when thoughts attack and inspiration fuels my artistic stumbling, i write.
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sometimes the events and actions are so alive and intense that i feel a need to guide the reader through it all - but i don't think it works all the time at all. neither is a desireable thing in writing. there has to be something left out for the reader to imagine.
this technique can easily result in an over-explained text that is too dull and complex to follow.
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some other times however, i feel that since i, the writer do not know all the things about what's going on, plus some things are more than obvious, i have this tendency to omit some details - but this may risk continuity. i, the writer know about the surrounding and background story that explains/supports the events/actions, but what is obvious for me may not be clear for the reader.
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there must be a fine balance...
i think revision is one solution to this dilemma.
i think revision is one solution to this dilemma.
hm, i wish i wrote more to see which type of mistake is more frequent in my writing... ;)
and you? how about your tendencies?
do you think there is an antidote to either of these mistakes besides revision and lots of reading of good literature?
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in the meantime i'm off to write...
no, this time it's for money and the subject is table grapes, and their home-scale production.
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I expect I trust the reader too much and I leave out too much.
Its very difficult to know how much to trust the reader, it can be difficult either way. Personally I hate reading stories where i feel too much background information is missing but at the same time i really don't like feeling as though I'm being treated as an idiot.
The balance with revision is difficult too, because I think you can revise so much that you take the 'spark' out of a piece of writing.
Bernita,
does any beta, or alpha (is there a word for it, anyway?) reader of yours complain about it?
there are times when the writer's just unable to add one single adjective to the piece. even if the reluctance in widening the story results in a loss of the number of readers....
Juliet,
yes, painful, but if revision is deep, the story can be gone... :S
Well I've been meaning to come introduce myself for months on end and I'm finally here.
I think that revision and editing is key to getting it right. And another reader has to see it to give you another opinion that is outside of your head.
Sometimes that does remove the original spark. But then, can't you put a spark that works back in?
I'm not objective enough to get it right myself. That I do know... Wrote 50,000 awful words in November, or at least I think they are awful. I'm too embarrassed to even let anyone read them ever in this universe. :-)
oh Catvibe, I'm glad you finally did come here.
I think putting back the spark is quite a heavy task.
I agree: it is very difficult to see one's own writing from a perspective. it is within you...
perhaps beta reading helps. but it is also a demanding task on the peers.
50,000 words - how many characters are that (without spaces) or how many pages?
I suppose we have to ask ourselves why we write. If we write to communicate ideas to others, then we owe it to the readers to revise for clarity. If we write for catharsis, for ourselves, then it really isn't necessary to include details enough for clarity. Of course, I write mostly poetry, and since I know others (here) will read it, I revise to try to take the confusing parts away, but sometimes, it's the sound of the words themselves that lure me, and then I just write.
I think writing for self is very liberating!
Karen,
you truly do care about your readers. sometimes i don't understand all the words or sometimes the cultural connections you are referring to. your verse is outstanding, and i'm just one reader coping with the language you master. keep on going!
yes, therapeutic writing does help me most of the time.*nods*
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