It's What They Said, What I Heard Friday (the 13th)! And Blogger finally enabled nesting comments and delete buttons! Will the awesome never end? Speaking of awesome (bad segue)...
What They Said:
A blank piece of paper is God's way of telling us how hard it to
be God. ~ Sidney Sheldon
What I Heard:
Creation isn't easy. Creating something completely from scratch is even harder, but you're a writer and that is what you must do. Get on it that, will you? Regards, Sid
There are precious few writers in this world (if any) who've never looked at a blank page or screen and frozen like a popsicle that's never met Katy Perry, utterly unsure how to begin or what to do next. (Oh yes, blank page syndrome can be just as paralyzing in the middle of the book. Worse, sometimes.)
The fact of the matter is that your book is a scratch-baked cake. Whether you've set your story in present day New York or on Mars in the year 2718, your world is unique.
Take the Empire State Building, for instance. It's a place we all know, either personally or through cultural osmosis. But when seen through your character's eyes, in your character's situation, it could be anything from a lover's meeting place (Sleepless in Seattle/An Affair to Remember), to the closest thing resembling a high, protective tree the big gorilla can find (King Kong).
Is your character looking at it from the POV of an assassin (high vantage point, but difficult to escape)? Or from the POV of a disabled woman in a wheelchair (nice view, but fire trap if the elevators go out)?
In the way you tell your story, even the familiar is your creation. You are the god of your story (or goddess, if you prefer), and being god ain't easy. It's both complex and persnickety, microcosmic and macrocosmic. It requires you to think of everything from the personality and appearance of the people who populate your world, to the relative coarseness of the grass and the scent it releases when they walk on it.
And it's downright impossible if you never accept the challenge, pick up your pen, and get on that bad boy.
Have you ever been paralyzed by the blank page or canvas? How did you get past it? Please share, page seventy-five is killing me.
I was just thinking about this! How films get multiple creative inputs, but for writers, it's mostly us and the page. Charles Dickens even used to stand before a mirror and act out conversations of his characters.
ReplyDeleteGood side = total control.
Bad side = it's just you and the page
My experience: My book ground to a halt recently cuz it just wasn't funny enough. I took the Lani Diane Rich "return to the magic" advice: I turned to inspirational sources / funny material / reading / TV / music / meditation about what I'm trying to do here. And 2 days ago I finally got a new idea to try out.
Very true. I can't see myself workin it in front of a mirror. I am considering taking a workshop at the conference I'm attending this year that has the whole place get up and improvise/act out their characters. It's not something I would ever normally volunteer to do, which is why I think I should do it. Not sure yet, though.
DeleteThat would be easy for me, because the character is just a version of me! You have a harder job. What conference?
DeleteMine's a 17 year old boy, so not as easy, I think. (Though, probably easier than it should be, due to my maturity level.) I'm planning on going to the NESCBWI conference in April. (I also joined SCBWI, because YA is pretty much where it's at for me. I've decided the whole adult book thing was a fluke.) I read all their workshop offerings last night and they are beyond awesome. I'm sure I'll blog about it at some point before I go.
DeleteWhat a fun idea!!
DeleteI second London Mabel's idea that you could return to the sources of inspiration. That helped me recently. But I also had to do some basic outlining, because I'd lost sight of how to get from P to Z. It's not the way I normally work, which could explain why I was lost. But it helped jump start me a little.
ReplyDeleteYou own page 75. It just doesn't know that yet.
Incidentally, I'm estimating the whole page 75 thing. I use Scrivener, which scrolls one continuous page, so I have to estimate (at which I suck). My problem right now is a cardboard character. Usually I'd just write through it and add dimension later, but it's a major character and it's severely impeding my progress. Stupid character. I'm so glad the outlining worked for you. I really want you to finish. I've already outlined and summarized, so I think it's on to brainstorming next. Hear that, character? You're in for a storm!
DeleteYeah the total control thing is good and bad. It's good cause I don't have to have stuff in there that I don't want but it's bad because I tend to over think things. Over thinking has paralyzed me before.
ReplyDeleteOver thinking can be a problem, but only if you let it paralyze you into not writing anything. If it's in your prose, well, you can always trim when you're done.
DeleteExactly! Frankly, the whole getting to be God thing was why I shifted from theater to writing. With writing, I get to control everything! Bwah-ha-hah! Yeah, it can be daunting being the only one who gets the blame when things don't work out, but being boss makes up for that. *grin*
ReplyDeleteThat's not God, that's Mad Scientist. ;)
DeleteI actually like having no one to blame but myself, because that also means I'm the best one to fix the problem. :)
I HAVE, in fact, faced a blank page, as well as a blank sheet of graph paper when I was asked to design a custom cross stitch piece. I did the whole "distract" thing (oops, I guess that should be "inspiration" in this case), and went for a snack, read the paper, or I'll read a book if that's handy (ha, like they ever are NOT handy). I think listening to music would also be helpful, it has been in the past for simply improving my mood.
ReplyDeleteJulie
Listening to music works wonders for me. It's amazing how hearing the theme of your book in a song can get the mind churning in all the right ways.
DeleteYes, I have been paralyzed. And it all came because it had been too long since I'd been drafting (I had spent months on editing only), and I was out of practice. I actually ended up getting over it by working on a continuation of another project (so I wasn't facing a blank page so much), which got me over my rustiness. Then I was able to face the blank page a little more.
ReplyDeleteSo cool about the nested comments! But sigh. I guess I have to give up my pop-up window to get them.
That's a good method, Peggy. I have a large store of half-done short stories (started as writing exercises) that I use for that purpose. It's a great mental lubricant.
DeleteI'm willing to give up the pop-up window, mostly because I didn't like it in the first place. My husband, on the other hand, is apoplectic at the absence of the pop-up. :)
i have indeed suffered from that...in a different world, but both involve pens :) tobe honest, the only thing that gets me thru it is my deadline...i try real hard to think of things and put it off and then the customer starts calling.....and i force it. not much help for pg 75 :)
ReplyDeleteOH and i got a book for Christmas...it has NO pictures AND i have read the intro AND chapter one :) yes. a parade is in order.
i thought you'd be proud of me :D
-magoo
You and I have much in common. This is why I set deadlines for myself.
DeleteDo I get to know the name of this book, or are you just going to dangle that carrot forever? I'll have the kids march around the house shaking maracas in your honor. :)
Also, does the name/URL option not work for you? Why are you showing up anonymous all the time?
Thanks D! woot!!
ReplyDeleteThe book is Gospel by JD Greere. I go to his church in NC when i visit my friends and i LOVE HIM! He put out this book last fall about how we need to be more focused on the Gospel and NOT our religious titles. He is amazing and it is just awesome to know that someone that i view as so grounded in Christ struggles like the rest of us. He. is. amazing. Check out his sermons http://www.summitrdu.com/
i am anonymous cuz i mostly check up on you at work and i just don't sign into blogger. and ilike to keep you on ur toes :)
-magoo!
Nonfiction?!? One of these days I'm going to get you to pick up a novel. Baby steps, I suppose. ;) But, seriously, the Name/URL option allows you to put your name in the first slot, your website in the next, and off you go.(And it will link your name back to your site, which is always good.)
Delete