The story has rambled through your head for awhile now and the process of writing it has begun. You envisioned a leading man with all the right good and bad qualities, the ones that make him irresistible, but as you begin to write, it just isn’t flowing. The damsel is taking on a life that is more heroine than victim, and now the frustration sets in.
Sound familiar.
It’s happened to me more times than I can count and leads to the same frustration every time. I have learned though that sometimes the thought of my story is completely different than how it turns out. The process of allowing the words to flow from my overly active thinker to the page causes me to focus on the process of creating, not the process of writing. There is a difference, at least to me, in these two processes and I have to treat them separately.
Creation is allowing the story to flow one word at a time from my mind onto the screen. I use a guided stream of consciousness process for this aspect of storytelling and allow it to go where IT goes without much concern for flow, grammar, or basic mechanics.
Writing, to me, on the other hand is the process of fine tuning the creation. This is where I spend time on the mechanics and overall story. I knit snippets together, sew in a lot of detail, and add back stories where appropriate.
This two step process for me, allows me to get to know the story that wants to be told without concern for it meeting specific criteria. I then use the tools of writing I have acquired to make for a readable book. After I am finished with my part of the effort, I turn the package over entirely to someone I trust to tell me where it meets readable expectations, and where it falls short. This person is my editor, a man I have known for years and trust to share my vision for the story.
I wish you all great success as you see your dreams appear one word at a time.
Namaste,
Robert
Robert E Crull 