Self-Bribery

Let me tell you a little bit about my fiction writing process.

Unlike some writers, I don't like outlining plots and characters and such before I get underway. I tend to feel stifled by outlines. I know they're just an organizational device, but they sort of put my imagination on lockdown. Once the character is created, I tend to make some notes just to ensure they don't change stats mid-plot, but that's it.

A lot of my stories have come from fragments of crazy dreams I've had or spun off from other stories I've attempted that didn't work. Sometimes I have to wait for a section of a story to "come to me." I don't want to write for writing's sake - I fear that's why so many stories make a reader feel like, "Haven't I read this already?"

That is precisely why I've been working on one particular novella for 6 1/2 years. In fact, I originally began the piece for a certain quarterly contest. That contest has another deadline on 9/30 and I'm really trying to get it done this time.

I spent a lot of time refining the story last week and now I need to put an ending on it. The ending is ALWAYS hard for me, whether we're talking about a dry, boring critical analysis of some snippet of Wordsworth, or a one-page opinion on Lindsay Lohan's black leggings.

I have to make myself a promise here...if I finish the piece in question and get it postmarked on time, I'm buying myself a laser printer (pending employment...).

Posted by Tiffany at September 13, 2006 08:53 PM | TrackBack