Comments on: July 4th: (Momentary) Freedom from Self-Consciousness http://johnesimpson.com/blog/2009/07/july-4th-momentary-freedom-from-self-consciousness/ Ridiculous Pursuits, Solemn Matters Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:10:32 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: John http://johnesimpson.com/blog/2009/07/july-4th-momentary-freedom-from-self-consciousness/comment-page-1/#comment-7316 John Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:21:34 +0000 http://johnesimpson.com/blog/?p=5014#comment-7316 Squirrel: The trajectory, yes, that was the problem all right. Not that there was none, but that there were <em>too many</em>. It felt like trying to define the "trajectory" of a skyrocket, from the instant that it bursts. From what I've read online, your stories could very well begin "Once upon a time..." The "happily ever afters," well, maybe not those so much. :) Jules: Ambivalence is the cross I hate bearing more than any other. It's so... so... Well, I can't really make up my mind how to end that, but suspect you know what I mean.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('7316','John'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('7316','John','Squirrel: The trajectory, yes, that was the problem all right. Not that there was none, but that there were <em>too many<\/em>. It felt like trying to define the \"trajectory\" of a skyrocket, from the instant that it bursts.\r\n\r\nFrom what I\'ve read online, your stories could very well begin \"Once upon a time...\" The \"happily ever afters,\" well, maybe not those so much. :)\r\n\r\nJules: Ambivalence is the cross I hate bearing more than any other. It\'s so... so... Well, I can\'t really make up my mind how to end that, but suspect you know what I mean.'); return false;">Quote</a></div> Squirrel: The trajectory, yes, that was the problem all right. Not that there was none, but that there were too many. It felt like trying to define the “trajectory” of a skyrocket, from the instant that it bursts.

From what I’ve read online, your stories could very well begin “Once upon a time…” The “happily ever afters,” well, maybe not those so much. :)

Jules: Ambivalence is the cross I hate bearing more than any other. It’s so… so… Well, I can’t really make up my mind how to end that, but suspect you know what I mean.

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]]> By: jules http://johnesimpson.com/blog/2009/07/july-4th-momentary-freedom-from-self-consciousness/comment-page-1/#comment-7232 jules Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:33:40 +0000 http://johnesimpson.com/blog/?p=5014#comment-7232 Doh. This is what happens when I get behind on blog-reading, though I fall squarely into the don’t-want-to-know-anything-about-what-happens-in-the-book-until-the-whole-thing-is-available camp anyway.
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]]> By: Querulous Squirrel http://johnesimpson.com/blog/2009/07/july-4th-momentary-freedom-from-self-consciousness/comment-page-1/#comment-7230 Querulous Squirrel Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:26:25 +0000 http://johnesimpson.com/blog/?p=5014#comment-7230 I have been illiterate and on Mars. This sounds like an interesting project. I may try it myself, with short-short versions of some of my long-long stories. If you can't summarize it, it has no trajectory.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('7230','Querulous Squirrel'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('7230','Querulous Squirrel','I have been illiterate and on Mars. This sounds like an interesting project. I may try it myself, with short-short versions of some of my long-long stories. If you can\'t summarize it, it has no trajectory.'); return false;">Quote</a></div> I have been illiterate and on Mars. This sounds like an interesting project. I may try it myself, with short-short versions of some of my long-long stories. If you can’t summarize it, it has no trajectory.
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]]> By: Janet McConnaughey http://johnesimpson.com/blog/2009/07/july-4th-momentary-freedom-from-self-consciousness/comment-page-1/#comment-7195 Janet McConnaughey Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:00:05 +0000 http://johnesimpson.com/blog/?p=5014#comment-7195 John - If you feel like e-mailing it my way, you've got my address. :) janet<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('7195','Janet McConnaughey'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('7195','Janet McConnaughey','John - \r\n\r\nIf you feel like e-mailing it my way, you\'ve got my address. :) \r\n\r\njanet'); return false;">Quote</a></div> John –

If you feel like e-mailing it my way, you’ve got my address. :)

janet

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]]> By: John http://johnesimpson.com/blog/2009/07/july-4th-momentary-freedom-from-self-consciousness/comment-page-1/#comment-7186 John Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:43:54 +0000 http://johnesimpson.com/blog/?p=5014#comment-7186 Darc: I love real-life stories about "a lightbulb went on over his head" moments. Think I'll remember this one about the 10-minute "Cinderalla" for a long time; thanks for sharing it! Early reports from the field are that my "fairy tale" version is uneven. One way to describe the reaction would be to say that I didn't consistently stick to the "this is a fairy tale" style, but sometimes dove down into details, referred to characters' motivations, and so on. So if you DO download it, bear in mind that it's not, like, bang-on target. Frank: Hey, thanks for stopping by! I think one message of both your and my experiences might be something along the lines of, <em>Write the damn story before it turns 14</em>. ;)<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('7186','John'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('7186','John','Darc: I love real-life stories about \"a lightbulb went on over his head\" moments. Think I\'ll remember this one about the 10-minute \"Cinderalla\" for a long time; thanks for sharing it!\r\n\r\nEarly reports from the field are that my \"fairy tale\" version is uneven. One way to describe the reaction would be to say that I didn\'t consistently stick to the \"this is a fairy tale\" style, but sometimes dove down into details, referred to characters\' motivations, and so on. So if you DO download it, bear in mind that it\'s not, like, bang-on target.\r\n\r\nFrank: Hey, thanks for stopping by! I think one message of both your and my experiences might be something along the lines of, <em>Write the damn story before it turns 14<\/em>. ;)'); return false;">Quote</a></div> Darc: I love real-life stories about “a lightbulb went on over his head” moments. Think I’ll remember this one about the 10-minute “Cinderalla” for a long time; thanks for sharing it!

Early reports from the field are that my “fairy tale” version is uneven. One way to describe the reaction would be to say that I didn’t consistently stick to the “this is a fairy tale” style, but sometimes dove down into details, referred to characters’ motivations, and so on. So if you DO download it, bear in mind that it’s not, like, bang-on target.

Frank: Hey, thanks for stopping by! I think one message of both your and my experiences might be something along the lines of, Write the damn story before it turns 14. ;)

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]]> By: Frank Marcopolos http://johnesimpson.com/blog/2009/07/july-4th-momentary-freedom-from-self-consciousness/comment-page-1/#comment-7175 Frank Marcopolos Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:10:01 +0000 http://johnesimpson.com/blog/?p=5014#comment-7175 Y'know, I've had a similar problem with my current WIP in that its origins were over 15 years ago. But I worked past it, so it can be done!<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('7175','Frank Marcopolos'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('7175','Frank Marcopolos','Y\'know, I\'ve had a similar problem with my current WIP in that its origins were over 15 years ago. But I worked past it, so it can be done!'); return false;">Quote</a></div> Y’know, I’ve had a similar problem with my current WIP in that its origins were over 15 years ago. But I worked past it, so it can be done!
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]]> By: DarcKnyt http://johnesimpson.com/blog/2009/07/july-4th-momentary-freedom-from-self-consciousness/comment-page-1/#comment-7173 DarcKnyt Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:29:18 +0000 http://johnesimpson.com/blog/?p=5014#comment-7173 This is a good idea. It's a clever way of beginning the process of telling your story in a new, fresh way which just might open up some things about it you didn't see before, and I'm all for that. I read a blog once where the blogger drove his daughter to school every morning, a trip of exactly ten minutes. She wanted to hear a story in that time, and when he asked what story she wanted to hear, she requested Cinderella. So every day he practiced telling all of the Cinderella story in ten minutes, from "Once up a time ..." to "... and they lived happily ever after." He got details jumbled and out of order at first, but eventually, he got the story down to an art and was able to tell it (with shifting details to keep it fresh) in those ten minutes. He then had the idea to do this with his fiction. He found he <i>couldn't</i> do it. He wasn't able to compress his own story into a ten-minute telling (used a timer for this exercise, the blogger did). He found he kept either going over time or missing important story aspects. So he started writing it down, to see where it led him. Eventually, he was able to identify huge gaps in plot and a few story arc problems by getting his story down to a ten-minute storytelling version. After a few fixes, he was able to write the novel and feel very confident in the content. SO ... LOOOOOOOONNNG story short, I think this is -- like the other gent's idea -- a very good exercise in storytelling, story-wrangling and plot strengthening. I might just go download that pup and see what it looks like.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('7173','DarcKnyt'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('7173','DarcKnyt','This is a good idea. It\'s a clever way of beginning the process of telling your story in a new, fresh way which just might open up some things about it you didn\'t see before, and I\'m all for that.\r\n\r\nI read a blog once where the blogger drove his daughter to school every morning, a trip of exactly ten minutes. She wanted to hear a story in that time, and when he asked what story she wanted to hear, she requested Cinderella.\r\n\r\nSo every day he practiced telling all of the Cinderella story in ten minutes, from \"Once up a time ...\" to \"... and they lived happily ever after.\" He got details jumbled and out of order at first, but eventually, he got the story down to an art and was able to tell it (with shifting details to keep it fresh) in those ten minutes.\r\n\r\nHe then had the idea to do this with his fiction. He found he <i>couldn\'t<\/i> do it. He wasn\'t able to compress his own story into a ten-minute telling (used a timer for this exercise, the blogger did). He found he kept either going over time or missing important story aspects. So he started writing it down, to see where it led him.\r\n\r\nEventually, he was able to identify huge gaps in plot and a few story arc problems by getting his story down to a ten-minute storytelling version. After a few fixes, he was able to write the novel and feel very confident in the content.\r\n\r\nSO ... LOOOOOOOONNNG story short, I think this is -- like the other gent\'s idea -- a very good exercise in storytelling, story-wrangling and plot strengthening.\r\n\r\nI might just go download that pup and see what it looks like.'); return false;">Quote</a></div> This is a good idea. It’s a clever way of beginning the process of telling your story in a new, fresh way which just might open up some things about it you didn’t see before, and I’m all for that.

I read a blog once where the blogger drove his daughter to school every morning, a trip of exactly ten minutes. She wanted to hear a story in that time, and when he asked what story she wanted to hear, she requested Cinderella.

So every day he practiced telling all of the Cinderella story in ten minutes, from “Once up a time …” to “… and they lived happily ever after.” He got details jumbled and out of order at first, but eventually, he got the story down to an art and was able to tell it (with shifting details to keep it fresh) in those ten minutes.

He then had the idea to do this with his fiction. He found he couldn’t do it. He wasn’t able to compress his own story into a ten-minute telling (used a timer for this exercise, the blogger did). He found he kept either going over time or missing important story aspects. So he started writing it down, to see where it led him.

Eventually, he was able to identify huge gaps in plot and a few story arc problems by getting his story down to a ten-minute storytelling version. After a few fixes, he was able to write the novel and feel very confident in the content.

SO … LOOOOOOOONNNG story short, I think this is — like the other gent’s idea — a very good exercise in storytelling, story-wrangling and plot strengthening.

I might just go download that pup and see what it looks like.

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