Mon 1 Jun 2009
Process and Malcolm and Outliers
Posted by Gay Degani under Process, advice, characters, craft, elements of story, structure
[7] Comments
My favorite part of Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers is his theory that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert. I feel validation for one of my long-held beliefs: writing–good writing–is all about the seat of the pants in the seat of the chair. Mrs. Hawkins, my creative writing teacher in high school, insisted this simple act was the golden ticket to quality. I believed her then; I believe her now. I just didn’t manage to do it for a long, long time.
Ron Carlson’s book, Ron Carlson Writes a Story, offers another piece of the puzzle: how process, the act of “ just doing,” eventually leads to product. Carlson shows us what he means by letting us sit on his shoulder as he puts together his story. He maintains that working through a story one sentence at a time, putting down what you know about the story rather than worrying about what you don’t, is a viable path.
When a friend shared with me that she’s decided the best way for her to work is to sit down and “let it happen,” it resonated. This is exactly what Carlson does. He says “process” is the key, finding your own way to get words on the page. Here’s the way I do it.
I do whatever part of “getting it down” feels right as a first step, whether it’s a full-to-the-end draft, notes, outline, or brainstorm. This varies with the trigger, the dawning of an concept in my brain, what it is: a title, a plot, a character, an incident, a theme.
2. Whatever I end up with, plot, free-writing, or notes, I work from there.
If it’s mostly a plot, I make an informal outline, filling in the blanks, the who-what-when-where-how-why of each scene in the outline. I remind myself that scenes, scene-sequences, chapters, parts, the whole story, should have answers to first five questions somewhere in the text. I try to identify the possible theme, the “why,” but often I have no idea.If, instead of coming up with a loose sequence of events resembling an outline, I’ve sat down, told myself to “go,” and put together a draft based on what pops into my head, I search for what my subconscious is telling me, look for possible scenes-segments-acts, and ask myself what scenes have I missed, what might be the theme given what I have typed out in front of me, what the spine might be etc. I also consider the order I’ve placed these scenes in. Does it make sense?
If I’ve come up with notes and brainstorming, and this is my most common way of proceeding, I write a quick draft. Sometimes I do a little research about the “where” or the “what” before I write that first draft, but often I just go.
3. If the story’s got something compelling about it, all the above converges, in the first, second, or third draft, I find myself with a decent working draft. Then it’s time for me to do some kind of analysis. These are the things I look at:
Character
Are characters clear, defined, and have their own problems and attitudes? Are they in opposition with each other? Do they fulfill a purpose in the story? What is each one’s purpose?Plot
Does the sequence of events set up an inevitable, yet unexpected ending? Are there set-ups and pay-offs throughout the story? Are the transitions from scene to scene clear? Does the plot support the emerging theme in the best way it can?Time and place
Is the setting defined or purposefully undefined? Can the reader SEE what’s going on, like it’s up on the big screen? How do time and place contribute to theme?Theme
Does this story have the ability to resonate with the reader on both a personal and universal level? Is it compelling? Have all the other elements been put into service to enhance and clarify the theme?Language
Have all the clichés and borrowed images been purged to the best of my ability? Do the sentences act as real sentences? (Tell the reader something specific) Have I said things twice that don’t need to be said? Have I pared away all useless language? Changed most of the general words like “it” to meaningful, concrete nouns that clarify and enhance?
4. I rewrite.
At this point, I look for intelligent, kind, but honest readers to find flaws and re-enforce the story’s strong qualities. I want them to tell me what works and what doesn’t work.
I let the comments of others guide me in decisions, but I’ve learned to trust the little voice in my head. My purpose often trumps someone else’s take on the story.
I read the story aloud, have a friend proof-read it, and proofread it myself.
7. I submit it to, hopefully, the right markets.
8. Then I start a new story.
Whether I’ve become one of Malcolm’s experts is highly debatable, but this I can say for sure: 20+ years of writing practice has enriched my life beyond measure. Striving to be good at something is its own reward.
As an experiment, I am currently writing a story online at my Words in Place Blog. I started last week, making myself get the seat of my sweatpants into the seat of my chair every day. Check out my progress beginning with May 27th “Dare Ya!”
Here’s the line up from first draft from one of my writing prompts posted above on EDF’s Flash Fiction blog under “Writing Prompt.”
Third Day, Is this ever going to turn into anything?
So I today I’ve got to keep going… I’m working toward my 10,000 hours and don’t have a minute to lose. Check over there later if you aren’t bored to tears!
Gay Degani has been published in two mystery anthologies, in THEMA Literary Journal, and Women’s Quality Fiction as well as on-line at Every Day Fiction, Flash Fiction Online, Tattoo Highway, and Salt River Review. “Spring Melt” was a finalist for The 2nd Annual Micro Fiction Award and was nominated by Every Day Fiction for a Pushcart Prize. She recently won 1st place in the Women on Writing Winter 2009 Flash Fiction Contest with “Beyond the Curve.”
7 Responses to “ Process and Malcolm and Outliers ”
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[...] 3, 2009 · No Comments Gay Degani had a great post up on writing process this week at the Flash Fiction Chronicles. It’s a nice take on a subject I’ve been on [...]
Great post, Gay! Really hit home with me today. I think the “just sitting down and doing it” isn’t glamorous enough for most people…
Thanks Madeline. It’s tough but it’s the only way to do it. That’s why I’m writing a story on line at my blog. I feel scared as s**t because I hate anybody reading anything before I think it’s as good as it can get, but that’s how most people feel and we’ve got to get over it. It’ll be better later. LATER. It can be bad as it gets better.
I haven’t done much lately, but I have periodically posted rough drafts, or even sections of story that were cut from a final draft for some reason or another, on my blog. That was actually the whole impetus for having a blog in the first place, to add a layer of responsibility and force myself to actually write instead of screwing around.
For me, stories almost always grow out of something small and undeveloped. Just start writing whatever. If it’s worth pursuing, the story will likely develop out of that, even if you have to go back and fix things for continuity. I almost never have stories leap fully formed from my head.
I wouldn’t worry about the post quality so much. All writers – all artists in general – are in a constant state of learning and refining their art. That means allowing yourself to be bad sometimes.
You know how we are so on the same page with this sort of thing; we’ve chatted about it. This is good stuff you are offering.
I only have one small quibble.
I don’t think a story always has to have an unexpected ending. Like you, I believe it must be inevitable, the reader must say, “Uh huh”. But I also believe it can be anticipated, as long as it is satisfying, the reader must also say, “Oh, yeah!”
I don’t think we really disagree. I think each story will give you what it needs to give you in terms of “anticipation.” For some the pleasure will come from the surprise whether it’s large or small, and for others the pleasure will be in the certitude the set-up the author’s set-up has given the reader.
Dang. The last sentence doesn’t make sense. What I’m trying to say is perhaps the writer sets up a piece so that the pleasure the reader gets isn’t surprise but rather, as you say, “Oh, yeah.” The story often dictates this.