Monday, January 14, 2008

How to write like Robert Jordan in two short lessons

...ok, not really. I wish it were that easy. I started writing the book mentioned previously, and have found the process to be quite daunting. I started with a basic idea of a fantasy story line, created a few characters, and started writing. A few things happened once I put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard; actually, more like stylus to PDA).

I cannot seem to turn of my inner critic and simply let my writer write. I'll stop after a paragraph, reread what I finished, and then decide it's not quite right.

Another problem I found, due to reading some hints from actual authors and podcasts from seminars, is that you can't write a book as if it were a movie. I thought that was my ace in the hole. I've seen tons of movies, particularly in fantasy. This is actually the downfall of alot of first time authors. While movies are great story telling devices, they do not get inside the head of a character as well as books. So my first few pages were flitting between some outside observer and my main character of the moment. I didn't realize how distracting this can be to a reader.

So, all in all, I'm still writing. But I have definetly realized just how challenging the whole process really is.

2 comments:

J. Edward Jr. said...

Dude, I gots to get you those books. You will love them.

Anonymous said...

Interesting to know.