Comments on: The Van Gogh Process

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 01:22:23 +0000

Ju – argh, those crows are vicious aren’t they? Here…*gives Ju a scarecrow* Hope that helps.

Lacey – the bat is useful so I’m afraid you can’t have mine. I’ll probably be using it for the next few years. 🙂 Yeah, me too re those draft versions. I think the highest I got to was version 8.

By: Lacey Devlin

Lacey Devlin — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:53:34 +0000

There's a doubt crow bat? Gotta get me one of those ;)

My process sounds similar to yours. I certainly have an impressive pile of draft versions of my MS by the end of it :)

By: Ju Dimello

Ju Dimello — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:38:20 +0000

Ah :) I did try the dirty first draft and then re-write approach..but sadly those stories are shelved now :)

For now, I take enormous amount of time writing the first couple of chapters (and subsequently shedding them) before I move into the story and finish it - except for minor revisions (in my eyes)..CP's are a different thing though ;)

Need help battling those crows of doubt? They are just about done with me and I have nothing there left in the form of confidence.. so I might be of help there ;)

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:43:07 +0000

Lindsey – I don’t think I have cracked the conflict. If I did, I’d be published! Anyway, the only person who can tell me that is the ed. It’s still too complicated probably. Good luck with your reunion story. Ghastly aren’t they?

By: LindseyHughes

LindseyHughes — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 08:39:50 +0000

Now know why current wip is such an ‘illigitimate child’ to write – it’s a reunion story.

Sometimes I write ‘dirty’, sometimes I ‘sculpt’ depends on how strong a grip I’ve got on the conflict. Envy you Jackie, that you’ve cracked conflict. I’m still at the ‘learn to simplify’ stage.

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:47:26 +0000

Aimee – oooh, give it a go. Some parts of reunion stories can be good but some parts can be very, very bad. But that just might be because my particular story sucks. 🙂

By: Aimee Carson

Aimee Carson — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:04:38 +0000

I haven’t tried a reunion story yet. But I do have an idea that has been germinating – or fermenting – in my brain. Which means it will either grow or just make me loopy.

Aimee

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 01:34:38 +0000

Rach – I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to do it. I only do it that way because I tend to get bogged down if I’m too careful with the first draft. I over-think at the best of times and writing a once only draft would equal paralysis for me! Re the reunion story – you so should get back to it. I am really enjoying this story but boy, it has been tough to write.

By: Rachael Johns

Rachael Johns — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:58:30 +0000

I take my hat of to your cos that Process = Dedication to me!!!
My process is very hit and miss at the moment. But I usually write a fairly tight/neat first draft and only to a minor edit and polish (unless instructed otherwise by eds). Maybe this is where I'm going wrong.

BTW.. I LOVE reading reunion stories but the only time I've ever tried to write one was way back when I knew nothing about nothing. Maybe I'll get back to those two one day :)

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:57:23 +0000

Cat – argh!! Don’t tell me you’re finding it easy?? Lol. Actually, my deal was figuring out their past relationship because when I started writing it, I had no idea. Dumb huh? :-). Your process sounds similar to mine actually – though you’re probably waaaay more organised. At least I’ve learned to figure out the conflict BEFORE I start writing.

Julia – I’m not sure. I think it depends on the ms and where you are in the writing process. A lot of my changes have been because I’ve learned more about conflict since writing it and so can see more clearly what I’m missing. And sometimes you can see what you need until you’ve written the whole thing.

Kerrin – aha, a sculptor! Nothing wrong with that. In many ways, I wish I was because then when I wrote The End, I would know that it really was The End. The End for me is actually just the beginning. Sigh. It’s mainly because I need to write the story first in order to figure out what the story is about. Does that sound weird? 🙂