FOCUS!

This post is a sort of BONUS post since I won’t be writing about my usual class related subjects. Please, read on:

It is quite evident that writing and reading are closely related. The two tasks are taught simultaneously, and the two hobbies often go hand-in-hand. My love of reading blossomed around the same time that I started writing. And as my writing has become my focus for school I’m finding that the more I write the more I crave books. Unfortunately the combination of writing and literature classes don’t lend themselves very well for personal reading (although the most recent book we read in Women & Literature definitely would be something I’d gladly read in my free time). All of my free time seems to be sucked up by homework: brainstorming stories or reading a few books/stories a week. Don’t get me wrong this is almost (yes, almost) the best kind of homework in existence but homework is homework, especially when it means getting desperately behind on your favorite television show and having to continuously tell your friends you can’t hang out.

Now that I’ve painted the miserable truth let me add that there is hope, a loophole. One aspect of my day that is inevitable is driving. I drive to school, to work, to church, to visit my sister (on those rare occasions that I have finished my homework, or just put it all off until Friday), to the grocery store. In short I spend approximately 3-4 hours in my car every week. Time that can be well spent with the little help of one of the great inventions: AUDIOBOOKS!

Even though I had to put my paperback version of Sense and Sensibility down for the semester I was able to pick up Ted Dekker’s Black, in CD format, from the library. I finally finished and would like to share some things I’ve learned about writing and how I plan on applying those things to my own writing:

First I’d like to note that it’s really difficult to pay attention to the ‘writing’ of a story when it’s being read to you. It’s far easier to allow yourself to just be swept away by the story. However considering that I wasn’t distracted by any of the word choice I’d say that Dekker must’ve done something right in that respect.

Something that Dekker struggled with (and me, too) is unnecessarily elongating certain scenes of the story. There were a few instances where one activity, one scene, one moment seemed to take forever. And some of the details weren’t even that important to the story (I know because while driving during these boring stretches I unintentionally zoned out and was still able to understand what was happening in the plot). In general this made the middle of the story seem to last forever. In the beginning we’re being introduced to the characters and the conflict, so its interesting. In the end we’ve reached the climax and it’s exciting. But the middle was only interesting in a handful of parts.

We recently had to write a short story for class and I totally failed in the conflict department. As a reader I think things are most interesting when there is conflict, tension, something really happening that moves us ahead, so as a writer I need to learn to include that in my writing. Each scene that I write should be driven by the question of how it relates to the plot, how its pushing the story ahead. When I lose focus of the plot as a writer, it is only natural that the reader will too, and the likelihood that they’ll want to keep reading will be lessened.  So in short, I need to learn to keep my focus on my plot, its conflict and tension, all throughout the process of writing. 

-J