How purple is your prose?

Purple prose is bad. Really bad. But that doesn't mean it isn't fun to mock. Warning: this blog contains foul language, adult situations and a whiny bitch.

Monday, April 03, 2006

How I write... Or don't write, such as it is

I've been musing over the "craft" of writing (read: procrastinating) and whether I'm doing it right. See, my theory is that anything that produces results is good. Sounds simple, eh? Well, that means that sometimes, I take a 30 minute chunk of time, open up a file and purge myself onto the page. The problem with this is that since I'm a linear thinker, I'm a linear writer. Great for problem solving, not so great for capturing scenes.
One of my favorite authors, Jennifer Crusie, writes in scenes. She has these amazing, witty captivating scenes (that don't overuse adverbs) that she then strings together and uses to make magic. Me? I try that and I seem like a mental patient who forgot her meds writing her life story. Truly, it's sad.
The other drawback to being a linear writer (and arrogant person) is that I HATE revisions. I've written the damned thing once -- why do it again? Spell check the bastard, do a quick runthrough to make sure the details are in place (i.e. the heroine's father hasn't suddenly changed his name from Eric to Adam on page 83 -- strange things seem to happen on 83) and I'm good to go. This could explain why I'm not published (well, this and my failure to write a query letter and actually submit things -- but laziness is another topic).
There's no real point to this ramble, I'm not going to change, even though I'd like to. Nope, instead I have all of these amazing scenes -- stuff that makes you laugh, cry and worry about my sanity-- that will just sit unused in files marked "Skylar mob scene" or "eichen vanquish" (don't ask). Maybe someday I'll learn how to write as if I'm quilting (something else I can't do). But for now, I'll plod along, filling thirty minutes of page space with tedious details, a fourth of which will be cut. But at least this way, I have an end in sight.

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