A Realization About Myself As A Writer And My Process.

[mmerriam]

I've been thinking about story, and the way I approach writing and story construction.

A couple of things got me thinking about this, two of them related to a group I am part of, The Minnesota Speculative Fictions (MNSpec), and the other sort of a catch-all relation to the posts of people I read on Live Journal.

Bear with me. I might veer around a bit, because I'm thinking out loud here. Or at least I'm thinking on the page. Well, maybe I'm thinking. And that is the point of this whole post. The thinking bit.

We had a MNSpec meeting this month that focused on Robert Mckee's Story, both book and seminar. One of our members had paid (handsomely) for the three day seminar, and reported back to us. There was a lot of talk about the substance of story, and how it is constructed, and how you as a writer do things within the story, even without the reader noticing it. There was a lot a talk about what you need to have accomplished before you even start writing (This is definitely a book that leans toward plotters over pantsers). There was a lot of deep talk about things like symbols and creating the opposite situations of what your characters want, and how to drive a plot.

We have similar discussions on the MNSpec message boards, discussion about tone and theme and style and authorial intent, and deep metaphor and how to purposely put these things into your work and all the deep, deep thinking that should go into the work to make it shine. Examples are held up, works by Titans of Literature to be deconstructed so we see how effortless it seems the author hit all these things, and how that is what We As Writers should be doing as well (unless we want to fall short and be mocked by peers, readers, and critics).

I've run into similar discussion on LJ. Smart writers and editors talking about those very things, about construction, plot and subplot, themes, and echoing back to great works and layering the story and plot, and framing devices, and various other bits of deep literary thought, and how to use all that (and more) when you sit down to create your work.

Mostly I just sit on the sidelines and watch these discussions, because I've come to a realization.

I'm not a deep thinker.

At least, not in the literary deconstruction sense.

Whenever I listen to a presentation or discussion that delves deeply into writing subjects, into serious thinking about craft and art, I realize I do almost everything on instinct. I don't really think that hard about constructions and craft. I just write. Most of this stuff seems to come to me as unexamined second nature. I listen or read these discussions, and I can't but help but think, well yeah, isn’t this oblivious? Voice and tone and all stuff happens while you're writing, doesn’t it?

Don't get me wrong, I've been trained to think about these things, if I want. I've had whole university classes on this stuff. Those where the only times I really did spend a lot of time deconstructing literature, because it was for credit and a grade. The thing is, I'm content to let literary critics and professors and folks who enjoy combing though every word of a novel looking for the deeper meaning and assigning authorial intent to the adverb in the third sentence in the second paragraph on page 135 (against the context of the works the major neo-modernist masters) do just that. I don't really get any joy from it. I just want to write.

Part of the problem I have with these discussions—beyond my own lack of deep thought—is that for the newbie writers, it looks to me like they're looking for the Way and Truth, The True Path To Publication. If I just follow these sets of guidelines, thoughts, ideas, I'll get there.

And you know, maybe it will make something click inside them and get them on the right path. Who am I to judge?

But at some point, you have to stop thinking so hard and just write. I watch some of the newbies in MNSpec, and they're thinking so hard about story that—from where I'm standing—they're thinking too hard, crippling themselves with too much information, trying to force things, trying earnestly to create a thing of both wondrous beauty and commercial value, if only they think all these deep thinky thoughts about writing and them go back and apply that knowledge.

They seem to think themselves straight into story paralysis.

I don’t know. Maybe if I thought more about this stuff, if I spent hours analyzing and considering and deconstructing, I'd be a better writer. Maybe this why I still haven't made the Big Time Pro Sale, because I don't think deeply.

Maybe.

But it seems to me that at some point, you have to sit down and write; you have to surrender yourself to the story and let it find its own voice and tone and themes. You have to trust the story and, more important, you have to let go and trust yourself as a storyteller.

As always, Your Mileage May Vary.