Hmm, I'd say we still live in a very moral, even moralistic world, but what counts as moral or immoral has changed radically. That's my observation, anyway.
Now that it's four years later and my novel's almost ready to publish, I can say I've gotten a little better at tightening things up. Where I'm weak now is in having too many scenes that are just dialogue, with little or no description or other narrative. Talking Heads in a White Room, yeah. I went back and fleshed out one of the worst of them, but I'm sure there are many others I've overlooked.
Speaking of your historical novels . . . I was thinking this morning about the one about the twins that starts in Kansas. When the dickens are you going to get that published? Is it published already now? I wanna read it!
As a writer in general: Burnout. A good portion of my living is made from writing, including my day gig, so I get sick of what other people assign me to write, and of writing it the way they tell me to write it, and of not owning what I write, and of other people making a lot more money off the words I write than I do. What I'm doing about it: writing fiction again and trying to get some actual hobbies. Non-fiction: See ^^^ Fiction: One of my best skills as a non-fiction writer is voice matching...which becomes a problem in fiction when a character's voice bleeds into the narration. I have to constantly monitor my fiction narration for voice and tone. ETA: I also have extremely quirky preferences as a fiction reader (I prefer slow beginnings and despise the traditional opening scenes in most modern fiction so much, skipping straight to page 3 is my M.O.), and those preferences are not what sells modern fiction. This can make the scenes I "write because I have to" read rather flat compared to the ones I'm more excited about. What I'm doing about it: a combination of practice and saying "as long as the betas like it, fuck it".
Yep, that's Brothers. The one I'm still working on. I thought it was finished a while back, till my last beta made me realise the main character's motives weren't clear to him near the end ...and that's the last thing you want to do is leave your readers unhappy at the end of the story. It's not a matter of writing, it's a matter of thinking up how I can best angle the situation so there is no misunderstanding. I haven't quite got to grips with it.
Descriptive writing, especially when it comes to settings, and the dedication to complete a novel. I'm working on them but it's a slow and dreadful process.
I guess finding names for characters and getting enough content to cram into my book. (90k words is a LOT) Rose was the last name I wanted to use for my protagonist, but it was the only one that worked and felt like it "fit". I also tend to go on tangents or do excessive exposition, or describe things that don't really matter. Dialog is also really hard for side characters as their voices are less clear in my head. As far as work ethic and motivation, I can meet my word goal of 1k words without much effort but on days when I'm tired or not feeling great, writing becomes like wringing out a dry towel. I'm also easily distracted unless I unplug my internet. Another thing is I tend to cling to scenes that were fun to write even if they are not what my book needs. Time to take old lass to the back of the shed... I'm sure there will be many more issues when serious editing starts. This is a really good thread.
The fun (ahem!) part about that, is that motivation has to be building from early on in the story. I'm sure you'll manage it.
Oh, the motivation WAS built in from the start. It's just that I bobbled its presentation near the end. I wrote a penultimate chapter I was quite fond of ...then realised I had assumed everybody would fill in the blanks as I did. Turns out not everybody did. So I need to be more precise and focused in that chapter, which means I need to change the way that chapter is presented. It's hard re-envisioning that, because in my own mind, it's carved in stone by now. Of course it's not. I am hoping the distance I've giving it will make it easier to change. I've tweaked a few bits that came earlier, to make this easier. For the past year or so I really haven't had the 'head time' I need to think about my story as much as I would like to. By head time, I mean time to myself THAT I CAN COUNT ON where nobody pesters me and I'm not dealing with other urgent issues. That's been in short supply. For the first time in my life, I don't lie awake in the morning, thinking about stories and envisioning them as I used to do—and then get up to write them. Instead, I start worrying about the day, the month, the year to come, then I get up. And when I'm up, I'm in demand nearly 24/7. It's just a change of circumstances, but I've not totally adjusted to them yet. I have plenty of time to sit at my computer to write, but no time to think in peace ...if that makes sense. I'm working on it.
I'm really not an experienced writer. At all. But I think one of my weaknesses is probably visual character description. I don't think I'm very good yet at making it sound natural and interesting, and fitting into the story harmoniously. Another is probably writing very mundane character introduction and character building scenes. Having some particular interesting plot point I think I can do, but if it's more nuance filling in the story, I have no idea where to start.
I think over explaining things, emotions and sensations take a very big place over plot and developing a narrative.
Yes, that's an interesting dilemma. I find that putting yourself in a character's shoes and envisioning them in their situation—as a writer should do—can actually be disconcerting, if you do it thoroughly enough. It's not so much that these events have happened to you, but that many readers will assume they have! I had one beta reader say my story had revealed a lot about me to him—stuff I obviously hadn't been able to talk about in real time—then went on to tell me which part of the story he meant. I had one heck of a time convincing him that this kind of event had not ever happened in my life at all, but that I had imagined it for my character as part of the plot development. I'm still not sure that he believed me! What you do unconsciously reveal about yourself, as a writer, is your attitude towards things, and your personality. The events of the story can be totally fictitious, yet 'you' will be there telling it. You put yourself in your character's shoes and tell the story as if you were that character. If these things happened to you, how would YOU react? And taking this tack will reveal yourself, if you do it honestly. Example: Let's say I have a character whose father is a stern king, who rules his country and his family with an iron hand. So my beta assumes that I grew up with a controlling father, and am working through my father 'issues' via a fictitious story. Answer: No, my actual dad was a gentle, empathetic person who lived an ordinary, low-key life, who wouldn't hurt a fly, and whom I loved dearly and was close to all his life. What I did was IMAGINE what my life would have been like if I'd been cursed with a harsh father instead. It's not the event which reveals 'me.' What reveals the real me is discovering how I would have reacted to having a coldhearted, controlling father—the exact opposite of my own real-life experience. There is a lot to be said for turning reality on its head and experiencing it from the other side. Maybe a person lives in a strict environment. Their characters are free to do as they please, which allows the author to explore that part of life he/she has not yet experienced directly. Maybe the author is in love with somebody who loves them back, and all is tickety-boo in the author's garden. So the author imagines what it would be like to be unloved. And vice versa—an unloved author imagines what it would be like to be in a loving relationship. You can write fiction that makes yourself lose what you've got in real life—or gain what you wish you had. You're scared of dogs yourself, while your main character loves dogs and owns two. You, as an author, need to imagine what it would be like to love a dog and NOT be afraid of it. You are a heterosexual person, and your main character is gay, and you need to imagine what that would be like. And vice-versa. It's a mistake to assume that an author is writing about his or her own life directly. However, the mirror/opposite thing is always interesting to explore.
Rushing. I'll mention something important once, and readers will miss it completely. 80% of my beta reader feedback has to do with confusion due to moving too fast.
Procrastination, and hitting speed bumps in my writing. Ah, ye olde curse of thee pantser. Also keeping tense is quite difficult.
Characters is my worst flaw. Sometimes they just come of as corny, or card board cut outs, or just robots with no character at all.... never seem to find the middle ground without extensive rewrites, edits, and changes.... Then there is also proofreading and self editing. I tend to just get caught up in my own story, forget I am supposed to be editing and just read it cause it catches me and I like it.....
Yeah, I had to learn about that too. Not so much that I moved too fast (the opposite is probably true) but that I obscured details that people were supposed to see AND remember. ONLY reader feedback will get this pointed out, so that's why it's so important to use beta readers. It's kinda fun to find these obscured (mentioned once) points and make a slightly bigger deal of them during the edit, so they will register and also stick in the reader's mind. Just a very mundane example. If it's important that the reader remember a minor character has blue eyes (and not brown) then don't just say they have blue eyes and pass on. The reader will not remember this. Make sure the narrator or POV character specifically notices the blueness—and maybe connects it with something else the reader will remember later on. The eyes remind the narrator of somebody else, or the deep colour makes them jealous because their own eyes are pale, or whatever. Just one extra little fillip, and the reader will remember the colour of those eyes. One clever little trick is to have the connection SEEM to mean something else at the time, so it's not a glaring pointer that says: REMEMBER ME. I'M GOING TO BE VERY IMPORTANT. Maybe the eye colour reminds the narrator of somebody else, and recalling that memory is what seems important to the story at the time. But no. The author actually wants us to remember the eye colour of this new character! Tricksy.
1. Lack of discipline. 2. Wandering mind. 3. Not listening real life characters enough. 4. Mannerism. 5. Lack of understanding some people. 6. Lousy skills in english. 7. Burning bridges by accident. What I'm gonna do about those? 1. Work 2. Work 3. Work After that I start working. Then I must keep on working. And finally I must work and work and work!
I have adult ADD, and I don't have medication for it. Believe me, it makes writing exponentially harder than it already is.
Life is a big part of writing process. (Said an autistic Finn with wife, 3 young kids & massive "repair this 100-years old house" -project.) Life does not get in the way. Life is the way. Writing is the map we are drawing while we explore our path.
Lack of discipline. Burnout. Impatience. Doubt. And there is a reason why I am reading The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass, which I have found incredibly inspiring and helpful so far. Definitely a book I will constantly be coming back to.
I think plotting is one of the things I could work on, I can start and end a story but I never am able to bridge the middle without countless hours of agony and rewrites.
My biggest weaknesses include: Coming up with scenes to take place between the big/important/actiony scenes. The characters and reader both need a breather every so often, but it's hard to come up with stuff that doesn't feel "boring". Describing architecture. FINISHING A STORY! Never finished an original story in my life (I don't count my fanfics). I hope to change that with my current project.
