Evolution of the Writing Style
Mar. 10th, 2004 07:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serafina20I'm, again, working on my original novel (which I"m thinking of posting today at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gypsyflower if anyone is interested; friend and I'll friend back, since it's locked), and as I've mentioned in passing, one of the characters is mute. Bridget (who used to be Joy, but whose character changed so much the name no longer fit) has voluntarily elected not to talk or communicate with anyone in her family. Her parents dead and her grandfather wanting her away, she's been sent across to live with her uncle, the black sheep of the family. I'm currently writing her first scene, where she meets and interacts with Daniel Joel Presage, another important character.
And it's driving me insane. I've always been under the (mistaken) impression that, when I write, my charaters have a rich inner life and dialogue. On my side of the page, each character has complex thoughts that continually run through their mind, reactions to what's going on, and side comments they make to themselves as the scene progresses.
Apparently, I was wrong. Instead, it appears my style of writing is Character thinks, Character does or says. Character says, Character thinks. Character 1 does/says, Character 2 reacts/thinks. It's all very linear. Something happens, characters think or say, and the inner life is .... Not missing, but not as vivid and complex as I'd thought.
And, no, they're not as bad as Earshot Cordelia, but I'm close.
And then I found out how much worse I used to be. I'm revising Slaying the Giant, which was the third or fourth slash fic I'd written and published. The writing isn't *bad*; it's simple and obviously the work of a novice writer. But it's just so different from the way I write now. In many of the scenes, the only way I know whose POV the scene is supposed to be viewed from is A. the scene starts out with the characters name or action (Wesley walked into the Hyperion, shoulders slumped or B. I happen to know because I wrote the fic and remember my intentions.
The characters have even less inner life than my characters do now. Now, I'll have a page or so devoted to what a character thinks or feels, but then, there really was nothing. Especially when the dialgoue started. Lately, I've been trying to find that balance between dialogue and thought (I tend to do dialogue and action more, I think), but back then, there was almost nothing.
It's amazing to see my growth as a writer. And exciting. I only hope I can continue to grow.
gypsyflower if anyone is interested; friend and I'll friend back, since it's locked), and as I've mentioned in passing, one of the characters is mute. Bridget (who used to be Joy, but whose character changed so much the name no longer fit) has voluntarily elected not to talk or communicate with anyone in her family. Her parents dead and her grandfather wanting her away, she's been sent across to live with her uncle, the black sheep of the family. I'm currently writing her first scene, where she meets and interacts with Daniel Joel Presage, another important character.And it's driving me insane. I've always been under the (mistaken) impression that, when I write, my charaters have a rich inner life and dialogue. On my side of the page, each character has complex thoughts that continually run through their mind, reactions to what's going on, and side comments they make to themselves as the scene progresses.
Apparently, I was wrong. Instead, it appears my style of writing is Character thinks, Character does or says. Character says, Character thinks. Character 1 does/says, Character 2 reacts/thinks. It's all very linear. Something happens, characters think or say, and the inner life is .... Not missing, but not as vivid and complex as I'd thought.
And, no, they're not as bad as Earshot Cordelia, but I'm close.
And then I found out how much worse I used to be. I'm revising Slaying the Giant, which was the third or fourth slash fic I'd written and published. The writing isn't *bad*; it's simple and obviously the work of a novice writer. But it's just so different from the way I write now. In many of the scenes, the only way I know whose POV the scene is supposed to be viewed from is A. the scene starts out with the characters name or action (Wesley walked into the Hyperion, shoulders slumped or B. I happen to know because I wrote the fic and remember my intentions.
The characters have even less inner life than my characters do now. Now, I'll have a page or so devoted to what a character thinks or feels, but then, there really was nothing. Especially when the dialgoue started. Lately, I've been trying to find that balance between dialogue and thought (I tend to do dialogue and action more, I think), but back then, there was almost nothing.
It's amazing to see my growth as a writer. And exciting. I only hope I can continue to grow.
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no subject
Date: 2004-03-10 07:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-10 08:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-11 08:28 am (UTC)And I'm really excited to read 'Slaying the Giant' when you're finished with it. :-)
no subject
Date: 2004-03-11 08:35 am (UTC)