Thank you for taking the time to put this together. It's incredibly helpful seeing behind the curtain like this. Especially for a story still so fresh.
in many ways even more brilliant than the story, from the perspective of a writer. i am guilty of wanting it to become dark and for there to be horror but I really must have a word with myself about this inner voice of mine because the story of redemption you wove was better than the dark versions i was imagining and more true to the human spirit and to the Burgess' character. the power in him from the loss of his child comes from his love for his child... for his family and so the chance to rescue a child... in Paul... and make a family for Naomi is of course who he really is.
huge thanks for writing this! you dont know how influential this has been for my journey as a writer.
That's a brilliant little workshop - I can well imagine attending a seminar discussing all this stuff, especially as a massive fan of narrative theory myself.
I also very much liked what you said about 'writer's block', and how it's actually more often (at least in my own experience) 'writer's panic' - that makes a whole load of sense to me! And your remedy for it, taking a step back and letting your semi-conscious (or the protagonist) do the work for you. Which is sort of like climb out of the car, smoke a ciggy, then try and start it up again. Or wait for a kind passing stranger, perhaps. That kind of thing.
A visual artist is taught (repeatedly) about the importance of taking a step back from their canvas/work. The change in perspective is everything there too. If you’re still ‘stuck’ then turning it upside down enables you to see the form rather than the subject matter. ‘The wood from the trees’. Smartphones give us the ability to take a photograph of our work and change it to black and white, or isolate an area etc. Non commissioned work can be shelved if we can’t feel where it needs to go next. Have a change of subject matter or media. Come back to it fresh. Leave it to marinate in our subconscious
I’m also reminded of the Brené Brown quote about how “unused creativity is not benign”. Brrr! Such a fascinating subject.
Thanks for the fascinating look at the Reid Method! I, for one, will happily play the role of guinea pig for any experimental product of said Method!!!
I went back and finished reading the rest of the story before reading this essay. This is a great story. I love how it all came together at the end. I love stories that express what we hope for; the redemption of humans and the possibility of true forgiveness.
I love this thoughtful deconstruction of the story, examining each part of a beautiful machine. It is vastly interesting to me to look into other writers’ processes and struggles with their material. So inspiring!
I’ve read more than one writer describe how they often feel as though they’re somehow channeling someone or something else, rather than actually creating something themselves. Stephen King has mentioned it more than once, JK Rowling described Harry Potter as having “walked into her head fully formed.”
Visual artists generally need to warm up before starting/continuing on/with a piece, so that they can ‘get into the zone’.
…and I’m off on a wandering ramble about the endlessly fascinating subject of creativity.
Thanks SE, as usual the fruits of your writing endeavours are appreciated and enjoyed.
In general, all of my serial works--including this one--are written post-by-post instead of all up front. For me, this is the easiest way to maintain the serial structure and stay accountable to finishing it. But at some point I would like to try writing a piece all at once and breaking it up, just to see how that would change the way I work. Always up for an experiment!
So interesting to see how different we all are in some things, yet the same in others.
Thank you 🤩 this is really helpful as well as thought provoking.
I’m reminded of the students in my dorm at college who’d keep me awake throughout the night before a paper/assignment was due. Most of them seemed to leave everything until the last minute. Anxiety about not getting it done in time would freeze me up. I’m realising that this is due to many factors, not least the fact that I’m pretty sure I have an AuDHD brain…the control freak perfectionism is constantly at war with the easily distracted procrastinator. So having a story uncompleted ahead of a weekly publishing schedule would probably set me up for either failure or guarantee a bunch of 12 hour writing frenzies.
…Actually, I’m forcing myself to acknowledge that my creativity invariably involves ignoring/losing track of time so…🤪🤣
I loved all of this so. freaking. much. I was desperately hoping for redemption (or at least some form of peace) for Burgess in the end, and you absolutely delivered -- thank you for taking the time to expand the story so you could give us that type of ending! I also really loved your analysis and explanation of your writerly choices. I have often facilitated similar discussions in a literature classroom (without the author present!), and reading about your decision-making process was even more fun and illuminating. Looking forward to reading other experiments and de-briefs from you! 🌻
Looper, yay! I love that movie.
Thank you for taking the time to put this together. It's incredibly helpful seeing behind the curtain like this. Especially for a story still so fresh.
in many ways even more brilliant than the story, from the perspective of a writer. i am guilty of wanting it to become dark and for there to be horror but I really must have a word with myself about this inner voice of mine because the story of redemption you wove was better than the dark versions i was imagining and more true to the human spirit and to the Burgess' character. the power in him from the loss of his child comes from his love for his child... for his family and so the chance to rescue a child... in Paul... and make a family for Naomi is of course who he really is.
huge thanks for writing this! you dont know how influential this has been for my journey as a writer.
That's a brilliant little workshop - I can well imagine attending a seminar discussing all this stuff, especially as a massive fan of narrative theory myself.
I also very much liked what you said about 'writer's block', and how it's actually more often (at least in my own experience) 'writer's panic' - that makes a whole load of sense to me! And your remedy for it, taking a step back and letting your semi-conscious (or the protagonist) do the work for you. Which is sort of like climb out of the car, smoke a ciggy, then try and start it up again. Or wait for a kind passing stranger, perhaps. That kind of thing.
A visual artist is taught (repeatedly) about the importance of taking a step back from their canvas/work. The change in perspective is everything there too. If you’re still ‘stuck’ then turning it upside down enables you to see the form rather than the subject matter. ‘The wood from the trees’. Smartphones give us the ability to take a photograph of our work and change it to black and white, or isolate an area etc. Non commissioned work can be shelved if we can’t feel where it needs to go next. Have a change of subject matter or media. Come back to it fresh. Leave it to marinate in our subconscious
I’m also reminded of the Brené Brown quote about how “unused creativity is not benign”. Brrr! Such a fascinating subject.
Thanks for the fascinating look at the Reid Method! I, for one, will happily play the role of guinea pig for any experimental product of said Method!!!
I went back and finished reading the rest of the story before reading this essay. This is a great story. I love how it all came together at the end. I love stories that express what we hope for; the redemption of humans and the possibility of true forgiveness.
Interesting process, really liked this essay. Sci-Fi seems always a harder genre to write to me, than any other so kudos to you for giving it a shot!
Super interesting. Thank you for doing this
Such a generous post, helping us to see how you crafted this story. Thank you.
I love this thoughtful deconstruction of the story, examining each part of a beautiful machine. It is vastly interesting to me to look into other writers’ processes and struggles with their material. So inspiring!
It fascinated me to learn the process writers choose!
Thank you for letting us in on your writing style. It's always interesting to see how someone else wrote a story.
Love it Sally. Thanks for pointing to your inspiration 🙏❤️
I’ve read more than one writer describe how they often feel as though they’re somehow channeling someone or something else, rather than actually creating something themselves. Stephen King has mentioned it more than once, JK Rowling described Harry Potter as having “walked into her head fully formed.”
Visual artists generally need to warm up before starting/continuing on/with a piece, so that they can ‘get into the zone’.
…and I’m off on a wandering ramble about the endlessly fascinating subject of creativity.
Thanks SE, as usual the fruits of your writing endeavours are appreciated and enjoyed.
Excellent post! Found myself nodding along at parts of the process which is similar to mine, particularly in the story I'm writing just now.
There is one question I am curious about; did you write the full story and make sure it was ready to share? Or did you write it week to week?
Thank you so much, Chris!
In general, all of my serial works--including this one--are written post-by-post instead of all up front. For me, this is the easiest way to maintain the serial structure and stay accountable to finishing it. But at some point I would like to try writing a piece all at once and breaking it up, just to see how that would change the way I work. Always up for an experiment!
That's really good to know! Thanks for answering.
So interesting to see how different we all are in some things, yet the same in others.
Thank you 🤩 this is really helpful as well as thought provoking.
I’m reminded of the students in my dorm at college who’d keep me awake throughout the night before a paper/assignment was due. Most of them seemed to leave everything until the last minute. Anxiety about not getting it done in time would freeze me up. I’m realising that this is due to many factors, not least the fact that I’m pretty sure I have an AuDHD brain…the control freak perfectionism is constantly at war with the easily distracted procrastinator. So having a story uncompleted ahead of a weekly publishing schedule would probably set me up for either failure or guarantee a bunch of 12 hour writing frenzies.
…Actually, I’m forcing myself to acknowledge that my creativity invariably involves ignoring/losing track of time so…🤪🤣
I loved all of this so. freaking. much. I was desperately hoping for redemption (or at least some form of peace) for Burgess in the end, and you absolutely delivered -- thank you for taking the time to expand the story so you could give us that type of ending! I also really loved your analysis and explanation of your writerly choices. I have often facilitated similar discussions in a literature classroom (without the author present!), and reading about your decision-making process was even more fun and illuminating. Looking forward to reading other experiments and de-briefs from you! 🌻