I would like to talk about writing for a moment, if you guys dont mind.
See, I have a theory about my stories.
I dont think that writing is like a carpenter making a table, but rather like a woman giving birth.
For I believe my stories have a life of their own.
And my latest story is a good example of what I mean.
Because when I first conceived the idea, it was going to be a horror story.
It was going to be about a boy being manipulated by his sister into wearing girl clothes to school, and then being further manipulated into being led step by step deeper into being female until he could do nothing but accept being a girl for life.
It was going to be NASTY, and dark.
but then I made the choice of telling the story from the sister's perspective, and found I just could not write her as this unrepentant evil girl.
And so it became the piece you can read today, instead.
So see what I mean?
Comments
huh carpenter's table????
I have no idea what you are talking about.
For me writing a story, even though most of mine are drabbles or at best short stories, it evolves as you write it.
I get what you're saying.
My stories always end up having a life of their own, mostly because of my characters in the story. My friends in my writing group tease me a bit about how much detail I put into creating my characters. I often write a comprehensive backstory for all of my main characters, enough that it gives me a good idea of their personality and such... 75% of what I write in their backstory doesn't even make it into the story I write. The characters then start feeling like a real person (in my imagination at least) and then they start driving the story as I write...
Becca C.
I know I’m weird. The fact that I’m trans is probably one of the more normal things about me.
Not weird
"I know I’m weird." No, not weird. This is normal for writing.
-- Daphne Xu (a page of contents)
Normal
I agree it is normal for stories to evolve.
Although much of my backstories only exist in my head, my beta readers often have remind me what they and future readers, don't know.
Sometimes the backstory is more interesting than the story.
Hugs, Cheryl
Carpenter's table? I so wish!
I wish it could be so simple as a carpenter's table. To be frank, my muse is moody and flighty. She has a mind of her own and she let's me know it too. This morning, for example, I got up to work in the kitchen on a project for someone only to have her yank me over to the computer to write a story. The story is "Where Should I Begin?"
Took me all of twenty minutes to write and publish. It's okay. I had a good cry writing it for her. I often do.
I was relieved too. For the last month she has been in a snit fit. I left her alone and went about my business.
Why was she in a snit? Well, she was in a very Christmassy mood and had me write a touching story about a Christmas Miracle. When I published "Brotherly Love" for her, she was very happy until she saw the next story publish which, in the synopsis, described a graphic bondage sex scene. She was ticked. She wasn't mad at the author for what the author wrote per se, they have the right as do us all, just that the synopsis should have been so graphic in her mind so close to her story. Especially around Christmas, she thought. It ruined her mood to see the slang word for a woman's charm inches away from her chosen title, Brotherly Love.
I know my muse is the part of me that I hide away from the world. She loves character, romance, relationship, and growth. I think that is why she loves BC so much. Of the sites for TG fiction out there, this is the one that has the best quality of writing that tugs at her heart.
If anything, her table is a sewing table where she can shape, cut, and stitch together a garment that fits like like a glove and gives warmth and protection to the reader while, she hopes, looks good and classy to her readers.
I am looking forward to your next story, BTW. Happy writing Dorothy!
The story takes me
The story takes me where it wants to go: it evolves as I write. Despite where I thought I was going sometimes the story leads me in a different direction. I have started a story (in my head) with the ending first and have backed into the beginning...
Sometimes what I think would be a short story unravels and expands from my original concept. I'm glad that I have software that allows me to edit, rearrange, modify as I try to cobble together bits and pieces. Not sure about others but sometimes I may have 2 or 3 different stories in progress at the same time. Sometimes things evolve well and sometimes it's a struggle. I got stuck trying to end a story and had to ponder which way to go.
The important thing, for me, is to write.
Donna
That bit of the unknown, waiting to be discovered
I think very few stories ever hit the ground fully minted. For me the first time that has ever happened, was my recent one, One Last Favour For Gran. Everything else I have written, I have known the start, mostly the middle and maybe a couple of way points along the way to the expected ending. Like Rebecca Jane, I have far more back story in my head than ever makes it to the page.
Sometimes it changes completely and ends up with a totally different ending. My first love writing wise is screenplays, a totally different style of writing to something meant to be read by the general reader. It is part story, part directions, told in brief, written in a clearly defined format for others to finish in the pre-production process.
The idea of telling a story meant to be read, to be honest. Scared the hell out of me. I decided to get over that by writing a novel length story, not sure if I would even get to 40 or 50 pages before I had told all and run out of things to write. The kill or cure method!
I thought I knew the beginning, the middle and ending and a good bit of what took place in between. It was supposed to end in a lesbian relationship between a shemale and a widow. As I was writing I decided to have a bit of fun with my lead and have a rich Cary Grant type character fall for her, popping up pursing her every now and again much to her consternation. Problem was by the time I finished writing their first encounter, I knew she had met the love of her life and that altered the ending, some of the start and the rest of the story from there on.
For me, that is what makes writing so enjoyable. It is that bit of the unknown, waiting to be discovered when you think you already know everything.
I understand all too well.
I understand all too well. You think you have the story set until you go to writing it... then it turns out to be something completely different, but just as good