Losing the Details

I’ve noticed something about how I write.

When I begin a book, I pay loving attention to the details of the setting and the poetry of the language. However, as the story begins to grip me, I start chasing down the action or dialogue so fast, the setting becomes a blur. The language also grows clunkier and clunkier. Soon, my nuanced, delicately painted world is dashed out in broad strokes of primary color. Beta readers have complained that middle chapters in my book feel like they take place in empty space compared to the earlier chapters.

Does this ever happen to you?

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Tara Maya

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Ban Reply

Not sure – can’t seem to get past my early chapters … unless you count the hundred or so heavily detailed random scenes that I can’t stop myself from writing- completly out of order.
Hopefully, when I mesh the whole thing together, those scenes will shine and people will think, ‘Ah look, she’s as enamored with the middle and end as she is the beginning’.
One can hope.

Scott Reply

Tara – yes! I look at writing as, well, phases. The first phase is the rough draft. I don’t pay too much attention to setting in this phase. The rough draft is to get the story out of my head and onto the harddrive of my computer. The second phase is for setting and fleshing out the characters/scenes/etc.

So, if in the rough draft phase, at least in my opinion, quit worrying about all the great details and nuances. Focus on the story you want to tell. A gook is never done at the end of the rough draft. There’s a long editing process left to go.

S

Tara Maya Reply

Ban, that is too funny. One of the techniques I thought of to fix this problem is to take a scene from the middle and treat it like a beginning.

Scott, rough draft? ROUGH draft? Doesn’t it have to be PERFECT the first time? I think I feel another post coming on. Hello, epiphany!

Deb and Barbara Reply

Of all the writing “problems” to have, I think this is the best one! Are you kidding? Driving narrative? That’s the single most important element. Congratulations on being so afflicted! Jeaaaaloooous.

But yes, now you can always add those nuances, etc, to your … next … draft…

B

Tara Maya Reply

Gee, when you put it like THAT it doesn’t sound so bad. 😛

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