Of Words and Tenses

[verdandil]

"I have something up my sleeve," is how I would like to start this post, except that whatever is up my sleeve won't get out.

If you've read THTH, you'll understand that the style of that piece - however it may be defined - is that with which I am most comfortable, as it naturally reflects the workings of my mind (i.e. emotional ramblings). The words

Comments

[wowbright]

Well, I was going to say try writing in present tense, but it looks like that won't work for you.

Hmmmmm ... I almost never know where I'm going when I start writing. Or I think I do, but then I am toward the end and the destination is a few feet or a few miles from where I intended.

What does help me sometimes is to not think about the words and just let myself vomit some ramblings on the page, if you will. When I read it back, I find all kinds of crazy -- bouncing back and forth between three different tenses, characters saying things they would think but absolutely never say, hair changing color. But I often find that I got the emotional part right, and that's the most important part. I can keep that framework and edit the rest to make the scene work.

Have you read Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones? I find it very helpful for when I hit these roadblocks. There are pluses and minuses to her approach, but I find it is very helpful for cases like these.

[verdandil]

I started laughing at "hair changing color", because I get what you mean. And it's funny, since that's usually how I proceed, that is spilling out my contents (e.g. vomitting); I guess somewhere along the way, I got lost in the form and worrying is counterproductive (it's so evident, really; why didn't I realize this sooner?). So, thank you, really, and I'll check out that book.