tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post627942546872516912..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: A Writing Q & A by Bill KirtonKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-24513005852813139142016-05-08T10:11:03.143+01:002016-05-08T10:11:03.143+01:00You've nailed it, Umberto. Finding the right b...You've nailed it, Umberto. Finding the right balance between creativity and discipline is the key, not letting the one gallop off into chaos and incomprehension or the other stifle and restrict its imaginings.<br /><br />Thanks, Reb. That's me trying hard to suppress my inner gluten.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-70791495167901577232016-05-07T20:36:55.683+01:002016-05-07T20:36:55.683+01:00Beautifully done, Bill. A rousing testament to wri...Beautifully done, Bill. A rousing testament to writing that is both organic and 100% gluten-free.glitter noirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11728649916344336118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-53114581186580323642016-05-07T18:41:43.188+01:002016-05-07T18:41:43.188+01:00Thought-provoking: particularly for me: having wri...Thought-provoking: particularly for me: having written under deadlines for decades on newspapers and magazines and later, book contracts, I luxuriate in being able to set my own, forgiving timetable. But I quickly go adrift without them imposed by paymasters. Truth is, it's more or less continual guerrilla war between the free inspirational and the structured disciplinary aspects of my creative process - when it's working at all. Thanks.Umberto Tosihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04939504157464234443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-10517888727086504132016-05-07T16:36:59.570+01:002016-05-07T16:36:59.570+01:00I share your reluctance about writing synopses, Ca...I share your reluctance about writing synopses, Catherine. In fact, I think it calls for a different type of writing. Reducing 80,000-100,000 words to 100 or even 500 is bloody hard. Does one concentrate on the 'story'? If so, it's not really a true representation of the book. Does one try to hint at themes or some other 'artistic', 'aesthetic', 'philosophical', 'sub-textual' magic one's tried to convey? If so, it invites the reader to move on to a more sympathetic, less pretentious scribe. Etc., etc.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-45557665025449707082016-05-07T16:02:41.291+01:002016-05-07T16:02:41.291+01:00These are great questions. I don't outline eit...These are great questions. I don't outline either. I have a vague idea. I know the beginning and quite often I know the end as well. I write to find out how to get there! If I outline too much I get bored and never actually write the novel or play or whatever. It took me ages to realise this back when I had an agent and/or a radio producer and she was looking for a synopsis of some sort. I can write these (reluctantly) after the thing is finished, but not before. Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-7700709341165979272016-05-07T15:34:01.502+01:002016-05-07T15:34:01.502+01:00Thanks all.
Chris, When you’ve finished with the ...Thanks all.<br /><br />Chris, When you’ve finished with the incubator, I may be needing it. My WIP’s nearly there but it’s taken ages.<br /><br />Wendy, yes I think it actually needs to be flexible.<br /><br />I used to think we had things in common, Needle, but your comments belie that. I’m the eldest of a family of six. My parents had and all my brothers and sisters have brown eyes. I alone am the blue-eyed boy. God’s in His heaven, all’s right with the world.<br /><br />An interesting contrast, Lynne: forced and spontaneous creativity. And both seem to work.<br /> <br />At the risk of being glutinously sycophantic, Dennis, the fact that you think I’m saying something worth saying makes me feel like a writer.<br /><br />Mari, your repeated attempts to claim laziness are falling on ears which are not only deaf but lazier than yours will ever be.<br />Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-5547280997125776242016-05-07T14:26:24.450+01:002016-05-07T14:26:24.450+01:00It's always interesting to hear about how othe...It's always interesting to hear about how other writers approach the writing process, Bill - and on the whole I think we have a similar approach. I do outline my novels before I start, but I treat the outline as a very loose framework indeed, something that can be altered and reworked as I go along. And I find that creativity just isn't that responsive to external deadlines, at least in my case - or maybe that's just my innate laziness speaking.Mari Biellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14221256993468150226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-46432451858694497302016-05-07T12:04:41.884+01:002016-05-07T12:04:41.884+01:00Bill, once again you've written a post which, ...Bill, once again you've written a post which, with utmost logic and clarity, recounts a process which we can all recognise and share. I think my answers to those questions would be pretty well the same as yours, though probably expressed far less pointedly. So thank you for confirming that not only am I not odd and bizarre but that we really are al in this together.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-86842068264438398982016-05-07T11:56:58.564+01:002016-05-07T11:56:58.564+01:00I agree when being creative you can't put a ti...I agree when being creative you can't put a time on it. However many of the publishers and packagers have and in order to get paid I have to stick to their deadlines. Unfortunately this means somethings they've got my 'forced' creativity which may or may not be as good as the creativity that is just allowed to happen. Lynne Garnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05697330164705623835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-7014170402585302032016-05-07T10:01:47.028+01:002016-05-07T10:01:47.028+01:00When my mum held me (newly born) up to her sister ...When my mum held me (newly born) up to her sister Joyce, Joyce responded - he's the ugliest little bugger I've ever seen. So don't talk to ME about childbirth, Kirton!Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-24037388456352897272016-05-07T08:48:04.100+01:002016-05-07T08:48:04.100+01:00Very well put Bill. This will resonate with so man...Very well put Bill. This will resonate with so many writers. I agree that creativity can be flexible and not limited to a timetable. Wendy H. Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04022089775887274043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-74655580091393832262016-05-07T08:08:24.591+01:002016-05-07T08:08:24.591+01:00I think we're singing from the same song sheet...I think we're singing from the same song sheet Bill, and as for your obstetrical imagery the varieties of pain are many and varied. Granted you'll never have the physical pain of having a baby, but the birth of a book does involve pain along the writing spectrum. And as I'm about to give birth to the new book I'm in the throes of that pain. My novel is currently undergoing treatment in an incubator, and I think the 'baby' is struggling to draw breath!Chris Longmuirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02488093821886798927noreply@blogger.com