I have been editing various stories I have worked on over the last 5-6 years. Some of them are very vanilla, and “family” acceptable reading. Others delve into those shades of adult reading and items best left to places like Literotica.
What I find interesting is how things have changed. I’ve gotten much better at dialog. Especially the punctuation. Oh gods was it messed up before… I’ve also gotten more comfortable describing realities. I can even write a sex scene that the FCC wouldn’t get too overheated about and still have it make sense. (woohoo!) Not that I really care to, but it is a necessary skill at times.
Hardest part I find though with my writings are the jumps in genre and the cases of “how the hell do I finish this!” The one story I did finish, got comments of “Good!”, “I like it”, and “When are you writing more of it?” sigh…. In fact the single biggest comment was that it was too short. The skips in genre are frustrating in their own way. My mind gets set on a path and then all of a sudden my brain says, “Look at the Kitty!” and off I go on another story that just has to be written on right then and there. Fickle muse! I have tried to “be good” and stick to the story I am on, but often I find myself stuck until I go back and finish the bit my brain has cooked up. It’s like trying to get a song out of your head that has gotten stuck there. You either have to sing the whole damned song, or totally distract yourself. I’m obviously not so good at it, because I have five incomplete stories and a bunch of ‘finished’ stories that are really chapters of a book I’ve yet to write all the bits connecting it together.
I keep promising myself I’ll get my writing organized. (all of you who know me can stop laughing any time now) I guess that will have to go into that same category of dreams about organizing my house, sewing, crafts and life in general.
I even tried using a notebook where I could write down all the tantalizing bits that generate stories in my head. However, that didn’t work very well. It just sort of coagulated the stories more firmly in my head instead of making it possible for me to ignore things until I finished something. Also, lots of what inspires me are visual clues. Pictures, phrases I read or things I see on my daily travels.
This picture of Dan on a rock inspired a work that is now 150+ pages. And, from what is in my head, it is only about 1/4th of the way written. Another story was inspired by a dream. Others are products of dares and creative competition. All in all, it is a rather random way to be inspired, but it works. Now if I could only get things finished.
Time to go type!
One thing I’ve learned, there is no one good way to do this writing thing. Whatever works, grab on to it, use it as long as it works. If it stops working for a while, find another tool and keep going.
I know what you mean about the seductive ‘other’ story. I have yet to finish anything, however short in fiction. Maybe I don’t want to let go of the world?
That’s what I’m discovering. I delved through the whole “artists way’ and it just didn’t work for me. sigh…. I’m just one of those oddballs that has to find my own path on some things.
The one thing driving me to finish a few of the stories is the desire to see what happens in the end!