Projects suck.
Remember those days of Monster energy drink fueled High School when we got a ridiculous assignment about some ridiculous thing we'd never need to know later in life? (Hi Ecology chart of rain water and acidic content.) We'd get a pretty little sheet saying exactly what was needed to be in it for that shiny A guaranteed to save you from community college and its rifraff the councellors kept trying to scare you with to pay for the big pricey colleges where 'nothing bad happened.' (Except learning to binge drink, wake up next to someone you don't remember from the night before, and possibly explore the dark halls for pot.)
Anyway, I'm trailing.
Those pretty little project they had us do had a set-up. They had a start, middle, finish, and enough filler content inbetween to remind you of a piece of pie. You didn't need much thought to complete them since everything was already pre-laid out for you.
Somedays I wish writing was like that.
Don't get me wrong, I love writing, almost as much as I love decorating cupcakes only to watch half of them fall on the floor Thanksgiving day. There's a neat sense of person to opening a document or notebook, imagining people up and watching them get the living hell kicked into them. But every now and then I get a little frustrated, and High School is partly to blame.
Writing doesn't have everything laid out for you. You have to figure out the beginning, middle, finish and filler (and how much of it) to get that shiny A to prove to everyone who's paying 40k a year for college that you took the better road and didn't go off to college.
To me, writing is like one big picture, framed on a lovely matte background and signed. You know the sky is blue-ish purple, and you know the grass is sea grass and not grass-grass but you don't know what house is in the center of the shot. Colonial, Victorian, Modern? So many choices, so little time.
It's okay, though. This is why they invented sticky notes. And multi-colored sharpies.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A Brush of Fire (Black Symphony Saga, #2) (First Draft)
Alacrity (Illumine, #4) (Second Draft)
Lucid Echelon (Dream Chronicles, #1) (First Draft)
Alacrity (Illumine, #4) (Second Draft)
Lucid Echelon (Dream Chronicles, #1) (First Draft)
Popular Posts
Categories
alivia anders
illumine
obumbrate
illumine series
blog
YA
giveaway
young adult
cover reveal
facebook
Twitter
NaNoWriMo
A Shard of Ice
goodreads
riven
book cover
the illumine series
Black Symphony Saga
Harry Potter
ebook
guest blog
paperback edition
/twitch
TIS
blog tour
book release
paranormal
teaser tuesday
teasers
writing
amazon
i am a reader not a writer
kindle
procrastinating
unwanted
Writer's block
blog hop
bloggers
book
fantasy
launch party
sneak peek
#whoislilix
ASoI
PARTY TIME
book reviews
bookmarks
new book
pre-order
rafflecopter
reading away the days
Author interview
Blogger
Lilix
TBSS
Tumblr
angels
authors
best ya cover 2012
book trailer
collaborations
collaborations page
editing
essallie
magic
nephilim
new layout
paypal
preview
reviews
spoilers
youtube
Blog Archive
-
▼
2012
(70)
-
▼
January
(10)
- Five Reasons Why This Tuesday Is Awesome!
- The iBooks Author Low Down
- Author Interview!
- Paperback Cover for Illumine!
- My Creative Process is Messed. Up.
- Everyone Loves a Giveaway!
- It's HERE! ILLUMINE is here!
- When A Writer Forgets Her Notes EVERYTHING EXPLODES
- Illumine has been added to Goodreads!
- Why Holidays & Writers Don't Mix
-
▼
January
(10)
Recent Posts
Powered by Blogger.
Great post - and I think you've nailed precisely what writing's like! The issue is converting how we think and imagine - which is pretty much 'simultaneous' - into the single linear thread that writing must be. Hard, hard, hard. And yeah - sharpies, notepads, even spreadsheets, all help hone that thinking down. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMatthew Wright
http://mjwrightnz.wordpress.com
www.matthewwright.net