| Author | Message | ||
     Kola_boof AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Kola_boof Post Number: 3747 Registered: 02-2005 Rating: N/A |
I've started this special thread so that ABM and I can discuss "novel" writing. ABM...my goal is to get you actively writing and fleshing out your manuscript by touching on a few things I find not only instinctive....but inspirational. And of course the first one is.... ...HOW to find your voice. For without it, a writer can't really get in tune to write. So I offer up the following as a kind of "opening" in our discussion. I wrote this earlier today while thinking about you and wondering ---what is the most important thing you could say to him about writing fiction??? After you feel compelled that there's a story you have to either (a) tell to get out of you or (b) that you'd like to read, but nobody's written it yet, so you decided to write it yourself...... The next challenge is finding your voice. And the secret to finding your voice is "sincerity". Whenever you write a sentence, that's your "sound check"---sincerity. You read the words back to yourself and if you don't detect the sincerity, then it's not your voice and you're not effectively getting across what it is you're trying to say. In fact, whatever kind of art you do--singing, painting, whatever---whether you can be effective or not is contingent on your ability to seek out and accept the "sincerity" in what you have to share, the way you share it and what you hope to pass on. The key to the whole thing...is SINCERITY. Understand this before you even start, and the more you understand it, the EASIER it will become for you to open yourself and apply the images and feelings that you are struggling to capture. Many writers, ABM, struggle to "accept" their voice, and I'm not sure if that's where you are. But I've often been impressed by things you've written, and because some of that stuff is poetry, I believe that you have everything it takes to configure your voice to create art. What do you think is holding you back? | ||
| Abm "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Abm Post Number: 6670 Registered: 04-2004 Rating: N/A |
I think the problem I'm having is the lead character of my story is a woman. A lady cop to be exact. So I have struggled to feel and believe what she might say and do. I mean, I know what I THINK she'd say and do. But I admit there's a lapse in confidence there. | ||
| Kola_boof AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Kola_boof Post Number: 3753 Registered: 02-2005 Rating: N/A |
Wow, that's interesting. I never imagined you would write about a woman. What made you choose a woman protagonist? | ||
| Kola_boof AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Kola_boof Post Number: 3755 Registered: 02-2005 Rating: N/A |
ABM, just curious. Who are some male writers that you really read a lot---OR---who really influence you? | ||
| Abm "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Abm Post Number: 6685 Registered: 04-2004 Rating: N/A |
Kola, I didn't really choose her. The story really just sorta 'came' to me. And it's lead character just happened to be a woman. I guess James Baldwin's my alltime favorite male author. There so much purpose, fire and utter JOY of/for writign in Baldwin's work it's often difficult for me to read him without feeling very guilty and having to stave off tears. Phillip Roth is a close second. | ||
| Kola_boof AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Kola_boof Post Number: 3759 Registered: 02-2005 Rating: N/A |
ABM, I wish we could talk conversationally about this, because you're quite obviously a writer----but you need to bounce off other writers to get your mojo going. I would like to motivate you to write your manuscript and get it done, not worked on. Couldn't Destined let us IM just to discuss novel writing? I have a lot of knowledge that can motivate you. | ||
| Abm "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Abm Post Number: 6688 Registered: 04-2004 Rating: N/A |
Kola, I appreciate your desire to help, babe. And whatever you can provide I'll GLADLY consider. I mean, heck, I'd be EMBARRASSED by such a great honor, actually. I'll mention it to Destined. But she thinks you want me. So IM'g probably will be a no-no for her. There are 'things' that married foks live with. Deals they make, largely based on knowing what their mates are and can and cannot handle. I think you know what I mean. | ||
| Kola_boof AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Kola_boof Post Number: 3762 Registered: 02-2005 Rating: N/A |
I do know...and I totally understand. Maybe you shouldn't ask her, actually, because it's true--we shouldn't be chatting in an intimate setting. But I wanted to read some of what you wrote to get an idea of why you're not happy with it and what the problem could be. What we'll have to do is make an appointment to just discuss ONLY THIS TOPIC one day this week so that we can get a "rythm" of conversation going. That way, you'll REMEMBER: Anything I could tell you about writing ABM--you already know. Like all artists, you just need to have your inate senses AFFIRMED and you need encouragement to "come out" as a writer. You're probably stifled because you feel like an amateur rather than a professional, and being a businessman, that's understandable. | ||
| Igbogirl Veteran Poster Username: Igbogirl Post Number: 740 Registered: 09-2006 Rating: N/A |
Damn Abm, your wife got you locked down. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 6190 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Like you didn't know this, kola. |
