and chapters first and then tried to see what their 'function' was, what elements were in there. And that was never very clear, and almost impossible to reshape.
Now I start with the movement, the starting point and where I want to end up. I can do that. It is channelling the creative energy. And this works amazingly well. Especially with the bigger arc of the story in place. Over the years I have learned to write, I can fill the pages, come up with twists, turns, slings and arrows. But I never concerned myself much with capturing the reader. Now I will make sure to lovingly grab them, and not let go before the last word on the last page.
I think I still find myself falling into the same process as your former method. Scenes, vignettes etc are what I am drawn to writing, even though I want that larger arc. That sort of seed-sowing approach has been what I have been drawn to, but I can certainly see the merits of starting with the arc structure and filling in the details.
Dear Bertus, there are three stomachs in a cow...and trimesters to a pregnancy...honour to your noticing! retreat to birth your new form in this your last trimester. Your retreat is wise as you will need all your energy. Get cosy and warm for the final push.
Your writing is always compelling and beautiful and meaning full to me - you convey your inner world with such clarity, that even if you feel off, you are sure on about the process, you have trust in being offline, off grid, off brand and feeling blue. I also had a strong memory of fully grown cows who had escaped wondering through our place where I grew up in the country, the enormity of them seen up close, and this came to mind reading your description. I must admit to not even knowing who or what you were referring to with Joey and Donny - Oh! now in writing that down I get it - hehe! So I am mostly off line and off beat too - I tune out so I can tune in to the good stuff. it's one of benefits of collapse acceptance.
Thank you so much...a lot of the StF course (both of them) is seeping into this new book. And I will need alpha readers somewhere the coming months......?
I talked with Andrew last night (my partner) about possibility of reading your drafts together and giving feedback, only cause he has probably read more fiction than anyone I know - litterally thousands of books, and that has got to help with knowing how to edit / structure a story! I thought it might be a fun activity to do together as well. Open to having a chat about this. Rxx
I'm sorry you feel this way. I'm sure everyone did, at one time here. It's live real life, everything will not be handed to you. There is a LOT of competition here. Just read the articles where people will show you how to be a great writer and pull the attention that you need to be successful. Check out the people with the orange dots by their names. They are top sellers here on Substack. Maybe they will give you a few pointers.
I think there must necessarily—or at least there is very often—an oddness before parturition. There is a fullness, a discomfort, a readiness to burst forth from the bud.
Thank you for sharing where you’re at, Bertus.
Yes, part of me is woman. Love your words, thank you Holly...
I get that. Part of me is man.
You sound much more on than off. I feel the process you express because you used the most expressive words and put them in a delightful order. Words have become so much more since the world went to hell. I appreciate writers much more than ever in my life and I’ve always been an avid reader. Thank you for the sharing the spirit of a writer with us. We depend on you all to help us create our new reality. Put out some beautiful thoughts and motivate us to elevate our thoughts, deeds and all that are slowly manifesting our future.
I agree Sammie, not feeling off in these times would be a bigger reason for concern. Hearing you, I think you will like the new story. It starts in 2042 and ends thirty years later. An unexpected manifestation in great detail....
With you, Bertus. I feel a lot the same.
Enjoy hearing about your process, please do keep sharing. Exciting to hear you're making big strides into your book.
Thanks Nathan, I find diving into the very American style approach to storytelling totally fascinating at the moment. Feels like a reversed approach, like backwards engineering. Reminding me a lot of the black magic advertising applies.
Seeing how conditioned readers are by now, I see it as a great experiment to see what happens if I follow 'the rules' of genre writing but still allow the 'spirit' to lead the way. Which feels like the perfect framework/limitation for creativity to thrive. Up to now I have always written scenes and chapters first and then tried to see what their 'function' was, what elements were in there. And that was never very clear, and almost impossible to reshape.
Now I start with the movement, the starting point and where I want to end up. I can do that. It is channelling the creative energy. And this works amazingly well. Especially with the bigger arc of the story in place. Over the years I have learned to write, I can fill the pages, come up with twists, turns, slings and arrows. But I never concerned myself much with capturing the reader. Now I will make sure to lovingly grab them, and not let go before the last word on the last page.
I think I still find myself falling into the same process as your former method. Scenes, vignettes etc are what I am drawn to writing, even though I want that larger arc. That sort of seed-sowing approach has been what I have been drawn to, but I can certainly see the merits of starting with the arc structure and filling in the details.
Looking forward to it!
Apologies for the spam replies. Substack was claiming errors whenever I tried to reply, but it seemed they all went through!
Dear Bertus, there are three stomachs in a cow...and trimesters to a pregnancy...honour to your noticing! retreat to birth your new form in this your last trimester. Your retreat is wise as you will need all your energy. Get cosy and warm for the final push.
Haha, thank you Boo. Yes, lots of spirit contributed by the holy cow.
Funny, in the first act of my story, methane plays an important role...
Your writing is always compelling and beautiful and meaning full to me - you convey your inner world with such clarity, that even if you feel off, you are sure on about the process, you have trust in being offline, off grid, off brand and feeling blue. I also had a strong memory of fully grown cows who had escaped wondering through our place where I grew up in the country, the enormity of them seen up close, and this came to mind reading your description. I must admit to not even knowing who or what you were referring to with Joey and Donny - Oh! now in writing that down I get it - hehe! So I am mostly off line and off beat too - I tune out so I can tune in to the good stuff. it's one of benefits of collapse acceptance.
Thank you so much...a lot of the StF course (both of them) is seeping into this new book. And I will need alpha readers somewhere the coming months......?
I talked with Andrew last night (my partner) about possibility of reading your drafts together and giving feedback, only cause he has probably read more fiction than anyone I know - litterally thousands of books, and that has got to help with knowing how to edit / structure a story! I thought it might be a fun activity to do together as well. Open to having a chat about this. Rxx
I'm sorry you feel this way. I'm sure everyone did, at one time here. It's live real life, everything will not be handed to you. There is a LOT of competition here. Just read the articles where people will show you how to be a great writer and pull the attention that you need to be successful. Check out the people with the orange dots by their names. They are top sellers here on Substack. Maybe they will give you a few pointers.
Good luck in your endeavors.
-Lique
Thank you Lique, very kind words.
You are welcome 🙂