I love process, and I love analysis of text; I love figuring out why something works, which I find much harder than pointing out why something -didn't- <wry g>. But I'm not entirely certain that, after all is said and done, I can put the knowledge to -practical- use when it comes to my own books. I know that I try different things; I know that there are some mistakes I've made that I would avoid in future -- but I'm not entirely certain that these attempts and these failures (leaving out the question of what was a success in one's own work) aren't a by-product of just continuing to write, to tell more complicated stories.
I know writers who would die before they started to talk about process in any critical fashion -- but they've also improved structurally and tonally with time.
So I guess what I mean by that question is: Do people feel that the knowledge gained from the making of charts, graphs, and pointed observations about the work of other people become so much a part of your own writing process that it's useful?
It's useful to me as a -reviewer-. It's useful to me when I attempt to critique other people's writing (although I find, often, that knowing the writer fairly well helps a great deal in this regard, because although I -should- be considering only text, I often find that knowing on some intuitive level what the text was -trying- to do makes anything I say more accessible to the person I'm talking to). But I can't see, while floundering my way through the process of writing a lengthy novel, that it's helpful in a way I can pinpoint.
I wouldn't stop, though; I find it all fascinating.
I think I mostly hope that -something- will take; that my subconscious will some get smarter behind my back <wry g>. But for people who are capable of being more intellectual about their work in progress -while- working (and believe that I envy you more than I can possibly say, and I'm supposed to use words for a living), I'm wondering if there's a more resounding "yes!" it's all useful response.
Oh, and lnhammer? The difficulty I was having with my novel in progress was, in fact, a structural difficulty not entirely unlike the one you mentioned on your LJ yesterday. So, umm, thank you <g>.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2004-07-11 10:53 pm (UTC)I love process, and I love analysis of text; I love figuring out why something works, which I find much harder than pointing out why something -didn't- <wry g>. But I'm not entirely certain that, after all is said and done, I can put the knowledge to -practical- use when it comes to my own books. I know that I try different things; I know that there are some mistakes I've made that I would avoid in future -- but I'm not entirely certain that these attempts and these failures (leaving out the question of what was a success in one's own work) aren't a by-product of just continuing to write, to tell more complicated stories.
I know writers who would die before they started to talk about process in any critical fashion -- but they've also improved structurally and tonally with time.
So I guess what I mean by that question is: Do people feel that the knowledge gained from the making of charts, graphs, and pointed observations about the work of other people become so much a part of your own writing process that it's useful?
It's useful to me as a -reviewer-. It's useful to me when I attempt to critique other people's writing (although I find, often, that knowing the writer fairly well helps a great deal in this regard, because although I -should- be considering only text, I often find that knowing on some intuitive level what the text was -trying- to do makes anything I say more accessible to the person I'm talking to). But I can't see, while floundering my way through the process of writing a lengthy novel, that it's helpful in a way I can pinpoint.
I wouldn't stop, though; I find it all fascinating.
I think I mostly hope that -something- will take; that my subconscious will some get smarter behind my back <wry g>. But for people who are capable of being more intellectual about their work in progress -while- working (and believe that I envy you more than I can possibly say, and I'm supposed to use words for a living), I'm wondering if there's a more resounding "yes!" it's all useful response.
Oh, and