... Sara McLachlan on the CD ...
April 8, 1999
5:05 a.m.
A short while ago, I wrote an entry about how some of my stories are plotted out beforehand, and others come more . . . er . . . naturally. Geneva Frye took the time to ask me which ones actually sold better, which I thought was a good question. So, I looked back. The answer is a mixed bag, but that with a little mental elbow grease I think shows the "think it up in advance" works best. Of the stories that have sold to various places, I would say I wrote to some form of an outline about half the time. But if I look at it over the years, most of the times I sold a non-outlined story were in the first few years. In comparison, most of the stories I've sold in the past couple years were outlined first. There's obviously a lot of additional baggage to discuss, though. Things like, say, "Fighting for Kylie," which was plotted, but didn't end up a whole lot like the original idea. Things like "Out of the Blue" that ended up pretty close to the original plot, but that I needed numerous drafts to make good enough (even thought the first draft came out in what, 5 hours?). And, of course, there's the pure fact that I work differently today than I did a few years ago. I plot more than I used to because I know more than I used to. In the end, I guess it all comes down to the quote from Mr. Blake on the sidebar. To the reader, it doesn't really matter how you went about arranging the particulars--only that you did so, and that the result was something intended. As an "artist" and a "storyteller", perhaps the real magic is in understanding when you're done, knowing how long to tinker with a piece before the laws of diminishing returns are being envoked. Bottom line: as long as your way works for you, don't worry.   My screensaver is one of those banners that rotates around and around, bouncing a sentence off the sides of the screen in a never-ending admonition. My beloved wife, and front line copyeditor, put it up there. It reads: "Helf me, Typoman" (period omitted on purpose because that's how it reads) So, that tells you a little about me, I suppose. You see, I'm inflicted with the terrible engineer's curse of the use of the English language, especially around spelling--which, I might add should perhaps seem an odd affliction for a person with an eye toward being a professional writer to have. But I've got it, so there's no use denying it. My entries are filled with typos, I know. Maybe they should bother me. I've seen other people complain about typos in journals, and it's really hard to argue about that. Clear communication is done best when the writer puts forward clear thoughts, and a basic use of the language is important in doing this. But, you know, on the other hand this is a journal, not a professional publication. It's just a place where I come a few times a week and drop a words about what I've done. I don't spend hours reviewing it. They're raw thoughts covering a wide array of topics and written in a wide array of moods and situations. Sometimes I'm crunching an entry into the last five minutes of the morning. Sometimes I'm just flat-out tired (you try getting up between 4:00-5:00 every morning for seven years and see where it gets you, okay?) I just do my best. SometimesIrunmysentencestogether. Sometimes I don't capitalize what i should. Sometimes I miss putting word a where it belongs. And, yes, sometimes I even mispell a word. So, shoot me. I am making an effort to do better, though. I've started writing my entries in Word rather than straight Notepad, which is where I do everything else. With any luck, this will cut down on my misspellings. But, you know Microsoft, and who knows what their spellchecker will do? Have a good day.  Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
|
"He who would do good to another must do it in minute particulars; General good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer: For art and science cannot exist but in minutely organized particulars." William Blake |
BACK TO 
|