Comments on: Three Simple Questions: Question 1 https://www.busybird.com.au/2017/03/three-simple-questions-question-1/ Tell a good story. Mon, 20 Mar 2017 16:38:10 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Isolde Martin https://www.busybird.com.au/2017/03/three-simple-questions-question-1/#comment-77 Mon, 20 Mar 2017 16:38:10 +0000 http://www.busybird.com.au/?p=8209#comment-77 I don’t plan on first drafts. I conceptualize and “write” my story in my head. That is sometimes painful and frustrating. When I feel that this mental draft is what I want then I start writing, day by day. Of course I have to re-read what I wrote before in order to pick up the thread again. That is a place where I often re-write or correct. When I am finished I hand my manuscript to relevant and competent people to read. I listen closely to their feedback and reactions. Again, now I might re-write as well. Next comes the editor. And yes, I’ll re-write if necessary. The creative process can be painful. But a story must be written and read.

]]> By: Marie Lukic: author of Galaxy Trotters https://www.busybird.com.au/2017/03/three-simple-questions-question-1/#comment-76 Thu, 16 Mar 2017 05:34:56 +0000 http://www.busybird.com.au/?p=8209#comment-76 I liken the process to the development of a photo with successive sections, layers, colours, and textures I discover in the development process. I begin by finding a voice, a word, or a situation. Unconsciously, I give the voice (character) a problem or two, and catch a few thought waves I surf in by exploring the terrain of the character’s experience and interaction in a place, with a stylised atmosphere that makes it unique, so it reflects the character’s perception. For first draft–that’s where I am now, not where I was when I began writing years ago. I would now hope that the limbs of the narrative structure emerge. I particularly love writing in my zany, ridiculous voice, which is very easy, humorous and witty, if self-indulgent and filled with contradictions. The draft grows like a plant, with each limb of the plant attracting another branch, and the stems grow buds, that may eventualy bloom, perhaps. That’s first draft. Second draft is time for a different process.

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nd next I revise and give definition to detail. Plot is often the most difficult to tension for me, and arrives in chunks, so that the immediacy and spontaneity of the work remains in tact. In all, the process of the first draft is an act of faith.

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