Herding Cats

Whenever I sit down to write a new project I always feel like I’m chasing ideas around the page. I employ every technique known to man to catch them: notecards, pocket notebook(s), writing journals, etc. The idea of preparing a story in a linear fashion is completely foreign to me.

Most of my story ideas evolve in a circle around an image rather than in a line from a premise. This is quite a hang up for someone who puts a lot of emphasis on story structure and plot.

I find it difficult to keep concentrated on one thought, even a good one, for any great length of time. Maybe this is a problem for a lot of writers, or perhaps it’s one of my mental deficiencies, or it could be that’s just what writing is: chasing ideas around the page between scrubbing the bathroom and scrubbing the dishes.

The notion of a piece of literature being created whole cloth is probably just a myth. Nonetheless, I become obsessed with stories of writers just banging out a story in a relatively short period of time, a la Kerouac or the Coen brothers. If they can do it…

I try to show up to the page everyday, but it’s frightening. I never know if I’ll be able to connect the dots, or if there will even be any dots. But, that’s why it’s so thrilling. When you have that flash and you see it all laid out, you know you can keep going.

Maybe that’s why I have foolishly abandoned outlining for this project. Writing without a net. I just start writing and see where it takes me. Sure, I make mistakes (every morning), and I have a hell of a lot of rewriting to do, but now I have a better idea of where I should go than if I tried to plan it out logically beforehand.

I’m putting my focus on the process, not the product.

What about you, gentle readers? How do you “break” a story? Or, does it just end up breaking you?

~ by travisnewton on April 22, 2009.