Well, I don't consider myself a writer, though my sister is one, and I've watched her struggle with her process (her characters certainly take on a life of their own and wrest the reins of the story off in their own directions!). It's interesting to me to note the parallels with creating art, though. There's a fine balance between planning out an illustration (composition, color, values, getting all the required elements in, etc.) and keeping the initial idea fresh. I find there's a frustration in creating a carefully planned illustration versus a quick sketch because of course there's such a problem with losing the fresh spontaneity in the final piece. Different purposes demand different methods, really.
But I have managed to evolve a kind of work-around with time and experience where I end up doing roughs first, then let I try to let go and just draw the finish, and thus maintain a kind of freshness. It doesn't always work, of course, and lord knows there have been many times where I threw away the first (few) attempts and started over, because reworking is so deadly to an illustration. And some pieces flow so easily and are so fun, while other pieces just fight from the beginning, never really work and end up looking like (and go in the) garbage.
I end up throwing away parts of a picture that I love in the concept phase because those parts don't end up contributing to the whole piece, and letting go of them can be painful (I tell myself I'm putting them up for adoption). If I discover some part into the finished illustration that major parts just don't work, it means I have to start over from scratch, which strikes me as analogous to your description of vivisection versus organic creation.
And no, none of what you said sounded pretentious. :) I think the whole process of getting better with practice, finding your own unique voice or style is fascinating. Practice on all of those mechanical skills is part of what enables a good writer or artist to create a good story and make it appear effortless, even though there's such a dichotomy between the artificiality of the skills themselves versus the organic flow of a good story.
One of my own pet fixations is the desire to make the actual _method_ of creation almost invisible to the viewer so that the overall piece can impact the viewer and stand on its own; otherwise it lacks substance. I find I want this in writing, too: I want the story to flow into my brain without bludgeoning me with a heavy-handed style that interferes or intrudes too much. Don't get me wrong; I really enjoy reading well-written prose and poetry, where the flavor and quality of the words feels like a gourmet meal. And though for any message the style of art or writing certainly helps create the mood and all, I find personally I get impatient with having to work through a pretentious 'style' in order to get to the meat of the story. But maybe that's just me. I never managed to plow through James Joyce because his style was so intrusive that I found it intensely irritating. It seemed so self-indulgent somehow...
Erm, didn't mean to go on so long, and apologies if I come across as spouting obnoxious or obvious things to the writers' crowd, it isn't my intention! ;)
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branchandroot
Parallels...
Date: 2004-07-12 11:09 am (UTC)But I have managed to evolve a kind of work-around with time and experience where I end up doing roughs first, then let I try to let go and just draw the finish, and thus maintain a kind of freshness. It doesn't always work, of course, and lord knows there have been many times where I threw away the first (few) attempts and started over, because reworking is so deadly to an illustration. And some pieces flow so easily and are so fun, while other pieces just fight from the beginning, never really work and end up looking like (and go in the) garbage.
I end up throwing away parts of a picture that I love in the concept phase because those parts don't end up contributing to the whole piece, and letting go of them can be painful (I tell myself I'm putting them up for adoption). If I discover some part into the finished illustration that major parts just don't work, it means I have to start over from scratch, which strikes me as analogous to your description of vivisection versus organic creation.
And no, none of what you said sounded pretentious. :) I think the whole process of getting better with practice, finding your own unique voice or style is fascinating. Practice on all of those mechanical skills is part of what enables a good writer or artist to create a good story and make it appear effortless, even though there's such a dichotomy between the artificiality of the skills themselves versus the organic flow of a good story.
One of my own pet fixations is the desire to make the actual _method_ of creation almost invisible to the viewer so that the overall piece can impact the viewer and stand on its own; otherwise it lacks substance. I find I want this in writing, too: I want the story to flow into my brain without bludgeoning me with a heavy-handed style that interferes or intrudes too much. Don't get me wrong; I really enjoy reading well-written prose and poetry, where the flavor and quality of the words feels like a gourmet meal. And though for any message the style of art or writing certainly helps create the mood and all, I find personally I get impatient with having to work through a pretentious 'style' in order to get to the meat of the story. But maybe that's just me. I never managed to plow through James Joyce because his style was so intrusive that I found it intensely irritating. It seemed so self-indulgent somehow...
Erm, didn't mean to go on so long, and apologies if I come across as spouting obnoxious or obvious things to the writers' crowd, it isn't my intention! ;)