reflections on writing

[marycatelli]

Sometimes story ideas that lost their liveliness surge back to life.

And sometimes that means I get to wrangle with the technique of writing scenes out of order.

Putting them all in chronological order and creating two stacks -- those that I have slithered into their proper place, and those I have yet to reach -- helps because when I shift to a new scene, I can check the top of the pile and see whether I've already written it yet.

Then again, sometimes that brings me nose to nose with stuff I wrote before except that obviously, the gremlins have been at it.  Such dull, stale, and profitable prose. . . .

And so I end up re-writing the scene as if I hadn't realized that scene was there.

Comments

[openclear.livejournal.com]

If story ideas come back to life again, it means that prose wouldn't be such dull, stale.. It's a new line. And this is amazing thing.

[marycatelli]

One wishes. It may be wonderful when written but then the gremlins get to it -- that's the only explanation.