Writing General Discussion & Critique
- Thread starter Rainbow Trousers
- Start date
Always remember that any writing is writing, whether if it's a paragraph or even just a sentence. Just remember to take care of you and take breaks whenever you need. Your story sounds great, and you've always spoken about it with such positivity. So remember that positivity when those doubts kick in.
Thanks for this encouragement. I did try to remember that positivity and had a pretty long and fluid writing session today. I still feel burned out with the whole project but I'm feeling like if I can get a few good sessions in between the excruciating one paragraph sessions, I will eventually get a finished final draft even if that happens later than I would like.
Vladimir Nabovok's writing process was very interesting. Could never pull that off (I have to work chronologically), but something about writing a novel on notecards would be satisfying.
Anyway:
"Always trying to figure out the “trick” to writing a novel, Adam turns to Nabokov.
Yesterday, as I thought about Colson Whitehead’s bullet-point outline breaking down each page into a few words, my mind went to Vladimir Nabokov and his index cards.
For some time I was a Nabokov obsessive. How did I learn that he wrote manuscripts on lined 6”x4” index cards? Maybe it was mentioned in Nabokov’s Selected Letters 1940-1977, the first VN I read (Spring 2002: the salad days after graduating from college, before finding a job).
Michael Leddy captures this quote from the forward to Nabokov’s Lolita: A Screenplay:
You can see and shuffle Nabokov’s card fairly inexpensively. Pick up a used copy of The Original of Laura hardcover, VN’s posthumous novel. The book was cleverly designed to include all of the perforated cards that made up the lost manuscript."
The article link.
Anyway:
"Always trying to figure out the “trick” to writing a novel, Adam turns to Nabokov.
Yesterday, as I thought about Colson Whitehead’s bullet-point outline breaking down each page into a few words, my mind went to Vladimir Nabokov and his index cards.
For some time I was a Nabokov obsessive. How did I learn that he wrote manuscripts on lined 6”x4” index cards? Maybe it was mentioned in Nabokov’s Selected Letters 1940-1977, the first VN I read (Spring 2002: the salad days after graduating from college, before finding a job).
Michael Leddy captures this quote from the forward to Nabokov’s Lolita: A Screenplay:
Richard DiDio writes about the index cards as well:
There are interesting echoes above to the Colson Whitehead interview, such as writing the middle last, which I don't remember having heard about Nabokov. Alas, no source is given.
You can see and shuffle Nabokov’s card fairly inexpensively. Pick up a used copy of The Original of Laura hardcover, VN’s posthumous novel. The book was cleverly designed to include all of the perforated cards that made up the lost manuscript."
The article link.
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I'm really getting into writing my poetry book again! I have been meaning to put it together since late 2023 but haven't felt in the place to put it all together throughout that time due to my mental health rapidly declining. However, I still wrote some really great stuff during that time and it's nice to look back and edit now I feel in a better place.
Feels good to be working on a project.
I'm thinking of trying out Ishiguro's crash method to finish my novel this summer.
Just a few months ago, I was fully committed to the idea of self-publishing and am still leaning that way, but I've also opened my mind toward the traditional route. I think I'm going to run into two obstacles though: 1) the novel is heavily about autism and some publishers are going to be uncomfortable with how explicitly it is portrayed 2) the genre is technically YA fantasy, but it's written like a literary novel with quasi-experimental, highly ornamented, and somewhat challenging prose (after all, I graduated from University of Colorado Boulder's MFA program, a highly experimental program). I believe in teenagers' ability to read a more difficult than usual novel, but I don't know if publishers will see it the same way. And I fully believe that if I was willing to send out queries persistently, I might find someone who is willing to take a chance on it. But I know deep down that I will send out a couple queries and call it a day haha.
Very happy with how the novel is turning out though (at the same time, it's so hard to keep up the quality while running out of stamina). I think there's a shortage of YA that portrays the good, the bad, and the ugly of their protagonists via intense interiority and my novel definitely does that while keeping the story moving.
Very happy with how the novel is turning out though (at the same time, it's so hard to keep up the quality while running out of stamina). I think there's a shortage of YA that portrays the good, the bad, and the ugly of their protagonists via intense interiority and my novel definitely does that while keeping the story moving.
I know it's easy for me to say and I'm not much of an expert having not published anything, but I definitely think there will be an agent looking for the exact story you've written. From the way you've talked about it it sounds like an amazing story and I know it will find its audience.
The story I'm planning that I thought was going to be a story for young children has now evolved and I think it's going to be more of a YA story now haha! I always find it funny how those things happen. Haven't put pen to paper for weeks now, so hoping to do more planning tonight.
Awww thanks!
It's probably a good thing that it's evolving into a YA story as that means it's gained more layers and complexities. Also, nothing like a good planning session. It always make me feel more confident when I do put pen to paper.
On another note, I have partially adopted the notecard method that I posted about earlier in this thread. I don't do it in the Nabokovian way where he writes the story in whatever order he wants and shuffles them around. I have to write chronologically and I'm still writing in a notebook. But I have used notecards to rewrite troublesome paragraphs and it's worked really well so far. It helps me isolate the paragraph and work it until I'm satisfied with it.
She/Her
One of the old writing websites I used to get on (Mibba) is completely inaccessible and while I haven't written anything on there in years, it was where I kept my micro-fiction. I had around 25 works on there that I...did not back up. As far as I can tell.
I've always wanted to be a "writer" but between my not doing it much, losing years of writing with various home moved and disasters and never learning to back shit up regularly, it seems kind of pointless.
I've always wanted to be a "writer" but between my not doing it much, losing years of writing with various home moved and disasters and never learning to back shit up regularly, it seems kind of pointless.