Comments on: On Writing: Writing Fast, Writing Slower

By: Belle

Belle — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 04:30:33 +0000

Cathryn, I’ve been feeling much better about writing fast ever since I wrote this post. Which is a good thing!

Ann-Kat, let me know how it goes. I’ve read your fiction before, and I know you write beautifully. I’d love to see how the fast, utilitarian “let’s just get this down” type of writing works for you. I find it very easy to lose myself in the writing when I’m writing fast. When I stop to think, it’s not as fun anymore. When I write fast, it’s like I’m watching/feeling a movie.

By: Ann-Kat

Ann-Kat — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:23:14 +0000

Bird by Bird is an all-time love for me. I remember laughing out loud while reading it and bobbing my head up and down in accordance with Lammott’s wisdom–funny how you already know something, but don’t truly consider it until someone else tells you to. Some of the stuff she dishes out is common sense, but it seems people just love to make things more complicated than they need to be. :D

And I’m completely impressed with your speed, Belle. I’m a slower writer. I pine over the right words to use, and whether they’ll set the tone for the scene that’s being written. (Yes, I just used pine’s archaic meaning in a sentence.) Lately, however, I’ve been trying my hand at the quick utilitarian writing style. Just get the idea on paper, and revise later. It seems to be working for a short story that was screaming to be written. (And…I’m actually writing this story in chronological order–no jumping back and forth for me. It’s quite interesting. LOL)
Ann-Kat´s last blog ..Blacklisted by Gena Showalter Book Notes and Sunday Sketch (yes, I know it’s not Sunday yet)

By: Cathryn

Cathryn — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:19:46 +0000

Wow, 2000 words in forty minutes. That’s very impressive. I thought I was fast and I can write about 1800-2000 words in an hour.

Thanks for the reminder, both of Bird By Bird and to write fast. It’s amazing how often I forget. I’ll check out what Fran has to say about it.
Cathryn´s last blog ..Rejection

By: Belle

Belle — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:11:15 +0000

Fran, I think the popping back and forth is necessary for this book because of the multiple POVs I’m working with, and also the gap between the time I wrote the first 30,000 pages and what I’ve been working on now. But because I just want to get the whole book down on paper first, I think otherwise I’d be popping back and forth during revisions rather than during the drafting stage.

MarthaAndMe, yes, writing it down first and then fixing it later is so much better than getting tied up in knots and possibly not getting it done at all. I just need to keep remembering that.

By: MarthaAndMe

MarthaAndMe — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:51:40 +0000

I’ve long been a believer in Anne LaMott’s wisdom. My daughter was working on a term paper last week and was stressing over it. I told her that I must say to myself at least 5 times a day “I’ll just write something and fix it later.” It’s like a mantra that runs through my head. It’s too easy to get caught up in trying to write perfectly, when almost everything needs polishing after the fact. So I just pour junk out and deal with it later.

By: Fran

Fran — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:18:58 +0000

Wow, about your chronological order, if I didn’t write stuff out of sequence, going back and popping things in, I don’t think I’d have much of a book. I think I’ll do my blog about that today, because it’s something I hadn’t even considered as unusual.
Fran´s last blog ..How do you write? Fast or slow?