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Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Step Away From the Box.
You know that box. Yeah, that’s right. That box that you keep all nice and neat. You stay within the lines and never overstep your boundaries. Even you’re surprised how well kept it is. Stop stroking it. I’m not in this for the show!
Don’t shake your head at me. I swear it’s not the rum. Hellion hid the rum. Something about rationing and all that jazz. Oh la. So I started thinking about boxes and telling Hellion. All that talking about boxes and Hellion broke out the rum again. But I didn’t have any of it. Okay maybe just a drop but it gets me outside of the box and gets my seasick head a movin’. I’m a piratess, you can’t expect me to have standards.
Here’s the thing. I know you have one. It’s the one that you keep all those preconceive notions and perfect straight lines. It’s the one that when you come to a scene where you’re even the slightest bit uncomfortable with writing, you make sure you dot your i’s and cross your t’s. Wenches it’s time to walk away from that box of expected scenes. It’s time to move out of your comfort zone and write something that makes your toes curl, your hair raise, or scare you into wetting yourself. (Though if you’re a pirate, like us, you’ll just reach for the rum bottle and drink yourself into the oblivion and skip that whole nasty wetting yourself step.)
Once when I was a wee writing pirate (almost two years ago now. WOW!) I wrote a scene to this day will cause me to cringe. Not to mention how red in the cheeks I get when I think of the countless people who’ve read it and thought to themselves, “This pirate has just a little problem with reality.” The scene was towards the end of my first fiction piece and it was rather brutal. More than rather brutal. It was a torture scene between my heroine and the super baddy guy. I stepped out of the box (really I didn’t know I had a box to step out of, but bear with me) and smudged the lines so that I could never climb back into it. Writing is about freedom. And if you’re afraid to step outside of your comfort zone, the box will be your foe in your journey as a writer. To this day, it might be some of my best writing, no matter how gutsy of a move it really was. I had no idea at the time that it was, I was just telling my story how I saw fit. And sometimes, stepping out of that box is just what a scene calls for.
As you know, this month is National Novel Writing Month (and if you didn’t know, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! Not on this blog that’s for sure! Landlubbers… Yeesh.) For the month of November I’ve promised to blog about NaNo to keep us all thinking about our writing and promising to make deadlines and meet goals. Speaking of goals, if you’re participating in NaNo, try writing something you normally wouldn’t write. Just to have some fun. NaNo is a lot of pressure, and all that writing can kill your writing spirit. So to keep your spirit high, mix it up. Step outside of that box. It’s okay to walk away from it and not look back. It’s a box. It will still be there when you return. It will be in the same spot.
When you step away from that box (Hellion, put that box down!), what kind of scene can you imagine writing that would be out of the ordinary for your writing style? Do you excel at writing sweet tender scenes and just once want to take a ride on the wild side? This is your time to shine with your bad self! Tell us all about your out of box experience that you've had or wish you could have!
Don’t shake your head at me. I swear it’s not the rum. Hellion hid the rum. Something about rationing and all that jazz. Oh la. So I started thinking about boxes and telling Hellion. All that talking about boxes and Hellion broke out the rum again. But I didn’t have any of it. Okay maybe just a drop but it gets me outside of the box and gets my seasick head a movin’. I’m a piratess, you can’t expect me to have standards.
Here’s the thing. I know you have one. It’s the one that you keep all those preconceive notions and perfect straight lines. It’s the one that when you come to a scene where you’re even the slightest bit uncomfortable with writing, you make sure you dot your i’s and cross your t’s. Wenches it’s time to walk away from that box of expected scenes. It’s time to move out of your comfort zone and write something that makes your toes curl, your hair raise, or scare you into wetting yourself. (Though if you’re a pirate, like us, you’ll just reach for the rum bottle and drink yourself into the oblivion and skip that whole nasty wetting yourself step.)
Once when I was a wee writing pirate (almost two years ago now. WOW!) I wrote a scene to this day will cause me to cringe. Not to mention how red in the cheeks I get when I think of the countless people who’ve read it and thought to themselves, “This pirate has just a little problem with reality.” The scene was towards the end of my first fiction piece and it was rather brutal. More than rather brutal. It was a torture scene between my heroine and the super baddy guy. I stepped out of the box (really I didn’t know I had a box to step out of, but bear with me) and smudged the lines so that I could never climb back into it. Writing is about freedom. And if you’re afraid to step outside of your comfort zone, the box will be your foe in your journey as a writer. To this day, it might be some of my best writing, no matter how gutsy of a move it really was. I had no idea at the time that it was, I was just telling my story how I saw fit. And sometimes, stepping out of that box is just what a scene calls for.
As you know, this month is National Novel Writing Month (and if you didn’t know, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! Not on this blog that’s for sure! Landlubbers… Yeesh.) For the month of November I’ve promised to blog about NaNo to keep us all thinking about our writing and promising to make deadlines and meet goals. Speaking of goals, if you’re participating in NaNo, try writing something you normally wouldn’t write. Just to have some fun. NaNo is a lot of pressure, and all that writing can kill your writing spirit. So to keep your spirit high, mix it up. Step outside of that box. It’s okay to walk away from it and not look back. It’s a box. It will still be there when you return. It will be in the same spot.
When you step away from that box (Hellion, put that box down!), what kind of scene can you imagine writing that would be out of the ordinary for your writing style? Do you excel at writing sweet tender scenes and just once want to take a ride on the wild side? This is your time to shine with your bad self! Tell us all about your out of box experience that you've had or wish you could have!
Labels:
boxes,
nanowrimo; landlubbers,
no panties,
Rum
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19 comments:
My out of box writing scene is an action scene. I can write fluff and emotion with the best of them, but when it comes to writing suspense and hair raising action I freak. Not that I haven't done it a time or two, but I've never done it justice. I've never let my hair down so to speak and put it all out there.
And to be honest the Nano thing scares me to death. I know it's not about quality it's about quantity but I can't let go of my anal side long enough to grasp the concept...*sheesh*
And Sin when I read that scene in MD I was blown away! It made me want to be a better writer.
Oy, what a blog, what a blog.
I never step outside the paranormal blog. I like my beasties, and world building, and really kinky sex... it's all true.
I write historical and now I'm attempting a contemporary for NaNo. And I've been dabbling in erotica too. What would be outside my box, that is just soooo naughty, btw.
The only thing that would be outta the box for me is writing something that isn't paranormal. And it ain't happening.
Oh and on one more note. If I run into something I'm not comfortable with (it used to be dialogue) i force myself to keep writing it and inserting it, until I've got a good handle on it. :D
Good blog, matey.
I think the really hot sex is going to be out of the box for me. I have decided that I don't want to smooth it over or make it really ambiguous, so I'm going to have to tackle that obstacle here in another 100 pages or so, but I'm a bit tense about it.
Tiff - way to go with your writing! I have to crack the whip (get your mind out the gutters, wenches) and get working today. I'm way behind and your success is making me want to keep up! Yay Tiff!!
Great Blog, QS! My whole life has been stepping out of the box. Well, since 18 anyway. But there are times I get stuck in one way of thinking and have to be slapped or poked out of it.
Even a month ago I would have said I'll never write erotica but I'm doing it. Turns out it's not that different.
Really stepping out for me would be writing dark paranormals. The dark part is not the problem but I'm not much on world building in that way and I'm almost afraid once I starting going dark, it would keep going and get REALLY dark. I won't say never anymore but I'll say highly unlikely. *g*
And I'm proud that you managed to use the words "box" and "spot" in your blog and still keep it on the straight and narrow. LOL!
Wenches and Matey's:
Lis, NaNo was hard to grasp for me last year. Elissa and I made a promise to go for the gold last year and it ended up being my girlfriend Nicole and I that finished. If it wasn't for someone badgering me every five seconds about finishing, I wouldn't have. The thing about NaNo is you just have to go for it. No thought involved. I used my blog toward my word count for NaNo today, because it took up all my time last night. LOL. Thanks for your kind words on that scene. I wasn't really aware that it was outta the ordinary until I got several emails telling me that I might have gone a little too far. LOL. Little do they know I can go much further. But I will spare them. For now.
Tiff, you could be pleasantly surprised by something new in your writing if you took a tiny step outside of the box. :) I'm not saying that your paranormal writing isn't just wonderful, but eventually you'll want to evolve your writing. Me on the other hand, I have a hard time world building. Even though it's been said that building your own world is much easier, I find it tedious and frustrating. I applaud you for being able to do it and loving every minute of it!
Marnee. Argh! Shimber me timbers and all that jazz. LOL. You might be surprised at how easy it is to get into writing the hot sex scenes. My first sex scene was utterly painful and embarrassing to write, but once I got the wording down, you can't stop me. Keep an open mind and remember to clean up the box as you walk away from it :)
Ter, I'm super proud of you for stepping away from your box and writing an erotica! And what you have so far is perfect!
I found when I write dark and angst, it's best to have a tight control over the writing. Because you're right, dark can get dark really quick and it can go from flowing in the chapter(s) to being disjointed and painful to follow. It's all about controling what you put into it. And I've read your writing, I know you have the control. You just have to believe in yourself to write it and write it well.
And the usage of "box" and "spot" and not become a very dirty blog was killing me last night. Even Matty was laughing over me using the words and not meaning anything remotely dirty.
yes, but step outside my box to where? I prefer writing historical paranormals. But I bet you my contemp get picked up first. I said that while I Was writing the first Lupiscoeur novel. I'm an eternal pessimist... well just a pragmatic realistic kinda gal... :D
Tiff - stepping out of the box does not have to mean writing something wild. For you, it would mean writing inspirational.
Mwahahahahahaha
Seriously, could you imagine?
oh, aren't you funny this morning! That would be jumping ship not stepping out of the box.
Actually, I think it might be a sign the world is coming to an end.
You have to admit it would be a challenge and I know how you like a challenge. Could you write an entire story with NO sex? Huh?
It would be just as hard as me trying to write a story with no angst. LOL!
LOL. I couldn't write a story without either one of those. So if you can do one and not the other, more power to you!
*ROTFL* I love the tags as usual; writing without your box is a lot like writing without your panties...or doing much of anything without your panties. Drafty...and dangerous.
I like my box, but yes, unfortunately my box is full of "perfect" as yet unwritten scenes and trying to move them to printed form leaves me feeling very dejected...and I'm such a packrat, it's hard to leave the box behind.
And as Marnee's hubby says, "You can't make chicken salad with invisible chickens."
So perhaps it's time to bury the box of perfect, as yet unwritten, scenes and sit down and actually write something, even if I get ink blots all over the page--and expose the fact that I can't actually plot my way out of a wet-paper-bag.
I will try just a scene today, Sin. I thought of something last night...that would change entirely everything I thought about my "favorite" book idea...and I'll try it to see if it works.
*grins* That's Tiff all over, isn't it? She'll just keep doing it over and over until she perfects it...
Oh, we were talking about writing, weren't we?
*LOL* Terri, that's just mean! And I agree, if Tiff wrote an Ispy, I'd think the world was ending...and I'd have to send her my Amish bonnet.
I don't think books can be written without angst. There'd be no emotional conflict, growth, or whathaveyou without some angst. Some people (*cough* Terri *cough*) do take it to the limit and seem to wallow in angst, but all in all, angst is a character-driven story feature that's absolutely necessary.
I'm not being mean, I'm discussing the topic. Tiff said step out to where? I was trying to think of what would be the total opposite of what she writes. Just as writing a dark, gothic were story would be extremely out of the box for me.
Now, did you just accuse me of wallowing in angst? Really? Do I wallow? That can't be good...LOL!
Although some people cloud the angst with cynicism (*cough* Cap'n *cough*) but we won't mention that. *whistles innocently*
hardy har har... no inspirational for me... I NEED sex in my books...in the ones I write AND READ!
Amen to that Tiff! *grin*
LOL Tiff! I think I'm with you. I like Debbie Macomber's stories (though I'm not convinced she's inspirational) but they just feel a little, off somehow, because she skims over all the sex parts. It's like reading YA.
*curtsy* Thank you Hellion for the tag nod. I knew that you would notice. LOL
I can't wait to read your scene Hellion! I know it's going to be fabulous!
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