Finding the Big Picture

I'm working on a novella, one I started a few months ago, and I'm fascinated by how it is making its way into the world.

At the moment it consists of several documents filled with random musings and unconnected scenes and stray thoughts about the plot and character arcs and the black moment. It feels like a big ole pile of raw ingredients that my brain plopped down in front of me, challenging me to turn it into something appetizing. I'm sifting through all of it, intrigued at how one scene has at least a couple different variations. Clearly it's one that has enchanted me from the beginning, and I imagine it will be the setpiece of the whole thing.

Right now it feels like when I'm trying to attack the clutter in a room, wondering how it got that way, and even worse, how it will ever NOT be a big messy sprawling pile of stuff. Some days I wish there was a different way for my stories to come into existence. It would take the sport out of it, I suppose, because I kind of like digging through and seeing what my brain has conjured up.

It's like going through boxes of stuff I've accumulated over the years, determined to pare it down, but then I get distracted with, "Oh! I remember this!" Next thing I know I'm reading a book I forgot I had, or glancing through pictures that I thought were lost. I gather all of it together and realize I've completely missed my original goal of "organizing", but I've had a heck of a great time traipsing down memory lane.

Writing my stories can be like that, too, when I come back to them after having set them aside for a while. I'm excited to read what I've written because it feels brand-new to me. I'm glad I recorded what my characters said, because I love seeing how sexy and clever they are, especially when at the time I thought they were being bratty and uncooperative.

To an outsider, my writing method may seem sloppy or unproductive, and I would think the same if I wasn't the one involved in it. Heck, I feel that way too when it feels like I'm trying to hold onto all these ideas and story threads and it would be easier to do just about anything but make sense of all of it. But I have to admit I like all these random bits and bobs and the potential they possess, but I really like when I can finally see the big picture and how it all fits together.

Sometimes a story has to be condensed down into a smaller pile, from the bigger pile it started out as, and then I polish that smaller pile until it is an actual story with scenes and chapters that make sense. In the process, a lot gets thrown aside, but it's never wasted. It's kind of like calisthenics for my brain I think. It needs to stretch and warmup and try out different ideas and then I have to decide which muscle group we're working on for the day.

So it may start out as a big gooey unmanageable mess. And every time I swear it's the last time I'm going to write anything ever again. But then I see its smiling face when it's all cleaned up and polished to perfection, and I forget that it made me question my sanity in the process.

It's always worth it.

Comments

[Quantum]

Donna, your writing process is rather how I imagine some ancient Chinese alchemist discovered gunpowder.

That mix definitely gave a pop on ignition. What if I increase the saltpetre a bit and reduce the carbon and maybe top up the sulphur.

Definitely a bigger pop, lets double those increments. Make sure to note down the composition.

BANG I did it! What was the composition. Blast, it incinerated.

Lets try again! LOL

Fascinating insights.
When your mix is right the blast can be cosmic!

[Mae Clair]

Donna, loved this glimpse into your writing process!

I'm a messy writer too, jotting a few stray notes, possibly tossing in some "inspirational photos" of setting potential and hero/heroine lookalikes. Mix it together, shake it up, spill out a scene or two and see what takes fruit.

And like you I'll go back to sometime I've written before after a long time and think, "Hey, that's actually pretty darn good. I should finish that, LOL."

I love hearing how different writers work, especially when I can see the end result of their efforts in published form.

Fun post!

[Donna Cummings]

Q, you always make me smile. :) I love your description of how gunpowder was discovered. It's like when I "wing it" in the kitchen, and come up with something yummy and I can never quite duplicate it again. LOL Although sometimes I incinerate my culinary creations!

[Donna Cummings]

Mae, I love hearing how different writers work too. At first I wanted to know that what I did was "okay". LOL But now I've realized there are many, many different paths to "The End", and it's fascinating to see what kinds of things work for everyone. And you're so right about going back to something and being surprised (and thrilled!) that it's a good story. I love when that happens!

[Melissa]

Loved this! It makes me feel better also to know other "messy" writers are out there. LOL It can be so tempting to walk away from the mess and think "I must not be doing this right."

Or I'll re-read all the parts written at different times and feel like many different writers had contributed their two-cents. Was it really all me? What was I thinking? LOL And I think if I'd just plotted better to begin with, then this mess wouldn't happen. So I try this and, what do you know, I just have a different mess created from some predictions that somehow don't work out exactly like I thought when I try them. Or maybe it's the same mess and I only created it from a different direction. I guess I'll never know!

Thanks for inspiring me to try "something" -- no matter what stage of a mess it's in -- in my story today! :)

[Donna Cummings]

Melissa, I'm always glad to hear I've inspired someone! I had to laugh at your description of having a different mess when you try to "plot better to begin with". Some stories require a bigger mess, so you can get to know it better, and get to know the characters more deeply. We just have to reassure ourselves that we can survive whatever mess we create. And heck, we might as well have fun while we're in the midst of all this messiness!