by Janis Susan
May/Janis Patterson
There are some days that the words just flow from your fingers
to the paper in a wonderful flood, pristine and clear and perfect - paragraphs
that are marvels of clarity and inspired writing, the kind of writing that wins
awards and tops best seller lists. Okay, it doesn't happen often, but when it
does it is wonderful and you know that writing is the absolute best career you
could have.
Magical times like this tend to make you forget the hours
you have spent dragging out prose word by painful word, and the only thing that
stops you from going mad with the delete button (or in particularly bad cases,
highlight-and-delete) is the certain knowledge that nothing you could do (at
the moment, at least) would be any better. Those are the times you secretly
wonder if you would have been better off becoming a plumber.
Even as wonderful as those moments of inspiration are, they
can cause a problem. Suddenly you realize you failed to put in an absolutely
essential piece of information - but your writing is so tight there's no way
you can put it in without having to re-write great chunks of what followed, and
that will ruin your beautiful prose - or at the very least necessitate some heavy
rewriting. In other words, you have written yourself into a corner.
Decisions, decisions!
Of course you do what is best for your story, whether it is
to put the absolutely essential piece of information in and then try to make
the rest of scene work, or try to find a place and a logical way later on to
put that piece of information.
Neither is going to be easy.
There are other ways to write yourself into a corner.
Someone absolutely has to be there in this scene, but you remember he also has
to be someplace far away and hard to reach at the exact same time. You have
constructed your book based on certain things happening on certain dates, then
realize that can't happen because of something historical - and you don't want
to be one of those lazy writers who ignores historical fact, do you? (If you are,
leave now because I don't want to talk to you.)
See? There are any number of ways to write yourself into a
corner... just as there are any number of ways that, with skill and
perseverance and hard work, you can't write yourself out of. Of course, it
would be much easier to not write yourself into a corner, but sometimes it's so
hard not to when the words are flowing and there is that whole air of magic
hanging over your work.
And it's not that bad being in the corner. I know, because I
spend a lot of time in that corner, so be sure to say hello when you get here.
Yes, all true. Painfully familiar. This is why I'm glad I'm a slow writer. I have time to figure things out before I'm too far down in the hole.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wish I took it a little slower.
ReplyDeleteI can so relate to that corner, Susan. Years ago I wrote a book where the full moon had important significance. When I read my finished first draft, I realized I'd lost an entire week in my story. I was able to fix it, but ever since I keep a log of events in my story, especially if the moon features in the action.
ReplyDeleteEven when we start with a rough plot outline, this can happen. I've had a few instances myself and been forced to do some major rewrites.
ReplyDeleteA painful experience, but another way to look at it: the view from the corner is always the widest. Who knows what you might discover.
ReplyDeleteI have been going through a long dry patch – I know I should be writing, my husband asked me every day if I have and to be able to answer honestly, I scribble notes or sometimes change a sentence. Occasionally, I do work and get hundreds of words on paper or on screen. Self-publishing has this one huge pitfall-no one is waiting for your latest endeavor at the editor’s office…
ReplyDeleteAll the same, corners and boxes and brown paper bags are all part of the wild territory of our profession. Confinement can work in our favor. I rarely outline, but I do usually have storyline. It's the gaps between start and finish...