I haven't written a single word of a story since...oh probably Sunday night. The reason? I haven't had time (and that's really not just a lame excuse this time...it's the truth). I mean, I would have time if I didn't sleep or if I decided all this exercise stuff I've been doing is for losers. But I've worked two (or three) jobs every day this week so far, and honestly, sleep has been way more important than writing. The rest of the week doesn't look much more promising. I've got a LOT to do in the next three days, and I'm not sure when I'll have time to do it all. So writing? I might get to that...eventually.
But I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Just because I haven't been writing anything down on paper (or typing anything up on the computer screen) doesn't mean I haven't been writing at all.
There is a sort of magic that sometimes happens (and sometimes just...doesn't...) when a writer starts writing down things on paper. Sometimes the words just flow out of the pen and create something wonderful, something the writer couldn't write until he/she sat down to start writing. Sometimes I, personally, just need to feel a pen sliding across a piece of paper, or I need to feel the rhythm of my fingers clicking across a keyboard. Sometimes I can't create until I get that physical connection of pen to paper, fingers to keyboard.
Then there are the other times, the times I've experienced this week--the times when a writer doesn't need paper. I'mma call it...mind writing. I find that one of my favorite places to mind write is in the shower. I guess that's weird, but...whatever works, right? I stand there, washing my hair, and a scene or character comes to me. It's usually from whatever project I'm working on, and it's usually involving dialogue. So I stand in the shower and talk to myself until I've figured out the scene or until the water gets cold--whichever comes first.
I also like to mind write while I'm running (or whatever form of exercise I happen to be doing). I can't have conversations with myself without looking like a loony to other people on the road, so I have to internalize whatever I'm mind writing. I'm not good at internalizing. Lately, while running, I've been mind writing about characters who run, because I'm just THAT creative... ... ... ...
Mind writing in those few moments between turning out the light and going to sleep can be either incredibly helpful or incredibly dangerous. It can be dangerous because I tend to forget things easily, especially when I'm tired. So there's a good chance that anything I thought of before I go to sleep will be forgotten forever (maybe that's a good thing...?). But mind writing before sleep can also be awesome if I'm lucky enough to be able to DREAM about what I was mind writing. Every book I've completed so far has been, in some way, inspired by a dream. In the case of my first book, it wouldn't exist if not for a dream (and a really ugly ring). In my second book, I had an idea for a story, but it wasn't tied together until I had a dream that I thought would be a great scene in the book. So yeah, I'm a really big fan of dreams. I like to use them in my writing. Sometimes I'll take naps just because I have some of my best dreams in the middle of the day. I mean, I might not dream at all, but it's worth a shot. ...and I get a nap... Win-win.
These are some of the times/places I usually mind-write, but they aren't the only ones. Mind writing can happen just about anywhere. Grocery shopping. Driving a car (scary, right?). Eating breakfast. Sitting in church (...don't judge me, Christians!). Yeah. Just about anywhere.
So if you happen to see me this week and I have a vacant expression, it might just be that I'm mind writing because I have no time for real writing. If this is the case, proceed with caution and make no sudden movements.
Showing posts with label dialogue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dialogue. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Conversations with Myself
Lately, I've really been thinking a lot about characters. In my opinion, they're more important than even a good plot (though a good plot is very important). As I've said before, characters are what make readers keep reading. If the reader has an emotional attachment/investment towards the characters, it's going to compel the reader to want to find out what happens to those characters. Good characters drive the story even more than a good plot, in my opinion.
So for the next few Wednesdays, I'm going to try to talk about different aspects of characterization. I don't know if I'd consider myself an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but since I've written three books and portions of other books, I have had a little experience in what works and doesn't work. Today, I'm going to write about dialogue.
I want to say right off that dialogue is not my strong point. I'm not the most articulate person; I write far better than I speak. But most novels include dialogue, and I'm not creative enough to believably find a way around it. So my novels have all included dialogue, as well.
Dialogue is important for many reasons. It shows the inner workings of characters' minds, as well as relationships between characters. But it's interesting to think of what dialogue really is. The writer, who in my case is just one person, has to create a conversation involving more than one person. I've got to pretend I know what each person in the conversation is going to say and how they're going to say it. I'm often bewildered because I have no idea how people talk to each other, and I'm not sure if the conversation I'm essentially having with myself is even believable.
Sometimes, I go to edit some of my dialogue, and I realize it's not anything like what people would say in real life. For instance, I'm pretty sure that in real life people don't sigh every other sentence, nor do they call each other by name after every other word. And I think I've exhausted my mental thesaurus for phrases that could be used instead of "he said-she said."
Other times, however, there is a sort of magic that happens. The characters' conversations just flow from my brain onto the computer screen (or paper, if I'm going old skool--which doesn't happen often because my writing wrist is a pansy). Sometimes I'm caught off guard by things the characters say, how they say them, or what they do while they're saying things. These are the dialogues I don't have to edit much. These are the dialogues where it seems as though there really are two people talking, and not just me writing down what I think these people should say.
When dialogue like this happens, I know my characters have ceased to be ideas and have taken on lives of their own in my story. I'm no longer having conversations with myself, but observing something outside of myself, yet guided by my pen (or more likely, my keyboard).
I'm not really in control of when these magical times happen, but I do have a few things I've learned to help me write better dialogue:
1. Observation. Maybe this seems stalkerish, but a good way to figure out how people talk is to listen to people talk. If I'm writing a YA book, it might be a good idea to listen to how teenagers are talking. If I'm writing a science fiction series, it might be a good idea to listen to how nerds are talking. If I'm writing a fantasy, it might be a good idea to listen to how Dragons are talking (lucky I've got five of those in my room). Another part of this observation (that is slightly less creepy) involves reading other books. It's easier to write good dialogue if I'm reading good dialogue. The danger in this is that sometimes it's easy to steal lines from books and/or movies without realizing it. Again...that's what editing is for.
2. Practice. This means I ACTUALLY have to talk to ACTUAL people...and essentially observe myself. How do I talk? How do others talk to me? It's important to think about these things while writing dialogue. And I've found that the more I write dialogue, the easier it gets.
3. Edit. I think I've already mentioned this, but it's so important. Sometimes even good dialogue contains repetition (a person can only run their fingers through their hair so many times before the reader starts wondering if the character has lice), poor phrasing, unrealistic or uncharacteristic word/sentence choices, etc. I reread my dialogue more than my prose (though rereading both is important). Sometimes I have a friend read over it to make sure I haven't missed anything. I want to make sure I'm representing my character's words as clearly as possible so my readers can see them for who they are.
I'm sure I still have much to learn about dialogue and good characterization, but these are some things I've been thinking about lately.
So for the next few Wednesdays, I'm going to try to talk about different aspects of characterization. I don't know if I'd consider myself an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but since I've written three books and portions of other books, I have had a little experience in what works and doesn't work. Today, I'm going to write about dialogue.
I want to say right off that dialogue is not my strong point. I'm not the most articulate person; I write far better than I speak. But most novels include dialogue, and I'm not creative enough to believably find a way around it. So my novels have all included dialogue, as well.
Dialogue is important for many reasons. It shows the inner workings of characters' minds, as well as relationships between characters. But it's interesting to think of what dialogue really is. The writer, who in my case is just one person, has to create a conversation involving more than one person. I've got to pretend I know what each person in the conversation is going to say and how they're going to say it. I'm often bewildered because I have no idea how people talk to each other, and I'm not sure if the conversation I'm essentially having with myself is even believable.
Sometimes, I go to edit some of my dialogue, and I realize it's not anything like what people would say in real life. For instance, I'm pretty sure that in real life people don't sigh every other sentence, nor do they call each other by name after every other word. And I think I've exhausted my mental thesaurus for phrases that could be used instead of "he said-she said."
Other times, however, there is a sort of magic that happens. The characters' conversations just flow from my brain onto the computer screen (or paper, if I'm going old skool--which doesn't happen often because my writing wrist is a pansy). Sometimes I'm caught off guard by things the characters say, how they say them, or what they do while they're saying things. These are the dialogues I don't have to edit much. These are the dialogues where it seems as though there really are two people talking, and not just me writing down what I think these people should say.
When dialogue like this happens, I know my characters have ceased to be ideas and have taken on lives of their own in my story. I'm no longer having conversations with myself, but observing something outside of myself, yet guided by my pen (or more likely, my keyboard).
I'm not really in control of when these magical times happen, but I do have a few things I've learned to help me write better dialogue:
1. Observation. Maybe this seems stalkerish, but a good way to figure out how people talk is to listen to people talk. If I'm writing a YA book, it might be a good idea to listen to how teenagers are talking. If I'm writing a science fiction series, it might be a good idea to listen to how nerds are talking. If I'm writing a fantasy, it might be a good idea to listen to how Dragons are talking (lucky I've got five of those in my room). Another part of this observation (that is slightly less creepy) involves reading other books. It's easier to write good dialogue if I'm reading good dialogue. The danger in this is that sometimes it's easy to steal lines from books and/or movies without realizing it. Again...that's what editing is for.
2. Practice. This means I ACTUALLY have to talk to ACTUAL people...and essentially observe myself. How do I talk? How do others talk to me? It's important to think about these things while writing dialogue. And I've found that the more I write dialogue, the easier it gets.
3. Edit. I think I've already mentioned this, but it's so important. Sometimes even good dialogue contains repetition (a person can only run their fingers through their hair so many times before the reader starts wondering if the character has lice), poor phrasing, unrealistic or uncharacteristic word/sentence choices, etc. I reread my dialogue more than my prose (though rereading both is important). Sometimes I have a friend read over it to make sure I haven't missed anything. I want to make sure I'm representing my character's words as clearly as possible so my readers can see them for who they are.
I'm sure I still have much to learn about dialogue and good characterization, but these are some things I've been thinking about lately.
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