To other writers; writing technique?

[malakaix]

I hope i can ask a writing question here? I'm not sure if it should be elsewhere..

I want to know about the process involved when your writing in the form of storytelling?

I'm currently writing a memoir on a six day hitchhiking journey i took through south-eastern Europe that so far stands at ~3000 words. My process with this typically involves writing in a very rushed fashion, recalling on my memory of the experience and getting all the key details down on paper paying little attention to the style of the writing.. i will go back through it later and comb through re-writing sentences to better describe what i'm trying to convey, but i find unless i have the 'meat' of the story in place i can't get any of it down without becoming caught up in the details of how it should be written.

Basically i'm writing in a way where i'm telling rather then writing, and then going back over it to re-write it.

I wanted to know how others approach this? I'm trying to develop my writing and i usually find that the best writing is when i can say exactly what i want, the way i want and it flows.. but often i have to flesh out the idea first in very basic terms before going back to it and re-writing.

 

[ThePharmacist4925]

it's good to get the story on paper in a very simple form before you actually undertake the writing process. I usually read Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, or Hemingway before starting a writing session depending on what type of writing I'm doing. Gives me motivation to write not only well, but in a clever manner so as to make the experience interesting for the future reader. If I'm not motivated I find it impossible to be clever in my writing. Music can also be a useful took for all parts of the writing process. Also about saying what you want. Any writing you do is your work... even if it's for a teacher or publishing house, so make up words and write run-on sentences to your hearts desired. The best writer I ever knew told me not to worry about grammar rules, because grammar and punctuation were only tools to help us convey our message more effectively... they weren't laws by which we had to live and die. Your Writing.... Your Rules. Best of Luck

 

[malakaix]

Thanks for the advice Pharmacist.

I really need to start reading Hemingway, it's been something i've wanted to do but never got around to it but from what excerpts i've read his style of writing is inspirational. Yeah i've tried writing when unmotivated, telling myself im going to set aside time to write and just not feeling it. Music has been extremely useful for me.. emotionally charged music seems to get me in the state of mind where i can write from my heart and not worry too much about grammar or style or small intricacies.

I'll keep at it and keep working from a simple form and building on top of it over time.

 

[Bardeaux]

I just started writing longer length works this year, so I'm in a similar boat as you. Starting with a ~22k word novella, it was very much like how you described your writing; quick, train of thought writing, just putting ink to paper as it were. For this piece the whole thing took a month from conception to publication, so it was a very rushed, nonchalant process, basically riffing off of one idea to another. I ended up going back, re-reading the entire thing, switching a few chapters around, reshaping the timeline a little bit and just put it out there.

It was a learning experience for sure, as I've read it several times and it's been out for a few months, I get increasingly unsatisfied with it. I'm now a little under two chapters into what I plan to become a full length novel, which has taken me as long as it did to write the entire first book. I wrote a 1k word or so outline of how I expect the story to run (as this one is entirely fiction whereas much of the novella wasn't). Learning from the mistakes I made before, I'm putting much more research and craftsmanship into this than I did while writing the novella. I've spent much more time researching than I have actually writing thus far. I'm doing this to correct the immature, amateurish style of my first book, which was put together so sloppily that it's inspired me to put much more effort in.

I guess the best determinant of your style is practice, practice, practice. I'm now constantly writing things and shelving them just to get that practice and experience in. This also gives me a bank of ideas to come back to later.

In the end though:

Your Writing.... Your Rules.

 

[malakaix]

It was a learning experience for sure, as I've read it several times and it's been out for a few months, I get increasingly unsatisfied with it. I'm now a little under two chapters into what I plan to become a full length novel, which has taken me as long as it did to write the entire first book. I wrote a 1k word or so outline of how I expect the story to run (as this one is entirely fiction whereas much of the novella wasn't). Learning from the mistakes I made before, I'm putting much more research and craftsmanship into this than I did while writing the novella. I've spent much more time researching than I have actually writing thus far. I'm doing this to correct the immature, amateurish style of my first book, which was put together so sloppily that it's inspired me to put much more effort in.

I've been writing about 700-800 word blog articles on various topics (without publishing) and i'm finding the same in that over time i become increasingly unsatisfied with the writing and continue to make changes, but i do find these posts easier to write because it's easier to write an intro, middle and conclusion when the subject matter is brief. This is my first attempt at longer-length writing in the form of storytelling.. it's a much different style, but i'm really enjoying it because i feel like i can be more creative.

I sort of just dived in with this, but writing an outline like in your case might also be a good way of cementing ideas in place. I've written down keynotes for the chapters to elaborate on.. but that's about it.

I guess the best determinant of your style is practice, practice, practice. I'm now constantly writing things and shelving them just to get that practice and experience in. This also gives me a bank of ideas to come back to later.

Yeah i agree. I will try and write down ideas as they come to me, which is usually at strange times like when brushing my teeth or something.. and just leaving them in document format to come back to later.

Best of luck with your novel, i hope one day i can aim towards doing something similar.. i first need to flesh out my writing and develop it and then cultivate the patience and discipline to stick with something that will undoubtedly be a long-term project.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

I just let myself write, get all the ideas out, then I go back and re-read it, check for tenses, check for grammar and spelling errors, and make sure that there are no plot holes, or other plot problems like writing 1 person in 2 places at the same time, etc.

the last of which is more a problem for fiction vs non fiction

if you'd like, post your trip experience, I'd love to read it

 

[Raz]

for fiction if it's something plot-heavy or with a lot of characterisation work I'll generally sit down beforehand and write out some notes for myself on ground I want to cover so I don't forget anything or go off on a tangent....then I just go for it using that as a starting point.

I'm not really a big writer....maybe some individual sentences/phrases here & there but my 1st draft is generally my last one.

 

[malakaix]

if you'd like, post your trip experience, I'd love to read it

Thanks, i would be glad to post it up once i've finished it and get your opinion Cpt. Heroin. - Feedback is the most valuable asset in my opinion, it's hard to gauge your own writing.

for fiction if it's something plot-heavy or with a lot of characterisation work I'll generally sit down beforehand and write out some notes for myself on ground I want to cover so I don't forget anything or go off on a tangent....then I just go for it using that as a starting point.

Yeah i've just started doing this by writing key-notes for particular chapters to help build a foundation upon which to write from, otherwise i think i become lost in the writing and it either becomes incoherent or goes off on a tangent.

 

[Wonka]

I try to write from a 1st person percsiptive so to speak but it works for certain situations......try to understand all styles of writing to have a truly good way of expressing yourself to others...

 

[tocooperate]

there are plenty of techniques depending on your perspective and audience. you mentioned that this is a short piece, memoir of experiences on a hitchhiking trip- so this would be a first-person perspective, but defining an audience will also affect how much effort you place into certain elements of the story.

of course the first step is simply writing, stream of consciousness if nothing else. this is obviously more effective for memoirs, retelling of events etc because you know the ending! fictional writing of course requires planning

you're on the right track- layout the events without concerning yourself with eloquence. often times, people will fail to complete their work because they try to draft and refine simultaneously, in their head as they write. it slows you down IMO and my biggest problem is seeing my work through to the end.

as with any form of writing, it needs to be revisited after drafting, ideally after enough time to feel unfamiliar- you want as objective as a perspective as possible when making it shine

gl would love to read as well

 

[malakaix]

you're on the right track- layout the events without concerning yourself with eloquence. often times, people will fail to complete their work because they try to draft and refine simultaneously, in their head as they write. it slows you down IMO and my biggest problem is seeing my work through to the end.

I am guilty of doing this and it's a small annoyance of mine because it interrupts the flow of writing when im continuously going back and re-writing the draft.. without having first completed it. Im trying to ween myself out of this habit slowly..

Yeah i would love to share it on here when done, and get feedback. But i suspect this will take a while, the more i write the more details i remember and the more content i want to add to give it more depth.. plus situations that happened during that week that seemed normal or uneventful in retrospect were actually extremely bizarre, but you become accustomed to it after some time on the road.. and pay it no attention until you actively try to remember it when writing.

Thanks again

 

[herbavore]

One of the most important things about memoir writing is learning to gauge whether or not there is something of interest to readers. I do a lot of memoir writing for myself, because it is interesting to me to mine my past experiences for new insight or to simply remember a particular time and place in great detail to keep it alive. It is different from just journal writing because I keep drafts and rework them even though I have no interest in sharing them--I just like the challenge of honing a piece. My interest in the memory can be very intense and yet for someone else it may be completely flat. I think the most important thing to remember in writing memoir is that you are telling two stories that need equal attention--the first is the story you recall (description of settings, people, details specific to time and place) and the second is why this story is important to you (much more difficult to convey but ultimately where the reader will connect).

You have written in various posts here on BL how traveling affected your thinking and your life. That gives you a very rich source to write from. Good luck with it, I look forward to reading whatever you share.

 

[malakaix]

You have written in various posts here on BL how traveling affected your thinking and your life. That gives you a very rich source to write from. Good luck with it, I look forward to reading whatever you share.

Thanks herbavore.

I think i've officially finished the draft closing off at around 9000 words or 11-12 pages. I still have to write in an ending and do a ton of re-editing, i will likely add more and move sentences around, add more detail etc.. but the base of it is finished. Feels good to have it all down from beginning to end.. now i can meticulously edit it and be more creative with my description and words.