Process

Our small group meeting went quite well. We (as in Suki, Alana, and I) read an article by Edgar Allen Poe; he discussed the process he used when writing his poems. This article specifically focused on "The Raven", and Mr. Poe went into great depth in describing the structure he used when writing the poem, from determining the feeling he wished to invoke in the reader before even considering the context of his work, to playing with vowels and sounds in order to find the kind of word he wanted repeated throughout his novel.

Although it was certainly interesting to find that he wrote his poems in this way, I absolutely cannot relate to that method of writing at all.

I write a story when a scene comes to mind. If I think too structurally about a scene or a plot or a character, my ability to creatively write wanes. Given an essay or a critique, I can use a "fill in the blanks" pattern quite well, but as for creating stories, the method simply does not work.

I have written scenes at the oddest times--in the middle of writing an essay for a class, in the middle of watching a rented movie at home, at two o'clock in the morning after awaking from a dream.... Occasionally, I do get into moods where I just want to sit down and write. Scenes come to me fluidly, and I can, with ease, express them in writing. However, most of the time--especially when I am working on a lengthy project, such as this thesis--scenes that I can absolutely not live without come to me at random, and though it may be inconvenient for me in the moment to write out my thoughts, I know that if I do not, that part of my story will be gone forever.

The most inconvenient place for this to happen is in the car, while I am driving. And it happens more often than is reasonable or fair.

I can think much better than I can speak, so voice recording my thoughts would do me little good. I often get distracted by certain words, trying to phrase what I want to get across--which is much more difficult out loud than it is in my head--that I forget the scene in the middle of my describing it aloud. Therefore, I have come up with a technique that helps me remember scenes quite well, even after the initial inspiration has dissipated. I listen to music.

When I think of my scenes, I often think of them as if I am watching a film. When I write, I simply describe what I see. Listening to music while thinking of a certain scene is like adding a soundtrack to a movie. Then, when I find myself with a sheet of paper or computer access, I simply replay the song and write.

Inspiration is a tricky thing because it often just pops up without an invitation, and leaves when it pleases. I can't count how many stories I've lost because inspiration decided to hang out with me for an hour and then disappear as soon as I had the utilities I needed in order to write out my thoughts. Wasteful.


Cristina