Moving toward the tipping point
Feb. 26th, 2003 10:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pegkerrFrom work:
At a recent trip to the bookstore, I picked up List Your Self: Listmaking as the Way to Self-Discovery, by Ilene Segalove and Paul Bob Velick.
I note that the authors have another one out, too, called List Your Creative Self: Listmaking As the Way to Unleash Your Creativity, which I might check out in the future.
I bought the first book because thought it might prove useful if I ever have trouble thinking of something to write in my journal or LiveJournal. But it occurs to me that this might also be a very useful tool for creating characters. Sample questions:
List the brand names you by and swear by
List the tools you can’t live without
List the most exhilarating experiences you’ve ever had
List the things you’ve done to get noticed
List the things you will not tolerate, no matter what the cost
and dozens and dozens of others.
How might Solveig answer these questions, or Agnes, or Rolf or Jack? I think this might be an excellent break-block tool whenever I need it. Certainly, my characters are beginning to feel like real people to me, so I can imagine answers to some of these questions, even if they aren’t necessarily germane to the plot. This is a promising sign that I’m getting ready to start writing.
What I’m feeling out right now is, how close am I to what I call the "tipping point," the point when I can start writing this book? (Aside from the fact that my computer isn’t available right now, which I hope will be remedied this weekend). I think I’m getting quite close, because, as I’ve said, I’m beginning to think about them more and more as people, rather than as two-dimensional abstractions.
Another question is, where, exactly does this book begin? I have some hazy ideas about that, but don’t have a confident feel for what the opening scene might be. On my last two books, I agonized about this particular problem and flailed around quite a lot before I was satisfied. (I remember the writing group meeting where I presented the first draft of my opening to Emerald House Rising, which certainly included too much description. Joel Rosenberg, bless him, said acidly, "She spends three pages watching a sunset. I dunno, could you possibly start any slower?") I think, using this new method of writing mini-scenes, means that I will making a few attempts to "sneak up" on the beginning of the book, before I pin it down exactly. It all means being willing to tolerate uncertainty, something I’m not usually very good at, but I’m beginning to realize that I need to be good at if I want to be more productive.
One other realization: I recognized another gravitational pull today: Agnes reminds me quite a bit of Martha Macnamara in R.A. Macavoy’s Tea with the Black Dragon. And Solveig, don’t you know, reminds me of Elizabeth, her daughter.
Peg
At a recent trip to the bookstore, I picked up List Your Self: Listmaking as the Way to Self-Discovery, by Ilene Segalove and Paul Bob Velick.
I note that the authors have another one out, too, called List Your Creative Self: Listmaking As the Way to Unleash Your Creativity, which I might check out in the future.
I bought the first book because thought it might prove useful if I ever have trouble thinking of something to write in my journal or LiveJournal. But it occurs to me that this might also be a very useful tool for creating characters. Sample questions:
List the brand names you by and swear by
List the tools you can’t live without
List the most exhilarating experiences you’ve ever had
List the things you’ve done to get noticed
List the things you will not tolerate, no matter what the cost
and dozens and dozens of others.
How might Solveig answer these questions, or Agnes, or Rolf or Jack? I think this might be an excellent break-block tool whenever I need it. Certainly, my characters are beginning to feel like real people to me, so I can imagine answers to some of these questions, even if they aren’t necessarily germane to the plot. This is a promising sign that I’m getting ready to start writing.
What I’m feeling out right now is, how close am I to what I call the "tipping point," the point when I can start writing this book? (Aside from the fact that my computer isn’t available right now, which I hope will be remedied this weekend). I think I’m getting quite close, because, as I’ve said, I’m beginning to think about them more and more as people, rather than as two-dimensional abstractions.
Another question is, where, exactly does this book begin? I have some hazy ideas about that, but don’t have a confident feel for what the opening scene might be. On my last two books, I agonized about this particular problem and flailed around quite a lot before I was satisfied. (I remember the writing group meeting where I presented the first draft of my opening to Emerald House Rising, which certainly included too much description. Joel Rosenberg, bless him, said acidly, "She spends three pages watching a sunset. I dunno, could you possibly start any slower?") I think, using this new method of writing mini-scenes, means that I will making a few attempts to "sneak up" on the beginning of the book, before I pin it down exactly. It all means being willing to tolerate uncertainty, something I’m not usually very good at, but I’m beginning to realize that I need to be good at if I want to be more productive.
One other realization: I recognized another gravitational pull today: Agnes reminds me quite a bit of Martha Macnamara in R.A. Macavoy’s Tea with the Black Dragon. And Solveig, don’t you know, reminds me of Elizabeth, her daughter.
Peg