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Hello Everyone,
As noted in one of my comments to a comment, Denise and I have finally decided the following material should be presented as a blog. Should Erin’s little Elves decide it would better serve the site as a FAQ or forum topic or ???? then they have permission to move it to that venue.
During our attempts at recovering Teddi’s manuscripts, we have come across some interesting and some not so interesting tidbits which offer insight as to how Teddi wrote. This short view we offer into her methodology was prompted by, or rather I was prompted by, a comment or two which were made about some past and one recently posted chapter of her stories.
First we wish to offer a small answer to a comment made concerning the release of chapter twelve of Duty Calls, and which leads us into the rest of this glimpse.
The lack of character verbiage or conversation in this chapter (and possibly in others) is likely our fault, that of myself and Denise rather than that of Teddi. Further, in reviewing the chapter outlines and writing notes for the chapters which deal with Lyon/ Lynnette’s time as CO of that special little unit we have found the following innocuous notation ... “maintains distance to avoid the pain of loss”.
This would more or less necessitate a minimizing of conversation with subordinates; and here we must admit that everyone on the base is her subordinate. Thus that is a part of the reason for the lack of conversation.
The second reason would more or less be that Teddi was showing almost everything in this particular story from Lynn/ Lynnette’s point of view and whenever that point of view changed, Teddi usually carefully made it apparent that it had done so.
Thirdly, neither Denise nor myself wished to add conversation to the story at this early date which might counter Teddi’s build of various characters personalities; after all, we don’t go around planting ideas in our neighbors heads in an effort to hold a conversation or guide them into a different personality, at least we hope not. Neither too did Teddi plant such conversational guides into the story characters.
And fourth ... well, that will become more apparent as I try to relate to you that which Denise told to me.
Teddi wrote in a number of revisions. Revision Zero was the story outline and concept. Revision One was the addition of chapter outlines. Once all the chapters had outlines of which she apparently approved, then the story outline was removed to the stories “outlines” folder. Yes, we think we found a couple of exceptions to that general rule which Teddi ‘seemed’ to use, but by revision two the story outline material was gone in all cases.
Revision One could have several sub-revisions which would be labeled a, b, c, etc.. This would mean that eventually Teddi had a story which had been saved as revision 1x, where x was whatever sub-revision she had completed. Remember this is still only outline material although now at the chapters level.
Next she would begin writing revision Two. Revision Two would find the chapter outlines still present at the beginning of each chapter but with story material beginning to follow. This is partially a guess on Denise’s part since we have found only one revision Two story and that is pretty much the way it appears to be. I say pretty much since there were some chapters which had been fairly completely filled out including some conversation on the part of the characters. Those particular chapters already had their outlines removed and deposited into the outline folder under their respective chapter numbers. Thus the outline folder was becoming the “state of the story” guide. One could check that folder and discover quickly which chapters still needed considerable work and which fulfilled the chapters premise outline. If the story chapter followed the outline or was accepted by Teddi as significantly doing so, then the chapter outline could be found in this folder.
On to Revisions Three through ??? wherever she decided to take them.
Revision Three and on become a little more complex. Possibly not to Teddi but to us, for we are unable to discern exactly what Teddi considered to be the cause for a revision number change versus a sub-revision change. ie. a number increase versus a following letter change from that revision onward.
The one thing we were able to learn was that, for the most part, large amounts of dialogue did not begin to creep into the story until revision Four. Yes, there could be dialogue prior to revision Four but, upon reaching Four there was a great difference in the amount of character to character conversation present in the story. This sometimes seemed to exist, hit and miss, in revision three.
By the way while I happen to think of it, each chapter was given its own revision numbering at this stage. Apparently when Teddi felt the story was completed then she would give the entire story the highest revision number which she found after checking the chapters. We can’t prove this is so but it remains a ‘feeling’ for us. So, at this point she seemed to feel some chapters were more complete thus higher revision numbers or sub-numbers than others.
From this point on, we would have thought everything remaining would be a sub-revision change since in general the storyline had been set and embellishments were the order of the day.
However ...
We have found stories, such as Duty Calls for example, which have reached revision Five and some of even higher revision numbers which are not yet completed.
Examples: Air Force Sweetheart Volume One (finis)......5c
Tranquility Volume One (finis)........................................5e
Duty Calls (incomplete but good outlines & notes).........5f
(Presently in Denise’s care for edit and completion)
Desperate Times Measures (very incomplete).................6c
A Winsome Lass (incomplete - good notes).....................5b
Desperate Times Measures has only fourteen of it’s thirty-one outlined chapters written. (unless we manage to find more completed material).
We think these high revision numbers indicate Teddi drastically altered the direction in which these story were going for one reason or another. Perhaps not across the entire story but toward the last chapters. All we have as possible confirmation of this is Tranquility Volume One since the material posted on BCTS is revision 3c while the highest revision we have found is noted above. The two are not greatly different in story content but revision 5e holds greater than thirty thousand words more than revision 3c. That is nearly a 15% increase in size.
So, as you can see, Teddi was a complex writer. If this is true of everyone, I cannot say. Denise says she works in a method not too unlike that but even she says that Teddi apparently carried it to an extreme which tends to indicate she felt her stories should present themselves to others in specific ways. Whether those ways were/ are good or bad depends entirely on the reader, for although we have critics who state their preferences concerning a manuscript, the reader is actually the final critic.
Renae Dumas
Comments
Methods like this are precisely why....
...I haven't tried to post any stories so far. The whole outlining/revision process seems so dizzyingly complex that my eyes were starting to cross just reading it. If I have to resort to a method like that to complete a story, then in all likelihood, I'll never write one.
Livin' A Ragtime Life,
Rachel
Outlining...
My writing style is probably the most disorganized mess you'll ever see. I do very little in the way of outlining and everything nearly everything plot related is stored up in the old noggin'. No one says you have to outline. I don't simply because I find it takes the joy and fun out of writing and because for some odd reason I'm able to keep track of nearly everything in my head.
That's not to say that outlining is bad, and most writers will tell you my method is probably the worst way to go, but the thing is... Despite what so many people will tell you there is no set way to write a story. Write how you feel you should. I've read probably half a dozen books on writing and the only constant is that there is no constant. Each writer uses different methods and will often argue quite vehemently that their way is the best.
BUT whatever you do, should you decide to write something, read up on writing and decide for yourself which method would work for you then start writing.
Have delightfully devious day,
Also on outlining...
I also seldom outline, keeping the organization of the story in my head. I find that if I outline, I will frequently not finish the story because IT'S ALREADY DONE! It's different when I'm writing for pay, I almost always outline then. But in hobby writing like what I do here, outlining and writing to outlines is work and not what I do this sort of writing for.
It's a lot more fun to go out on the high wire and write in public view, so to speak. It's dangerous but sometimes you end up with an Urban Renewal or a Sam I Am or Mercedes. Other times you end up with Thirty MIllion Reasons not to do it that way. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Absolutely!
Very, very rarely have I ever written anything down when I've written a story. Mostly it comes straight out of my head and into the word processor.
Sometimes I have the entire story idea in my head and I know exactly how it starts, where it will end and how many chapters it will take. Aunt Alice's legacy is a good example of this.
Other times, not so much... I have tales where I know where I'm going but I have no idea how to get there or how many chapters it will take. I'm writing one of those now... The State Does Not Make Mistakes is an example of a story I began and I didn't even know where the first chapter would end up, let alone the whole tale.
I blame this muse who keeps bugging me. All I provide is the means to get the ideas out of the air and into a readable form. I will grant that there are people who have to put everything down and plan how things must go but I'm not one of them.
Penny
Mine...
My approach resembles the one you describe in many broad areas, but diverges on low level details.
For example, dialog shows up - more complete - sooner.
One reason, perhaps, is that I do character sketches (words not drawings!!!) and such in advance, so I know how the characters react to stuff.
And, yes, even with extensive outlining, it is not unusual to have revisions needed in places as the story moves forward. I've found that sometimes events occur EARLIER than I'd planned, sometimes later. Some events get dropped, etc. But, working from the outline insures I THINK about adding stuff or removing stuff... So I'm far less likely to FORGET something important.
The idea where I'm outlining vs writing... I don't try to put complete sentences or paragraphs when outlining. There, my goal is to get the ideas down as quickly as possible, in the right order without trying to actually WRITE the story.
Would I have benefited from more versions at times? Yes... More than once, I've wanted to go back to a previous way I wrote something, only to not be able to. *sighs*
Thank you so much for sharing how Teddi did it.
Annette
T. D. Aldoennetti’s Method or Style of Writing
Each writer has their own style of writing.
May Your Light Forever Shine
Thank you
Thank you for sharing this Renae. It helps understand the issues you've had bringing these stories to publication. All I can say is that I'm glad that you and Denise have gone to the effort of trying to bring Teddi's stories to us as I enjoy reading Teddi's work. :-)
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
The process of writing
I was trying to use all these "methods" when I started writing, and like others, I was completely baffled by the rules. Then one day I read something posted by Angharad , where she explained her method of writing, which completely blew me away.
She just sits and writes. The characters "tell" her what to do. What would this character do in this situation? No lengthy plot, just tell the story as if the characters were really living it.
Or at least, that's how I understand it.
I was so impressed, that I try to write that way myself. Sure, I have an idea where want the story to go, but sometimes my characters disagree. I realize that the way I've written it is not how my character would handle it, so I go back and do it just like I think that character would react. It's actually kind of fun, and it brings the character to life for me.
But that's just what I do.
Your way to write is your own. What Teddi did won't work for me, but reading things like this gives me a feel for the real person who wrote her characters. It makes her stories more "real" for me, and that is what writing really is for me. A peek in to the mind and soul of the writer. What is important to them, their morals, their way they see the world. A cool story is great, as well!
I can't read some stories. The subject is just...wrong. The way the author tells the story is too depressing, or too angry. It just doesn't fit, to me.
Another writer can take the same story and see it entirely differently. They see the characters in a different way, and I respond differently, which is just so cool.
Don't let anyone but your readers and your heart tell you how to write. Use your own vision. If it resaonates with your readers, you're apparently doing it right. If everyone hates your story, maybe the story is fine, but you need to rethink the way you rewrote it?
Most of all, keep writing. You learn from the response you get. So many people have had an effect on my writing, that I could never thank them enough. yeah, some things might go badly-but you learn, and try again. If it just won't happen, maybe you really aren't a writer. Maybe you have an entirely talent. As my teacher once said, don't just give up. Give it a chance.
Wren