Monday, April 12, 2010

Why I Love Writing: Discovery

I promised I would make up for admitting the usefulness of character sheets. So here we go—a week of Why I Love Writing! This is good for me. I need to remember this stuff right now. Sometimes I forget.

I love writing because I get to discover things—new people, worlds, words, feelings, choices, etc. Yes, I write to escape. I've always written to escape. Most of my life I haven't had the chance to see all the things I want to. Right now, I spend most of my time in a small townhome with my two munchkins. Which is great, but doesn't exactly have a view, you know?

In my head I can explore. It's the cheapest vacation ever. For a few hours I can hang out with my ninjas in San Francisco or immerse myself in a world where everyone has super powers. I can live with Victorian wizards or cyborgs. I love using my imagination. It makes me smile.

I love discovering the story in my first draft, which is why outlines don't work for me. My motivation is not knowing what comes next, wanting to find out. That moment when the next scene clicks? Heavenly. My head buzzes with excitement—I can't wait to write it out.

With editing it's the same thing. Even though editing is hard on me, when I discover the solution to my story's problems, I can't help but get excited. I can fix it! I can make it better. (Don't ask about the time before I find the answers. It's ugly.) That moment is such an overwhelming relief.

I adore getting to know my characters, spending a few moments outside myself to learn how other people see the world and react to it. I adore how different and wonderful people are.

I also love discovering things about myself (okay, usually in hindsight). Like how much harder I can work than I thought. Just when I think I can't do anymore, I've learned that I can push myself further. I've discovered that I can overcome my own fears and reservations. I can do this, even if I fail a lot more than I'd like. I've discovered I really am a writer, for better or worse.

Enough from me. What are your favorite writing discoveries?

36 comments:

  1. I agree with everything! But I have to underline that the escapism part is really wonderful.

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  2. Great post and so true! I enjoy getting to know my characters, too. Writing is in my blood!

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  3. The power to create is amazing and beautiful and definitely my favorite part. Seeing how a new world comes together and how characters react to it is so much fun! That's why I write fantasy.

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  4. I love getting inside my characters' heads and describing the world in a way I wouldn't normally see it. My stories thrive on opposing view points.

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  5. It's def. like you said, I like discovering things about myself.

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  6. Thank you for this post - I agree with everything and even though I know all that I'm still finding myself in a writing funk where I just don't want to do it. Wish I had your stamina and self-discipline in that respect.

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  7. The escapism is high on my list. I'll never be able to time travel back to 1890s Japan and it's a way for me to dive into both my passions--history and writing.

    Another aspect I love about writing--seeing or hearing from a reader how much they were drawn into the story. That really makes me realize I may be a better writer than I give myself credit for :)

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  8. I absolutely go along with the escapism. It's such an amazing feeling, to be places and times I love but can never really go to.

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  9. Beautiful! One thing I love discovering is what I'm capable of. Before I start writing, I didn't know I had a book in me, let alone many. It amazes me when I reach a new point in the process and see what I've accomplished.

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  10. Yay for loving writing!

    I'm doing an outline this time, so the discoveries are smaller (but still there! little objects, moments, etc. that I hadn't planned). But what I love then is making what I planned come to life. It's one thing to say, This is what's going to happen; but it's a totally different thing to really bring it to life on the page.

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  11. That's why I don't outline either. It takes all of the fun out of writing.

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  12. Great post. It's good to remember the joy in writing.

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  13. Thanks for sharing these examples Natalie, they all make sense to me.

    The part that is the most fun for me is the escapism. I love dreaming up the places to go and all the little things that happen there, even all the stuff that never makes it into the story.

    The most fulfilling part is the sense of accomplishment. I never would have thought I would have the patience and work ethic to write a novel - until I did. Then I thought I would never have the dedication it took to get published - sure that hasn't happened yet but I'm making progress.

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  14. Discovering people, places and things we might otherwise not know about! My WiP has me planning research vacations to New Zealand, England, Norway and Mexico, and learning a ton about their cultures.

    And I think it's great to have an "I love writing" week - this post brightened up my Monday :)

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  15. I like creating metaphors. Good ones. They make me happy. I like lots of un-nerdy things, too.

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  16. I agree with you. I most love discovering new experiences that I didn't go through but that these people who live in my mind did. That's always exciting to me. I love hearing people's stories.

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  17. Great post. I agree, I love writing. I love the new experiences it brings and that I can go live in my imagination for a while.
    I love finding out how story is going (I don't outline either) and seeing the characters develop.

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  18. The first way I write something down - or formulate a scene, or introduce a character - is probably not the best way. So don't be married to that first draft.

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  19. I like torturing fake people.....lol Just kidding (sort of). But I love to create situations for my characters that even I don't know how they're going to get out of and then the great feeling that comes when I finally realize the solution. So awesome!

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  20. Krista, I'm starting a complete, from scratch rewrite today. Married to first draft? No. Don't worry.

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  21. Natalie, I love all your posts. They always perfectly sum up how I feel about writing--ESPECIALLY editing!

    "Don't ask about the time before I find the answers. It's ugly.

    Oh, how I feel you!

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  22. It's nice to see the positive things in so much hard work. I think one of the reasons I love writing so much is because I'm creating something that will last, at least within my small circle. I like that feeling.

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  23. I love the way my characters teach me truths I need to hear.

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  24. I agree: writing comes out better when you let yourself go where the story takes you.

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  25. Wonderful post, Natalie! I love the imagination part of writing. It's fun getting away from the real world and returning to it whenever I want! There's a lot of freedom in writing...until the editing part, that is! Editing is hard for me, too, but you're right– there's absolutely nothing like the feeling when you finally solve that writing problem!

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  26. I love a lot of the things you said. I love fixing problems in editing. I love reading a scene I wrote and realizing it's actually good.

    Mostly I love planning. I love plotting out the main arch of the story and seeing where it goes, because it's all perfect at that stage. It's so exciting in my head!

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  27. I love to discover the way the story will differ from the one I've traveled through in my head, how it will come together at the end, how it will read. I'm one of those people that believe if a book can't bear spoiling, then what's the point of reading it? I re-read everything a million times and writing is reading to me, just no one's written it before. So I love to write just for the ability to walk the same journey again and see how much more interesting it becomes.

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  28. So glad you decided to do this because what an uplifting, inspiring post this is.

    I loved that you said you discovered things about yourself. I've discovered that too and I'm hoping that I have it in me (or I'll force it to have it in me) to go the distance and work the hardest I can.

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  29. I'm still amazed at how a character just comes to life out of a thought or with a gesture. Something you didn't know you always knew until you wrote it.

    (like the new look, though, I haven't been here in a little while so it might not be as new as I think)

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  30. I love writing a scene that takes my breath away or makes me cry or makes me laugh. I love that my debut novel, which I have read about a zillion times between copy edits and such, STILL makes me teary at the end.

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  31. Oh, yeah, Natalie, I was in no way suggesting that you needed to hear that advice. Actually, it was some of your old posts that helped me make that discovery. So, thanks:)

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  32. You know, I was re-reading the first draft of my first novel attempt today, and I had a thought. (It's not that I don't usually have thoughts- this one just seemed very significant.)

    To us seat-of-the-pantsers, the first draft IS an outline...

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  33. I like discovering the words "The End." Sorry... in editland and focused on the goal. ;)

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  34. I love it when things come together--when something I wrote earlier works *perfectly* in the story later on. Bliss!

    And like Jessie, I love a good metaphor!

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  35. Wow!

    "My motivation is not knowing what comes next, wanting to find out. That moment when the next scene clicks? Heavenly. My head buzzes with excitement—I can't wait to write it out."

    That is EXACTLY how I write! Now I know I am not alone!

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  36. Discovering the story is the best way I've heard to describe the way I write! That's why I write every day...to find out what's going to happen next! People get so confused when I express that--the story is in my head, after all. Glad to read someone else "gets it" too! :) Happy writing!

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