Shilo Christina says, All I write are scenes
I say, I think that was all we were taught.
We both come from the same school of literature. A mess of kids learning to write through huddled groups on the internet, sharing first their characters, then their backgrounds, eventually tiny scenes that should evolve into something more. A deep, dark motive somewhere lost in handwritten sheets and development notes. A motive that quickly gets blackened out through the course of the tale. It continues on, with no real end. One or two or three or more of us, trading people, trading scenarios until it falls apart under our feet, leaving us with no plot, no ground to stand on, nothing but a few paint chips of characters to try and color with, but nothing that ever is whole again.
It is hard to say it taught us nothing, when, in fact, it was so good to us. But for all it gave us, group storytelling, it kept us from one, real thing – the strings that really hold a story together, the line that our characters should have followed before, during and after The Plot in a story and not just the pieces that made it.
It was something that some of us grasped, some of us didn’t. People like me? We’re in the latter half. It was never about that. It was always about the scenes. Setting the stage. Putting the character in the right moment and getting the feeling across just right. It’s easier when you’re not writing the entire equation. You worry about what you do best.
For me? It was atmosphere, stolen moments, quiet conversation and feeling. It was how I learned to tell a story. The ends of scenes all wrap up tight enough to let the reader lean back and sigh. They’ll want to look away for a moment. They’ll turn the page because of everything but the thin line that holds it all together. For me, for us, at that time, it was good enough.
Sometimes, people like me. People like Shilo. We worry it isn’t enough.
But, that was how we learned to tell stories. Stories about boys who are spitting their bloodied teeth into the sink basin after a fight and girls in golden shorts who are riding their bikes down the road. I wrote stories upon stories about a on-again, off-again romance between a drug addled teenager and someone who was practically a ghost. I wouldn’t trade it – it was a great way to learn, it was absolutely, positively perfect.
But in the end, I wish I did more.
Alone, I’ve struggled with plot-lines and story-telling techniques far more times then I’ve documented anywhere. And when I write for plot, it seems dead-on-arrival. I shake my head as I’m writing down the lines.
In the end, we learned to tell moments. In the end, it’s about how we can string them together, as thin as possible, without breaking itself under it’s weight.
10 Comments
I identify with this post in a weird way. It's peculiar. Plot is something I wrestle with constantly, as you're well aware as the frequent target of my whining. (Have I mentioned that you make a good sounding board? Because you do.) See, the thing is, I'm a compulsive outliner, but also a lazy one. I feel incomplete without a well structured plot, but I generally do not put enough work into actually creating one. I think you're right, though, in the end, about moments adding up to something bigger.
Hey, I don't mind being a sounding board! I quite like it. It sort of helps me see what sort of things I can and can't do in my own writing, you know?
It's hard to outline obsessively, I think, because then you may lose something of the story. You need enough to guide you, but not enough to kill any chances of magical-plot-wonders-on-the-fly to happen. It's a fine line, I think.
And yeah, I think it is lil moments adding up to something larger. Figuring out how to do that is the most important thing to me. :)
There's really not much more that I can say that we didn't discuss yesterday! All I know is that, for all its frustrations and all my flimsy doubts, I wouldn't trade my way of thinking for any other. I'll always let my characters come first, and if their greatest adventure is just getting through the day, then that's what it is. Plot's important, but I don't necessarily think it *needs* to be the backbone of a story.
Still, while I have characters that I like to just let wander through their lives, there are a certain few that I know need greater things. They need something to do, something specific, something that's going to pull them down to their core. They do need that adventure, and I'm hoping I can learn in time to give them exactly what they deserve.
Writing. It's forever a learning process.
Still, while I have characters that I like to just let wander through their lives, there are a certain few that I know need greater things. They need something to do, something specific, something that's going to pull them down to their core. They do need that adventure, and I'm hoping I can learn in time to give them exactly what they deserve.
Everything here. Perfection.
and thanks again for inspiring this! :D
Figuring out is the sticking point. It always seems like some people just know it intuitively, like they can close their eyes and navigate through a story blind, and somehow come out perfect and prim at the end of it.
My obsessive outlining tendencies are generally held in check by my LAZY tendencies, so I don't generally kill my stories? But I always need to know where I'm going and basically how I can get there, or I stall right at the beginning.
I am glad you don't mind being a sounding board. I quite enjoy doing it for the few people who use me as one. It's easier sometimes to apply technique first for other people objectively, to work it out like an exercise, before floundering through your own stuff.
I think it's strange for me because every new piece starts in a different place. Sometimes I'll get there through an image, or maybe a piece of dialogue with no particular setting, or maybe a character who has an interesting anxiety or issue. Most often, the character is the beginning, so I can definitely relate in that way. Plotting can be difficult, but for me, it usually just happens after the character starts talking. Having a unique setting and atmosphere also helps, and I know how important that is to you!
I go through frustrating processes of wanting to learn how to write formally but then thinking that it will kill my creativity. It's hard to treat learning as inspiring instead of confining!
way important :D
I love how different it is for everyone!
1. enjoy writing, do it wrong and love the hell out of it.
2. learn writing, have it break you completely and cry hysterically about it.
3. figure out how to enjoy writing again, within the confines of the "learned" aspect – but only the "learned" aspects you think fit you, your style or even what you want to be.
4. love life. or something.
you're right, it is hard. it's sort of like a madness. but what kinda formalness do you want to learn? plotting? theory? hrmm? now i'm interested!
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