Over the past month, I've been looking for a job, cleaning the house, and writing fiction. Haven't been as prolific as I'd hoped - I can concentrate for only 2 or 3 hours at a time.
I don't know how those authors do it, spending 8 or more hours a day writing, putting out five books a year. I'm not a very social person, but even I'm feeling the lack of interaction. If you spend all day every day alone, just clicking away at the keyboard, how varied can your work be? Wouldn't your 'voice' end up rather flat over time?
Even if I were a professional writer, I'd need a part time job, just for the necessary level of interaction, since sitting home is a mind-numbing experience. With nothing but my own voice echoing in my head, I'm beginning to doubt myself more. A turn of phrase or a quip or a cuss word will hit me while typing, and I stop to wonder how many times in how many stories I've used the exact same wording, or very close.
A search engine would be handy for that sort of thing: your word-processing program would contain all of your past writing as part of a database - and as a feature, you could compare the current work-in-progress with all past ones.
Perhaps you use similes too often. Maybe you are overfond of the word obfuscate. The program could scan all your works and tell you how often you use individual words (the word "that" is often useless, yet I use it all the time).
Names can be an issue. I tend to use the name "Kate" a lot, for some reason - then I have to go back and try to think up a good name I haven't used. The database would also be useful in these instances - also for settings, time periods, and genres.
Perhaps even a theme-comparator, with numerous drop-downs for narrowing the theme, which could then be compared to all your other works. This would also be handy when you're feeling burnt out - you could check the database and discover you've never written a man-against-himself story. Maybe it's time.
These features could be toggled on and off, like spell-checking. Personally, I don't want to know if a word is misspelled while typing - I'd rather check it at the end of a section or at the end of the writing session (how often I click the spell-check button is a good barometer for how focused I am).
The programming functionality is definitely present in database apps already, but I don't know if it's been packaged and marketed for writers. If not, are there any search engine/database programmers reading this? Let's do lunch!
I don't know how those authors do it, spending 8 or more hours a day writing, putting out five books a year. I'm not a very social person, but even I'm feeling the lack of interaction. If you spend all day every day alone, just clicking away at the keyboard, how varied can your work be? Wouldn't your 'voice' end up rather flat over time?
Even if I were a professional writer, I'd need a part time job, just for the necessary level of interaction, since sitting home is a mind-numbing experience. With nothing but my own voice echoing in my head, I'm beginning to doubt myself more. A turn of phrase or a quip or a cuss word will hit me while typing, and I stop to wonder how many times in how many stories I've used the exact same wording, or very close.
A search engine would be handy for that sort of thing: your word-processing program would contain all of your past writing as part of a database - and as a feature, you could compare the current work-in-progress with all past ones.
Perhaps you use similes too often. Maybe you are overfond of the word obfuscate. The program could scan all your works and tell you how often you use individual words (the word "that" is often useless, yet I use it all the time).
Names can be an issue. I tend to use the name "Kate" a lot, for some reason - then I have to go back and try to think up a good name I haven't used. The database would also be useful in these instances - also for settings, time periods, and genres.
Perhaps even a theme-comparator, with numerous drop-downs for narrowing the theme, which could then be compared to all your other works. This would also be handy when you're feeling burnt out - you could check the database and discover you've never written a man-against-himself story. Maybe it's time.
These features could be toggled on and off, like spell-checking. Personally, I don't want to know if a word is misspelled while typing - I'd rather check it at the end of a section or at the end of the writing session (how often I click the spell-check button is a good barometer for how focused I am).
The programming functionality is definitely present in database apps already, but I don't know if it's been packaged and marketed for writers. If not, are there any search engine/database programmers reading this? Let's do lunch!
You defintely should use obfuscate more often. I think the last time I heard it used was an episode of X-Files.
ReplyDeleteAs for repeating the same phrases in your writing... I would say you probably shouldn't worry about it. Though I'm no expert writer (or reader). But, don't most (many? some?) authors tend to write in a similar fashion from work to work. Isn't that part of their style: consistently chosing certain words and phrases?
It is somewhat amusing, though, if you read a bunch of books by the same person in sequence and spot repeated phrase-ology. Raymond Feist, I noticed, tends to like to have his characters tent their fingers in thought (or drum them on a table) and often describe someone smiling as "a broad grin splitting their face". But I digress.
I could use that to...
ReplyDeleteMaybe then I'd stop starting every sentence with "So," "You see," and "However,"
as for only concentrating for a 2-3 hours a time...well done, that's 2 hours longer than I can concentrate for.
I read somewhere that Ole Stevie King only writes around 2000 words in a single sitting...so it appears we're in good company
_Exactly_. You've hit the nail on the head: "If you spend all day every day alone, just clicking away at the keyboard, how varied can your work be?"
ReplyDelete