Comments on: So, What About All These Rules, Then? http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-what-about-all-these-rules-then/ Wed, 16 May 2012 17:03:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: pcwrede http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-what-about-all-these-rules-then/comment-page-1/#comment-1464 pcwrede Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:51:57 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=250#comment-1464 Chicory - Exactly: if you believe you HAVE to do all of this stuff in order to get a novel written, it's never going to happen. Very few of us have the time or inclination to spend 40 years writing myths and legends and history and backstory and so on, the way Tolkein did. Alex - Pretty much. That is, you are entirely right about most of it being subconscious. I know NO writers who actually sit down and consciously figure out every last bit of plot and backstory and characterization and symbolism and etc., which is what a lot of newcomers seem to think we do. I know a LOT of writers who DO sit down and pay conscious attention to the one or two bits they personally happen to have trouble with, but those aren't the same bits for every writer, and they tend to change as one becomes more proficient. The thing that you didn't say that I think needs saying is that there are a bunch of ways other than formal learning (i.e., classes or reading how-to-write books) to get the important stuff into one's subconscious. Chief among them is reading a lot, in a wide variety of genres. Not that I'm particularly bad-mouthing formal learning, but different people learn in different ways, and there is no one-size-fits-all for writing. (Not that you said there was; I'm just used to being explicit about this stuff, because I've run into SO many people who want Da Roolz or the One True Way To Write. And it just doesn't work that way.) Chicory – Exactly: if you believe you HAVE to do all of this stuff in order to get a novel written, it’s never going to happen. Very few of us have the time or inclination to spend 40 years writing myths and legends and history and backstory and so on, the way Tolkein did.

Alex – Pretty much. That is, you are entirely right about most of it being subconscious. I know NO writers who actually sit down and consciously figure out every last bit of plot and backstory and characterization and symbolism and etc., which is what a lot of newcomers seem to think we do. I know a LOT of writers who DO sit down and pay conscious attention to the one or two bits they personally happen to have trouble with, but those aren’t the same bits for every writer, and they tend to change as one becomes more proficient.

The thing that you didn’t say that I think needs saying is that there are a bunch of ways other than formal learning (i.e., classes or reading how-to-write books) to get the important stuff into one’s subconscious. Chief among them is reading a lot, in a wide variety of genres. Not that I’m particularly bad-mouthing formal learning, but different people learn in different ways, and there is no one-size-fits-all for writing. (Not that you said there was; I’m just used to being explicit about this stuff, because I’ve run into SO many people who want Da Roolz or the One True Way To Write. And it just doesn’t work that way.)

]]> By: green_knight http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-what-about-all-these-rules-then/comment-page-1/#comment-1463 green_knight Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:47:10 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=250#comment-1463 And as with soup, there is always the chance that whatever else you do, one ingredient will scare off your potential audience. _Apple juice_??? (And I really like 'you have to tell a story' because for me, stories is what it's all about.) And as with soup, there is always the chance that whatever else you do, one ingredient will scare off your potential audience.

_Apple juice_???

(And I really like ‘you have to tell a story’ because for me, stories is what it’s all about.)

]]> By: Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-what-about-all-these-rules-then/comment-page-1/#comment-1459 Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:55:13 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=250#comment-1459 I compare writing a novel to playing golf - there's a million things you have to be aware of but not actively think of or the ball will dribble off the tee instead of sailing down the fairway to exactly where you want it to go. In other words, learn a whole lot then absorb into the subconscious and try not to think too much about it. I compare writing a novel to playing golf – there’s a million things you have to be aware of but not actively think of or the ball will dribble off the tee instead of sailing down the fairway to exactly where you want it to go.

In other words, learn a whole lot then absorb into the subconscious and try not to think too much about it.

]]> By: Chicory http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-what-about-all-these-rules-then/comment-page-1/#comment-1458 Chicory Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:47:33 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=250#comment-1458 Great observation. And poor novelist. If they have the life story of ever character, their book must be a bazillion pages long! Great observation. And poor novelist. If they have the life story of ever character, their book must be a bazillion pages long!

]]>