Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Writer laziness - what the heck do you do about it?

No, I'm not sitting here accusing any of our writers of laziness! (well, perhaps except myself )

What I mean is this - how do writers cope with those bits in between the really juicy scenes you can't wait to write? You know what it's like - you've set up this great premise for a story, and you've got in mind the big climactic scene. Perhaps you've even got a few interesting scenes in mind, or you've written a good chunk of the story and the next scene you've envisaged is somewhere up ahead, but stuff has to happen beforehand to set it up. What do you do? How do you avoid boring either yourself or your readers?

Yvonne
(can you tell I'm stuck in exactly this situation right now? )

Well, Yvonne, if you come up with any great solutions, make sure that you pass them along!


Wendy (also desperately in need of this, and afraid that all her BRs must be bored rigid by what she last sent them )

Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry, Wendy! I totally forgot you'd sent me new stuff last week. So not bored, just horribly forgetful.

Yvonne

I always force myself to write in order. The scenes I really want to write are my treat for getting through the scenes I really would just rather not deal with. When I view it like that, I usually end up sailing through the boring parts out of mere anticipation for writing the good stuff.

And if I get *really* stuck, I mean just sitting there staring going "GAWD I don't want to start writing this crap." I break the scene down and attack it in small pieces.


Try 1:

Naked dialogue (no he said she said, just the words the characters are saying) is easiest for me to write, so I do that first.

Try 2:

Then I do another pass through the scene and add quotes and stage directions.

Try 3:

Then the next pass, maybe I will add introspection.

Try 4:

Then the props and setting go in.

Obviously this example was done a bit tongue in cheek, but you get the idea ;p I really find writing the laborious stuff easier if I try to think of it as seperate elements to add one at a time, rather than, "Yikes! I have to write this WHOLE scene!"


Diane

That's where the good plot and character development takes place. In the case of fanfiction, you don't really have to develop the characters since they already come pre-packaged for you, but it does help to figure out their motives and plans during the quiet bits.

ROTFL Diane! And also, some very excellent advice. It's kind of like starting with the bones, then adding some muscles, then some skin, and finally the clothes.

I wish I had the discipline to write in order, because viewing the fun scenes as payoff for sludging through the so-so scenes probably would work.

But, Yvonne, I'm like you. I get really excited by a scene I have in my head and am just dying to get it out, so I do that regardless of where such a scene fits within the story. So my current WIP has about 100 finished pages, skip 50 pages, another 10, skip 20, another 5, and a kick-butt epilogue <g>.

Maybe I'll give that trick of Diane's a try. I do quite often write straight dialogue, but I need to make myself write the icky scenes first and save the fun stuff - eat my brussel sprouts before I dive into the double layer chocolate cake with fudge frosting.

Lynn

Oh man. I've struggled and grappled with it.

I also plot out my story (just the one) with great 'moments', and then have to figure out how to get from 'a' to 'b' without writing something hideous in between.

Usually I keep writing and throwing away (deleting), because it takes a while to figure it all out. I've deleted TONS of story in search of that perfect bridge

Oh, gosh...tell me about it! You ever wonder why these scenes that we just don't want to write ('cause they're boring or just not as fun as the rest) don't bore our readers to death? I mean...why can't we just write all the funny/angsty/waffy/whammy stuff and leave out the rest? That's what space breaks are for, right?

Oh, right...the good scenes wouldn't be as good then...and there might be more than a few holes in the story.

Now, why does this sound familiar? scenes)

How do you write a scene that's a bridge between great scene A and great scene B? Well, I haven't got the perfect solution either, but I write linearly so I have to work my way between the scenes, even if sometimes it's like wading through molasses. The trick, I think, is to make the scene interesting anyway.

Okay, I know that sounds a lot easier than it is. The part of WC that I posted this evening is pretty much that kind of scene. A little time has to pass from the time our heroes leave the plane before the bad guys show up to try to ... well, you get the point. But I can't just write about a pleasant stroll in the countryside. This is supposed to be part of the Rockies that is a good distance from roads or towns. So the conversation has to be interesting, and there has to be good interpersonal interaction -- and sometimes, as happened this time, things emerge as you are writing that fit right in to what you're wanting to achieve anyway and make the transition piece something that people enjoy reading.

Nan

When I didn't write linearly I'd leave those scenes to the very last and then approach them with great trepidation when I couldn't procrastinate any longer. Most times though I'd surprise myself and they'd never turn out as bad a bogeyman as I'd built them up to be in my head.

Now that I've switched to writing linear for the sake of my poor betas...I just procrastinate.

I find that with any of these scenes I need to find my 'hook' and then I'm okay. That can be just a phrase or a starting line or a snatch of dialogue or a flash of someone making some gesture or taking some action in my head...just something. Once I have that, the rest of the scene becomes no problem. But until I have that hook...forget it.

And Diane - As someone who tends to write in layers myself, redrafting a scene and adding elements to to it until I'm happy it's 'final draft', I appreciate that method. Haven't ever tried doing it that intensely though. It's actually worth thinking about - nothing is ever so scary when you've broken it down into its componant parts. Great idea! Wonder if I can persuade my Muse to try that one...

LabRat

Oh, it's so good to know I'm not alone!

Diane, that was a great demo - I often take a similar approach to scene-writing, although not quite in such a structured way. However, this approach doesn't really help me get from interesting scene A to interesting scene B.

Nan and Emily make a good point which I've never really thought about before, but which is absolutely true. The 'bits in between' are a great place to develop character and relationships, and I guess, in general, that's exactly what I do. Hey, I've suddenly got a perfect excuse for all that pointless conversation I write which doesn't actually advance the plot - yay!

The problem, of course, is compounded when I'm trying to write A plot stuff. Right now, for example, I know exactly what's going to happen when the bad guys find L&C - that's my kick-butt humdinger of a scene where the really important stuff happens. What I don't know is exactly how or why the bad guys are going to find them, and how they got to this place they're in where the bad guys find them. I wonder...can't you readers just invent that bit yourselves? Just insert one standard L&C-on-an-investigation scene in a location of your choice.

Yvonne

Oh, that's easy, Yvonne...

And then go on from there <g>

Diane, loved your examples

PJ

A thought on this subject occurred to me last night after I'd gone to bed, and I thought I'd share it.

Two or three years ago, two of my daughters went to the big comic convention here in San Diego (I believe it's called Comicon). They came back with a lot of stories about things that happened while they were there, but one thing stuck out in my mind, and I've applied it to my writing ever since.

There was a very well-known science fiction author there, (sad to say, I don't remember his name at this late date, but I recognized it at the time) and they attended a speech and a question and answer session with him. One young man, an aspiring author, had a question that I found both amusing and relevant. It was the same question that Yvonne asked at the beginning of this thread. The author's answer: "Write better."

I thought about that for a long time and interpreted the answer thusly:

There isn't any one answer to the question. The only thing you can do is what works for you. If you're dissatisfied with the way you write these bridge scenes, then you have to try harder to come up with something that does work. That was what I did, and I'm still working on it. I guess you can take the advice for what it's worth, but I thought I'd pass it along anyway, as professional advice from a --well -- professional.

Nan

So it's not really that you've intimidated yourself out of writing something because it's too daunting or boring, but rather because you're not sure how to get from point A to point B at all. For that, I really don't have any good suggestions beyond getting away from your computer for a while. Sit in a quiet place with a notepad and try and work things out on paper, kind of like how you'd work out a word problem or something. Give yourself some time to think in a place you won't be interrupted or tempted to type things up prematurely.

The only almost sure-fire method I have found for avoiding being stuck in this position is literally outlining *everything* before I start, and I have to practically tie my hands down in order to not get started til I'm sure I've got a specific idea where my creativity bus is going to be making turns. I didn't used to do it, but there was one time I wrote myself into a corner that I literally could not write myself back out of without a really corny deus ex machina solution. The story really suffered as a result but I had already spent so much time on it, I didn't want to quit. However, I know for a lot of people who are raring to go, this advice is just detestable. Heck I even hate myself for it sometimes, so ignore me if you want ;p I know it doesn't help much for this story, anyways.

The only thing I can really add at this point is that you are your own worst critic. It really is true. Sometimes stuff you think will put your readers to sleep will enthrall them. So if you're truly out of ideas, force out something barebones and see if it takes off. You could surprise yourself.

Well, they say that talking over a problem with friends often helps, and so it is in this case. Tonight, I finished the first draft of the 'joining up' bit that gets us to the kick-butt scene. My secret? Just keep writing until you get there <g>. It's a bit like climbing a mountain - fairly tedious and tiring in places, but you know that if you just keep going, you'll reach the summit eventually.

Yvonne

I'm a bit confused.

Everyone here is confronting this thread as if 'Writer Laziness' is a bad thing. Au contraire.

I say embrace your laziness. Find those excuses not to write. It's fun and creative in its own right. Then when it gets really bad, you just claim that your retired. See how easy it is?

Tank (who is constantly amazed at how complicated most folcs try to make things)

LOL, Tank.

The problem is that if I find enough excuses not to write, I won't do it. I tend to procrastinate on things that my life or my job doesn't depend on.

My inner critic is also very strong. If I didn't make an effort to ignore it, I'd never write a thing. But that's why you have betas -- to tell you that your stuff isn't terrible, and to be honest when it is.

Y'know, I keep on meaning to contribute something serious to this thread, but whenever I think of something to say, I find that Diane's said it already

PJ
a linear have-to-write-the-in-between-bits-before-getting-to-the-fun-parts, hate-to-start-unless-I-have-some-idea-how-I-can-finish writer

A SF writer at a convention said that he often had this problem. His muse would calim that it couldn't think of anything so he should just take the day off. His solution was to just take a book and start copying. After a while the procastinationg part would decide that if it had to sit at the keyboard and type it might as well type something interesting and start coming up with story again.

Seems we are quite a bit alike :p