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it can work..
both ways sometimes you just start writing & by the time you are finished theres a solid thought behind the plot....& sometimes you think of an idea start writing but then by the time you finish the idea is lost...in any case the writing can come out good or bad....i personally prefer leaving things to the insticts of the writer within....
posted by
abhilasha
on April 18, 2006 at 4:39 AM
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Don't ever worry about whether ideas are old. It's the telling that's new.
posted by
_dave_says_ack_
on April 18, 2006 at 1:25 AM
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posted by
shypettite
on April 17, 2006 at 9:41 PM
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Azur--- The key is to keep readers interested until you present that idea.
More a technique for fiction than non-fiction, I think.
posted by
Jazwolf
on April 17, 2006 at 8:38 PM
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Excellent post...
posted by
teddypoet_TheGoodByeFade
on April 17, 2006 at 8:00 PM
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Azur - I too had initially difficulty in keying at the speed of thought...
... while trying to resist the urge to edit. It took serious self-discipline, but once mastered, has served me well for years. - Sometimes I only get that "magic" of mood or turn-of-word in the first pass. Later more arduous workings aren't as fresh or pure. (I actually dictated for a period of years to avoid losing tid-bits.) Also, brain-to-keyboard better captures those little meteor showers of thoughts (don't we all have them) instead of frequently having them disappear into the atmosphere, never to return again.
posted by
blogflogger
on April 17, 2006 at 4:24 PM
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Azur, well ,it was interesting for US, ergo for all!
We all know everything wraps up in thirty minutes, sixty m inutes, or two hours, usually with a musical pause and a week's reflection in the middle.
I wonder how "Romeo and Juliet" or "The Wizard of Oz" would play in Beijing?
posted by
majroj
on April 17, 2006 at 4:12 PM
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Straightforward, I think you can have the idea as early as you like
but you don't need to aways spell it out at the start
posted by
Azur
on April 17, 2006 at 12:41 PM
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Ginnieb
I have had a loose plan for some years however I should stress that this latest version is embryonic
posted by
Azur
on April 17, 2006 at 12:40 PM
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And that was for Majroj
posted by
Azur
on April 17, 2006 at 12:39 PM
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I think the stories are probably the same across any culture
but perceptions may be different. In some cultures a struggle is seen as something which stretches across generations in others people expect them to be over in the flash of an eye - ie a single lifetime.
I am always amazed at the assumption by people that just because something happened to them it is interesting.
posted by
Azur
on April 17, 2006 at 12:39 PM
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malcolm, I think it helps to have the idea in our minds
Of course we can always add to it. I liked the way that in the book that I just read that they did not spell out too much of the plot. I couldn't pigeonhole it too early and yet the author plotted the route
posted by
Azur
on April 17, 2006 at 12:33 PM
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Pat B, it's easier than done
I try to let go and just write but on the other hand a little bit of fiddling avoids a bit of editing pain and effort which can only be a good thing
posted by
Azur
on April 17, 2006 at 12:30 PM
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TAPS-
I am a keyboard person too. My challenge is to read my handwriting
posted by
Azur
on April 17, 2006 at 12:27 PM
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Azur
The problem with longhand is that my pen can't keep up with my brain thoughts and short-term memory loss. By the time I get to the end of one sentence, what I was going to say nest has already escaped me. LOL. I do much better on the keyboard.
posted by
TAPS.
on April 17, 2006 at 6:40 AM
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There's a book for writers
called "Writing Down the Bones" and one bit of advice I remember from that is keep that pencil moving, don't stop to listen to your mental editor. easier said than done.
posted by
Pat_B
on April 17, 2006 at 6:27 AM
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I think that
this is the beauty of writing. Sometimes we have to just write and write, regardless of what is formed, until we get to the really rich veins and the meanings are made clear to us. Good post and inspiring.
posted by
malcolm
on April 17, 2006 at 2:37 AM
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I was pontificating on Gomedome's dime the other day about attention...
If the human is hardwired to respond to certain stimuli most strongly, then each culture will have its version of the "ten basic story ideas" or some such because they "stick"...and a few will be nearly universal.
Heck, in some cultures sticking your tongue out, or smiling, mean very different things than they do in many others.
Where were we?
The opposite of "Just becasue it happened to me doesn't make it interesting" is "Hey, that happened to you too?".
posted by
majroj
on April 16, 2006 at 9:51 PM
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Yes I agree!
I had no idea where my 'novel' (and I use the word loosely) was going until I put my fingers to keys each day!
posted by
ginnieb
on April 16, 2006 at 7:25 PM
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Can arrive at the central idea much later. Different ways of writing.
Point well made!
posted by
Straightforward
on April 16, 2006 at 6:54 PM
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