I saw a post on Facebook last week about creativity. Like most of the things I read on the social media platforms, it was very transitory - it floated past my eyes along with messages about book launches, pictures of people enjoying their New Year celebrations, and clips of cute cats/dogs/platypuses (well, there was only one platypus, but it was really cute). So I’m ashamed to say that the author’s name didn’t register with me - and nor, for that matter did the words themselves. But the sentiment must have stuck - as I keep coming back to it. It was a pithy comment about writers needing to stop planning and just let go, to give creativity a chance. (If anyone recognises, the quote, do let me know, I'd love to read it properly.)
I’m an inveterate planner, as anyone who read last week’s post will know. I write lists, draw up project plans, think things through in my head all the time. In fact, I’m writing a book at the moment which has a section just devoted to planning. My first novel stalled for months at chapter six until I sat down and mapped out the story in detail.
But there is a tiny part of me that wants to let go, run free, see where the words take me. The weekly Write Invite competition is a chance to do just that: thirty minutes to write on one of three themes and the best submitted wins a prize. I've won a couple of times in the past year or so, but I've ended up with a whole stock of protostories which I can then play around with to my heart's content. In fact Composition for Two Left Feet, which won first prize in the Write Stars Manchester Madness competition, started life that way.
My plans for this year include huge amounts of marketing and a lot of editing and rewriting, not the most creative of activities. So I've signed up for the 100K in 100 Days challenge as well, but unlike NaNoWriMo, I don’t plan to write anything specific. I’m dipping into a random selection of writing prompts, so I have no say in what I write about, and using this as my warm-up exercise each morning. It feels wonderful to just let go and see what happens. (I guess anyone who does the ‘morning pages’ exercise will recognise this feeling.) At the moment, I am well ahead of target and have several pieces of flash fiction and memoir waiting to be polished at some point. And, what’s more, I find I can write much faster when there’s nothing blocking or judging what’s coming out. So, that’s it for this week; I’m off now to play with my creativity.
What about you? Are you a planner or a pantser - or a bit of both?
Working on draft of novel at moment, but not sticking to normal plot approach. Finding that dipping in & out, switching between writing scenes out of order, outlining, and even writing different pieces seems to be working. Am I becoming a panting plotter? Whether I manage to complete 100k remains to be seen.
ReplyDeleteA panting plotter - what a wonderful image that brings up, Roland. I took the same approach with NaNo, when I ran out of plans at around the 20K mark and didn't want to stop the flow. I just asked myself: what scenes could these characters feature in? And all sorts of odd situations came up, which I'm going to have fun weaving together at some point.
DeleteI always plan/don't plan for a novel in the same way. I get an idea, mull it around in my head for a while, think about ways in which I can make it interesting, give it unusual twists, etc. Then I sit down and write a summary of the story, about 3 pages. Next, I tend to think about the POVs/most interesting way to do the first 3 chapters (which, of course, isn't necessarily to just tell the story from the beginning!). Next, I write four or five line summaries of the first few chapters, then get going. I change my mind and get better ideas as I go along, you see! Before I stop writing for the day, I always write a four/five line summary of the next bit to be written, because I forget stuff. Oh, and I have notes on bits of paper all over the wall in front of me! So yes - I do plot, because I think it's necessary for continuity and a concise story. But it's not cast in stone. Yes, I agree that 'letting go' is a great thing. One of the best 'indie' writers I know, Phil Conquest, really lets it all go and doesn't rein stuff in much at all, leaving that to his editor. His writing is brilliant and compelling. One of the best bits I ever wrote was in Nobody's Fault - I wrote it when I was fairly drunk! So many people have said that it actually made them cry. I cried when I wrote it, too. But that might have been because I was half cut :^D
ReplyDeleteTerry, your writing process is the same as the one that evolved when I wrote 'Gorgito's Ice Rink' but it took me several years to get to that point. I will be using the same approach for 'Counterfeit' now that I've got past NaNo, so this 'letting go' exercise is a warm up rather than a real modus operandi. I'm still an uptight, scientific planner at heart.
DeleteWhat a fun post. First, I had to look up the word "pantser" which is good now that I'm spending more time in the writing community.
ReplyDeleteDo you think it applies to blog posts too? I know I've started with an idea and sometimes I go off into tangents as research takes me down, down, down rabbit holes.
Of course, I'm delighted with the rabbit holes until I look up and I'm already at 1,000 words. Yikes! And then I'm left wondering if anyone will ever read that many words, given the shortened attention spans today. And THEN, I love all my darling details and don't want to cut any of them. Oh dear.
Yes, I'd have to say I lean in the direction of being a pantser. Thanks for this post!
Hello Leslie. It definitely does apply to blog posts. I plan a monthly pattern with book reviews, interviews, personal essays and travel writing. The PE slot is normally written at the last moment after I've walked around for days thinking 'I've got nothing to say'! As for long posts, some of mine are well over 1000 words, but if you think yours are too long, you can always split them in 2 and say 'to be continued'. Two posts for the price of one :-)
DeleteI am so glad I'm not the only one who thinks "I've got nothing to say" - which is truly odd given how verbose I am. But then, I come up to my blog post and... Blank.
DeleteI am also encouraged some of your posts are >1,000 words. I will carry on!