07-30-2012, 07:28 PM | #1 |
Wizard
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Torture!!
Found this quote recently
"Writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives." -James Joyce And "Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." -E. L. Doctorow The second one I fully agree with, btw. src: http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2012/...-writing/Power |
07-30-2012, 08:33 PM | #2 | |
écureuil secret
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Quote:
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07-30-2012, 09:14 PM | #3 |
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The two main schools of thought about novel writing are (1) Carefully plan the outline chapter by chapter, scene by scene; (2) Start with a character/situation and see what happens.
From my unscientific surveys, (2) is far and away most popular method of the world's greatest authors. I think Doctorow was referring to this method. |
07-30-2012, 11:22 PM | #4 |
Grand Sorcerer
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I rather think Mr. Doctorow was referring to the fact that while an author may know where they are starting from and where they wish to be at the end of a story or novel that said author never quite knows where they will go inbetween. Even with an outline that says x happens then y happens etc. it is possible (even probable) that the course of the story or novel will veer off from that rough plan. I mean if you are planning a road trip from say NY to LA and you know how much gas it will take and what the main routes are you can still find yourself having to detour round construction or an accident etc. so that the route you planned for and the route you ultimately take aren't exactly the same one. The same goes for writing a story or novel I would think.
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07-31-2012, 06:34 AM | #5 | |
Wizard
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Quote:
That is what I see in that quote at least. |
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07-31-2012, 09:42 AM | #6 | |
Chasing Butterflies
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Quote:
My current WIP is a 4-book, 80-chapter piece that has been meticulously outlined from start to finish. I may find surprises along the way, of course, but I have more of a road map than just me headlights. Still, different strokes, different folks. |
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07-31-2012, 03:05 PM | #7 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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Quote:
My writing is like driving a car during the day: I can see right to the horizon; and as long as my map will get me where I want to go, I'm good. |
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08-02-2012, 05:02 AM | #8 |
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RE: AllOBD2.com
I only agree with the sec too.
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08-02-2012, 07:50 AM | #9 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
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"Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the
writer's loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day." -- Ernest Miller Hemingway "In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots the answer and ask yourself; must I write?" - Rainer Maria Rilke "A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity." - Franz Kafka Everything goes by the board: honor, pride, decency...to get the book written. If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate; the "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is worth any number of old ladies. - William Faulkner |
08-02-2012, 09:36 AM | #10 |
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Those aren't writers... they're fanatics.
Not every writer is like that, not even the good ones. |
08-02-2012, 09:44 PM | #11 |
Currently without a title
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I'll pick writing in English any day over writing in French.
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08-03-2012, 07:37 AM | #12 |
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08-03-2012, 08:08 AM | #13 |
Wizard
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Well my native tongue is American English, so of course it seems the easiest to me to work worth. I think if I moved to another country and spent 15 years there reading/writing/speaking their language primarily, my opinion of the "easiest" one might change.
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08-03-2012, 09:50 AM | #14 |
Zealot
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"If in doubt, add more spaceships and explosions"
-Me |
08-03-2012, 12:05 PM | #15 |
temp. out of service
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LMB said: Challenge the characters near the point of breakdown and see how they come out of it.
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