tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post7758886277763141837..comments2024-02-16T15:14:36.719-06:00Comments on Wet Noodle Posse: Writing Past Speed Bumps by Dianna LoveMJFredrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06881706931355203700noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-27382958096146797382008-11-18T04:25:00.000-06:002008-11-18T04:25:00.000-06:00Hi Merrillee -Glad you liked the pictures. We had ...Hi Merrillee -<BR/><BR/>Glad you liked the pictures. We had some good suggestions all around today. <BR/><BR/>Looking forward to your January book MOMMY'S HOMETOWN HERO.Dianna Lovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07436951352975780985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-30500854962280858852008-11-17T21:28:00.000-06:002008-11-17T21:28:00.000-06:00Hi Dianna,Great advice. I loved the picture of the...Hi Dianna,<BR/>Great advice. I loved the picture of the little boy at the top. How cute! I have lots of speed bumps, so I'm going to try all your suggestions. <BR/>MerrilleeMerrilleehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08617320163408645299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-86683815746973632722008-11-17T17:38:00.000-06:002008-11-17T17:38:00.000-06:00Hi Mary (Buckham, my Break Into Fiction partner :-...Hi Mary (Buckham, my Break Into Fiction partner :->) <BR/><BR/>Good suggestion about dipping into something that excites you to get back on track. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for stopping in. Glad you liked my graphics... I was feeling a bit creative.Dianna Lovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07436951352975780985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-69654325461174838722008-11-17T16:41:00.000-06:002008-11-17T16:41:00.000-06:00Dianna ~~Great topic and great approach to it! Wri...Dianna ~~<BR/><BR/>Great topic and great approach to it! Writing is a craft, a creative endeavor and a career all rolled together and all of which can cause speedbumps that have nothing to do with one another. Sometimes I think the turtle has the right idea by going slow but steady, easing up the pressure [a bit]. I find it helpful to dip into something that excites me, that creates passion -- stepping away from the page long enough to refuel before dipping back in.<BR/>Thanks again for some great thoughts and I love the graphics too!<BR/><BR/>~~ Mary B :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-27944468531169840392008-11-17T15:29:00.000-06:002008-11-17T15:29:00.000-06:00Thanks, Diana! I'm so glad you liked it! I think...Thanks, Diana! I'm so glad you liked it! I think love scenes are much more subtly complex than we give them credit for being. The emotion appears on the surface to be passion, but there's often much more that has gone unsaid. I find I really have to go back and look long and hard at what's going on in the hero and heroine's minds. And when I understand what's fueling the passion on all levels, I can really move through the scene.Delle Jacobshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09551688823035092802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-57965885726840709472008-11-17T14:25:00.000-06:002008-11-17T14:25:00.000-06:00Hi Delle -I can see where your approach worked won...Hi Delle -<BR/><BR/>I can see where your approach worked wonderfully in writing SINS OF THE HEART. (great title, too!)<BR/><BR/>I do the same thing in my first draft and generally leave a love scene for when I'm not churning so hard on the plot, suspense and secondary plots and so many other things we focus on during the first run through. <BR/><BR/>I feel like I expend so much energy building the tension to the love scene that I'm drained by the time I reach it. So to keep that scene fresh and different I like to write it when I've been away from those pages for a while. That way I get to enjoy the build up almost like the reader does for the first time and can leisurely spend an entire day, or two, writing that one scene with a better understanding of the characters. <BR/><BR/>LOL about parking right on top of a speed bump, but thanks for parking here today.Dianna Lovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07436951352975780985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-65102472487769818082008-11-17T12:51:00.000-06:002008-11-17T12:51:00.000-06:00I meant to add, this is really helpful right now b...I meant to add, this is really helpful right now because I seem to have stopped and parked right on top of a speed bump today.Delle Jacobshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09551688823035092802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-51588680682423693652008-11-17T12:49:00.000-06:002008-11-17T12:49:00.000-06:00Great way to frame the problem, Dianna! I like th...Great way to frame the problem, Dianna! I like the visual, visceral feeling of hitting the speed bump. A real jar that slows you down, but not as much as a brick wall.<BR/><BR/>My most common speed bumps are love scenes and transitions. That's where I use lots of my XXXXX's in the first draft. I think this is because these are the places I've given least thought in my pre-plotting. Love scenes fool me because I've imagined them, but have thought of them more as visuals than as words. And transitions I've just skipped over entirely.Delle Jacobshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09551688823035092802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-74030462685053861002008-11-17T11:33:00.000-06:002008-11-17T11:33:00.000-06:00Hi Mo -When I had to cut pages on an upcoming nove...Hi Mo -<BR/><BR/>When I had to cut pages on an upcoming novella, you were the one who suggested cutting a character and pointed out that it would up the conflict. Brilliant suggestion that worked very well and is why I included the point about adding or deleting characters to get past a speed bump. It definitely changes the dynamics of a scene. <BR/><BR/>I love your Southern humor short story in the latest Mossy Creek Series.Dianna Lovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07436951352975780985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-4879504456878553932008-11-17T11:30:00.000-06:002008-11-17T11:30:00.000-06:00Yes, taking a walk is a good way to jog new though...Yes, taking a walk is a good way to jog new thoughts, Jacqueline.Dianna Lovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07436951352975780985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-53457595173319182432008-11-17T11:00:00.000-06:002008-11-17T11:00:00.000-06:00Dianna,I have to second your suggestions of changi...Dianna,<BR/>I have to second your suggestions of changing POV, if you're writing in 3rd person, and to save your cuts in another file. I'm one of those writers who has a hard time parting with a scene I've sweated over. Putting it in a separate file makes me feel like I'll recycle it some day, even if I never do!<BR/><BR/>Christine,<BR/>I'll echo Dianna and Diane. Keep going, then revise those transitions.Mo Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13644902211036445323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-78065503730871073892008-11-17T10:20:00.000-06:002008-11-17T10:20:00.000-06:00Hi, Dianna and All,Sometimes I just have to put th...Hi, Dianna and All,<BR/><BR/>Sometimes I just have to put the writing aside and go for a walk. I find it clears my head and then I work much better. <BR/><BR/>Jacqueline Seewald<BR/>THE INFERNO COLLECTION, Five Star/Gale hardcover, Wheeler large print<BR/>THE DROWNING POOL Five Star, coming in Feb. 2008Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-72996120291426980982008-11-17T09:22:00.000-06:002008-11-17T09:22:00.000-06:00Diane, Having read your books like SCANDALIZING TH...Diane, Having read your books like SCANDALIZING THE TON, the story flows so well it seems as though you always know what is coming next. <BR/><BR/>It's funny about the "saving the original scene or pages." While Mary Buckham and I were teaching Break Into Fiction classes, I figured out why on occasion a student would have a hard time fixing their story even when they realized what was not working. They didn't want to tamper with words they were very attached to - easy for any of us to understand. <BR/><BR/>Once I sat back an analyzed it, I realized that even though we "know" logically that we can save the file we sometimes need to be reminded of that. So I always suggest to students at the start of a class to put their original story file somewhere safe and open a new file they can treat like a playground where their muse can run free. <BR/><BR/>I pften hear that simple step is very liberating for them. I'm thankful for how much writers are always willing to share with each other, particularly among our Noodlers.<BR/><BR/>Speaking of - thanks for the help getting my blog in shape for today, too!Dianna Lovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07436951352975780985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-10665343241876862762008-11-17T09:02:00.000-06:002008-11-17T09:02:00.000-06:00Christine -Page count is the bane of writers most ...Christine -<BR/>Page count is the bane of writers most days. You have the right idea to finish the story first then worry about the transitions (if it's something you have to go back to work on) then worry about the page count.<BR/><BR/>It's so hard to keep a flow on your story when you have to stop to tinker. And I bet you'll find once you finish it, put it away for a little break and then go back that you'll see areas to tighten and what the transitions need. <BR/><BR/>Great break at the end of the day and week. I like something at the end of each day that feels like a pat on the head a glass of wine is usually it for me, too. :)<BR/><BR/>Thanks for sharing your speed bump.Dianna Lovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07436951352975780985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-52092810589932333282008-11-17T08:52:00.000-06:002008-11-17T08:52:00.000-06:00Christine, I think you are very wise to just push ...Christine, I think you are very wise to just push through and fix later! You don't want to get stopped by trying to figure out what will make smooth transitions. Those fixes are so much easier at the revising stage!<BR/><BR/>Dianna, These are such helpful hints! I am one of those linear writers, so I probably can't write a future scene, but going backwards works for me. So does the so-simple hint of saving the non-working scene in a separate file and trying something different. I rarely go back to that scene but it gives me more security to save it rather than simply delete it or revise it.Diane Gastonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14770373530197339170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18101458.post-80549162513808644612008-11-17T08:33:00.000-06:002008-11-17T08:33:00.000-06:00I am working through the page count speed bump tod...I am working through the page count speed bump today. My critique partner emailed me regarding my entry and said the scenes read great, but the transitions are choppy. Argh. I am trying to get the crux of the story squeezed into a finite amount of space and now I am asked to add more? Any rate, rather that fuss over it, I am finishing the the pages I am working on, reprinting it and reading it for myself one more time, and then I will address the transition dilemma. <BR/><BR/>My reward? <BR/><BR/>I always have a little wine at the end of the day. At the end of the week, I will be able to focus on my company and plan the meals. I love to cook so it is a great thing for me to look foward to doing.<BR/><BR/>Back to the trenches I go.Christinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05383099148014297450noreply@blogger.com