Talking About Writing Is Not Writing

[redbrunja]

So, when I queried my flist about what subjects they wanted to come up more often on their flists, the writing process came up several times.

In lieu of writing this out three or four times, my two cents on the issue at this precise moment in time:

I am tired of hearing about people's writing process. Sometimes it's helpful, but bottom line, everyone writes differently, and I would rather focus on actually writing my own fiction than talking about how other people write fiction.

Comments

[mewsrissicat.livejournal.com]

*grin* Might as well discuss how to brew tea....

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Honestly, part of me prefers coffee. Although that may be because it's been too long since I've had a nice english breakfast decently docotered up.

[greynonentity.livejournal.com]

There also comes a point where people read about writing instead of actually writing and then never get that big project out of the way.

-Kowareta

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

That's why I stopped reading Poets & Writers regularly. Because time I would have spent writing was time I read about writing.

[mistaria.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not a "how to write" kind of person.

Though I am always intensely interested in talking to people about their ideas and how they took a simple idea and transformed it into whatever the final piece of work was. :) Or the meaning behind certain parts of their work. Like I was reading a comic book script the other day and the author would make all these notes in the text to talk about the psychology behind certain parts or how one part was inspired by something that happened to him when he was young. That was cool.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

*nods*

A lot of time I've very interested in other people's process, but not so much the moment, and it's all over my flist.

Like I was reading a comic book script the other day and the author would make all these notes in the text to talk about the psychology behind certain parts or how one part was inspired by something that happened to him when he was young. That was cool.

That sounds VERY cool.

[qualapec.livejournal.com]

I can see how it might get a little repetetive, but on the other hand I think writers discussing their methods with other writers could help them learn and evolve, especially during periods of writer's block. In my experience, there's always a trick I hadn't thought of before.

*smiles* I guess it also gives writers something to ALWAYS talk about, because everyone IS different but it's something we all have in common. And I think there's a little bit of curiosity in knowing how someone else's artistic brain works.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

*nods*

There are times when it can be really helpful and interesting... but now is not one of those times for me, and so it gets really repetitive to keep having conversations about it pop up on my flist.

And I think there's a little bit of curiosity in knowing how someone else's artistic brain works.

Usually it's pretty fascinating.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Maybe we should trade flists?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Is no one talking about writing on your flist?