Irregular Times Diaries: Unfit Discussion
In a time of the spring, old paths are obscured and new growth begins.
Irregular Times Diaries: Unfit DiscussionIn a time of the spring, old paths are obscured and new growth begins.
I’ve discovered myself during National Novel Writing Month. The exercise has helped me figure out with a bit more detail exactly who I am. I am… a person who is not really interested in writing fiction. I love to read fiction, and I love to write non-fiction. I thought the two would somehow combine into an interest in writing fiction. But no, no dice! I’ve been writing fiction for the past three days and it’s like driving a car with a really messed-up alignment. I keep on veering back into non-fiction. I’m writing little non-fiction passages from fictional non-fiction books inside my novel, and those are the parts of writing my “novel” that I enjoy the most. Getting back to the story and the plot and character development is so boring to me compared to that.
Up until right now, I’ve countered that tendency by taking a deep breath and diving right back in to the fictional parts. But why do that? I want, I very clearly want, to write non-fiction. I think I’m going to do that instead. Am I limiting myself? Maybe. Might I want to give fiction writing another shot some other year? Sure. But the situation is akin to my “new food” policy with my children; I won’t let them complain about and refuse food without at least trying one bite of it (I mean, you know, unless it’s horribly burnt or infused with radon or something like that). I’ve had my bites for now, three days’ worth of them, and right now I don’t like the dish. When my kids say they don’t like a food after tasting it, I’ll take it off their menu for a few months and then maybe try it again. Sometimes they like the food on the second go. Maybe I’ll enjoy writing a novel with my second attempt, even though I didn’t like it this time. We’ll see — next year.
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November 3rd, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Too bad. That’s about how far I got last year. I was hoping you’d be smart enough to figure it out for me. *sigh*
I ended up with a lot of characters in unusual situations, but they never came together to do something. Didn’t get as far as trying the “play within a play” or genre within a genre theme though.
You wanted to learn something new, but ended up doing the one thing you do better than most people, not stretching the new skill.
I wonder if the secret is in having something to say, for instance painting a picture of a political or social reality that can’t be described in non-fiction. Look at the recent cheap novels that have a blow-up-the-capital terrorist plot foiled by some nifty last-minute torture.
Some people really do take their stuff, spend December polishing it, and submit it to a publisher–and get published.
November 3rd, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Where’s Peregrin? He started this, I think it’s up to him to extricate us. (If he’s not out sick–I’m coming down with whatever it is now.)
What about it, Peregrin, have you ever completed this? Enlighten us. What do we need–salt? ketchup? beer?
November 3rd, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Iroquois, I don’t think that it’s a problem not stretching a new skill that you don’t enjoy stretching. Also, I didn’t start this. If you wanted to do it, you started it.
It’s not mandatory, you know. It’s just a thing to play with, if that’s your taste. If it doesn’t feel like play, or like something worth working for, then don’t do it any more. Why punish yourself?
Also, you might want to take a day break from it, and see if you’d like to begin again. Nothing wrong with that.
Have I ever finished it? Nope, so I don’t have any special tips. I’ve had some of the same troubles Jim had. Yet, I think it’s worth examining, and worth giving it a shot, if you’re of that sort of interest.
I haven’t given up on it myself this year, yet, but it isn’t easy, no.
November 4th, 2007 at 8:47 am
But of course Jim should stop writing if it’s that painful. At least he tried, which is more than I can say for jclifford.
But somehow that’s just unsatisfying to say it’s like not eating vegetables when you don’t like them. A lot of character-building experiences are not particularly pleasant. Romance for instance is frequently disappointing, yet all kinds of imperfect people manage to pair off.
I actually haven’t started this year, since the dissatisfaction from last year was never resolved. Sort of like my love life. But maybe you’re right about taking a break and beginning again. I’ll try again, with another subject.
Free flu shorts are available today, so maybe I’ll have some time to write while I’m waiting. Can you get a flu shot if you have the flu? I had a bad night of fever/chills in spite of cold syrup.
November 5th, 2007 at 5:28 am
Funny, I enjoy writing fiction. My drug of choice is indulging in stroking my geek-side by writing fan-fiction. Resident Evil stories I’ve found provides a nice contrast between fiction and non-fiction in that I have characters who are not supermen, just people trying to survive in extraordinary circumstances.
But that’s all really beside the point. A tip for writing, just write about what you enjoy. If you force it, then its gonna suck.
November 7th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
I’ve been creating my outline, and whenever I get an idea, I just write it down (my memory isn’t too good.)
My story is about *spoiler*, who is *spoiler* and wants to *spoiler*. He, along with his *spoiler*, *spoiler* a whole bunch of *spoilers*, and while they’re at it, the *spoiler* the hidden *spoiler* of the *spoiler**spoiler*. It promises to be an exciting good read if I can finish!!!
November 8th, 2007 at 2:21 am
FILL IN THE BLANKS!
Not trying to be a jerk, Animist, just having a little fun.
November 10th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
[…] I wrote earlier, I have failed in my first attempt to write a novel during National Novel Writing Month. The goal was to write 50,000 words during the month of November. I burned out on the task on just […]