Comments on: Out Stealing Timber IX http://johnbakersblog.co.uk/out-stealing-timber-ix/ Reflections of a working writer and reader Sat, 19 May 2012 08:23:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: neil the freelancer http://johnbakersblog.co.uk/out-stealing-timber-ix/comment-page-1/#comment-110711 neil the freelancer Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:02:37 +0000 http://johnbakersblog.co.uk/?p=2490#comment-110711 "One of the problems of writing a novel is the question of continuity. One cannot know what form the novel will take until it is written, until it has revealed itself..." Do all people write this way though? Some must plan the story in full before they write? I'm writing a children's story at the moment and having the fully-formed story planned out in my head was actually the thing that finally got me motivated enough to write it down. Whereas the idea of looking at a blank page and seeing where my thoughts take me... I just know I'd never get a book finished that way. I suppose it's horses for courses, or maybe courses for horses :) <strong>jb says</strong>: Hi Neil. Maybe we are approaching the territory where we have to define what a novel is. In my time I've written in many different ways, including the kind of planning you mention. The main problem with planning "the story in full before" writing is that you find yourself cramming character and incident into a pre-defined space, which may work adequately for a formula novel, but never sits well with an imaginative novel, or with something that relies for its power on language. The argument for not planning everything out before hand is that it enables you to invoke that magical ingredient which is composed of language and memory, which is perhaps what Tennessee Williams meant when he said: "All you have to do is close your eyes and wait for the symbols." “One of the problems of writing a novel is the question of continuity. One cannot know what form the novel will take until it is written, until it has revealed itself…”

Do all people write this way though? Some must plan the story in full before they write?

I’m writing a children’s story at the moment and having the fully-formed story planned out in my head was actually the thing that finally got me motivated enough to write it down. Whereas the idea of looking at a blank page and seeing where my thoughts take me… I just know I’d never get a book finished that way.

I suppose it’s horses for courses, or maybe courses for horses :)

jb says: Hi Neil. Maybe we are approaching the territory where we have to define what a novel is. In my time I’ve written in many different ways, including the kind of planning you mention. The main problem with planning “the story in full before” writing is that you find yourself cramming character and incident into a pre-defined space, which may work adequately for a formula novel, but never sits well with an imaginative novel, or with something that relies for its power on language.
The argument for not planning everything out before hand is that it enables you to invoke that magical ingredient which is composed of language and memory, which is perhaps what Tennessee Williams meant when he said: “All you have to do is close your eyes and wait for the symbols.”

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