A Sketch Ain’t Worth a Thousand Words

[scribblemyname]

So I just remembered/realized why I love writing flash fiction and have such a hard time getting it to pass muster with my awesome, wonderful, incredibly stick-me-to-it beta: I write sparse. Always have; probably always will. Oh, joy.

In short, I’m one of those odd and rare writers that sketches in a story and, if I’m wise enough to not consider it done, fill it in later. This usually takes a lot of filling and it’s a pain in the butt and I’m often bored with the exercise long before the exercise is bored with me. Cue beta shipping it back to me with a note telling me to “Bake it longer, chica.” :headdesk:

This is also probably where my major problem with novel-writing is coming from, and it certainly stems from all my time mucking around in fandom where I can play off a certain set of standard assumptions. I’ll be the first to admit (in fact, I already did somewhere) that “Crossing the Barrier” could have been deepened quite a bit. I was nowhere near ready to tackle that kind of work though, didn’t have enough interest in the story left to want to, and knew that the story worked without it. So I didn’t. It probably would have been good practice.

What about you? Do you write long or short? Do you have to layer in details later or trim the fat?

Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[trovia.livejournal.com]

I write both. My style seems to be pretty compatible with all lengths. Though I do try to keep it... efficient (if anything, I probably write too little when I should have spent more time on explaining it. But in many cases, it's more of a matter of "I should have laid this out step by step, in individual scenes, instead of expecting the audience to just get the development instinctively. That's more of a plot problem than a style problem). I enjoy a good visual, a good description, but I'm careful about interrupting my story for description. The best experiences I've had as a beta have been with writers who feel that they're too verbose. Because I'm ruthless about cutting, and I'll cross out anything from a single adjective to a whole chapter. Cutting makes me happy, be it my own fic or other people's. It makes me feel strangely accomplished.

Would you mind some constructive criticism? I'd been looking at your ebooks on Amazon. I haven't read any yet, but I noticed that your summaries gave me trouble. I didn't get a full enough idea of what kind of story I'm about to purchase, considering this is Amazon where you get all kinds of stories in all kinds of genres about any number of things. What's the genre? What's this universe this is set in, that gets mentioned? Does this mean I should read another story first? Maybe you might want to keep an eye on that? Keeping in mind people who know nothing about your writing but the summary of a given story. People might decide not to buy it because they don't get a good enough idea of whether this would interest them. :) And that would be a shame. Also a problem of sparse writing, right?

[scribblemyname]

Love constructive criticism, even if I sometimes hate the reality that I need it. (I AM human.) I can write a basic summary for a lot of things, but lately, it's been about a hundred times harder than usual, and I have always had a strong tendency to at least just get something done and out there!

Thanks for letting me know. That IS something I need to fix pronto. I know from experience the difference the right cover or summary can make.

I'm thinking I'm going to need to hire a summary writer, even if it's only with free copies and fanfiction or hugs on the side!

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

You probably know from my writing that I'm always erring on the side of too much detail. On the one hand I think that comes from years of roleplay where everything had to be spelled out. But honestly, I'd rather cut things (or be told to cut things from a story) than to have to go back and add them in after the fact. It's a curious phenomenon, but when I'm done with a thing, I'm done with it and I don't want to go back and revisit it too much; I lack the motivation for that so often because my brain says "done" and that's that.

I think you would do well to work on something longer with a collaborator. Someone who's new and fresh and can pick your brain for ideas -- see what's in your thoughts -- and do the nasty-for-you business of fleshing things out. Of course, egos being what they are, then you'd have to share the bounty, but imagine the stories that could come of it.

I write long, and I like to write sequentially because going back and filling in the middle later on rarely works for me. I can know how a story ends, but I don't want to write that ending until the rest of it has taken shape. For me it's an organic process; I don't use outlines and I don't like to plan things. I'm one of those people who likes the characters to fill me in as I go along. I don't get flashes of a complete thing and say "aha, steps a-b-c." I usually just get flashes of a character and have no idea what to do with them until I sit down and write. Or, as people like to say, sit down and let them dictate.

[scribblemyname]

"...honestly, I'd rather cut things (or be told to cut things from a story) than to have to go back and add them in after the fact."

Most writers are like this. It's why it makes it a pain that from the time I first tried writing at four years old, I was already doing it the opposite way.

"It's a curious phenomenon, but when I'm done with a thing, I'm done with it and I don't want to go back and revisit it too much; I lack the motivation for that so often because my brain says "done" and that's that."

I don't think it's curious at all. I'm EXACTLY like that. I just HAVE to go back, as you well know, or my beta will never be satisfied. Sometimes I catch myself wanting to crawl under the covers and whine if my disciplined muse tries to drag me back out. New story? Great! The same one a tenth time? Gah! Silly me. :shakes head at self:

I like how you let the story unroll ahead of you. It's one of my favorite ways to write. I get to know my characters by playing them out in mental stories before setting them to paper, but I've always theorized that if you have real characters in a defined premise with a defined set of world rules, everything that follows is inevitable, if thoroughly unpredictable.

I remember when I first wrote the one novel I did finish and have out to a publisher (under a different name), it constantly surprised me on how it flipped my imagined timelines around, altered relationships a bit, and played out differently but so like the story on the page. I love that kind of writing. It resonates with your original desire but surprises.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite (although kind of annoying) things is when I go into a story knowing who the protagonist is and some low-life scumbag OTHER character steals the spotlight.

It happens pretty much all the time. Then again, no one goes through life thinking "oh, I'm a minor character." They're all the stars of their own show, at least in their minds and in their own world-view, and merit as much exploration as the darling ones do. Then again, all my stuff is intensely character-driven, rather than plot- or idea-driven, so it makes sense.

[scribblemyname]

:giggles: Well, I won't call Annie a scumbag, but I certainly didn't intend to make her the lead. Gotta love characters. They don't really care about what we minion authors desire. :grins:

[pygmymuse.livejournal.com]

I find I write long. A couple of recent things came in under fifty thousand words and made me blink in confusion because the plot seemed done, but the length surprised me.

Fanfiction was a bad influence on me, too, in the terms of description. I have a story where I described everything and had clear and perfect detail. I started to skimp on it more and more as I spent longer in fanfiction, and I've only recently been getting that swing back again.

I have rarely been told to cut anything. Because my main love is by-play between characters (usually dialogue), I am weaker at description. I also let the characters tell the story, so the pace can get ahead of all that's going on. So I usually have to go back and fix things. I find that I enjoy editing in layers, going back and adding a bit as I read it over. I find it's a good way to get back into stories I've let sit for a while, to reestablish myself in the world and find the characters' voices.

[scribblemyname]

I got a lot of good things out of fanfiction too, but the primary problem is it only exacerbated my tendency to sketch, since I didn't HAVE to fill things in any more. Ugh. One bad habit to break. Working on the swing, but so far, I'm not impressed with myself.

I've never been told to cut anything really; my sister's always reminding me that allowing a few filler words makes the reading experience a lot easier.

I think I'm going try your editing approach. That's something I've never done much of, but it looks like it's a skill I could stand to learn. :shakes head ruefully at self: