On writing and writers...

Writing is hard.

Well obviously for many, writing is easy. But for me it is hard to do. Specifically fiction writing. I've spent the majority of the last 15 years engaged in two types of creative wordsmithing: Poetry, including song lyrics, and screenwriting. Both forms strongly suggest brevity and economy as the rules of the day. Poetry almost seems a contest as to how vivid a scene you can paint with a little words as possible. While there are poets whose lines overflow with every adjective and noun in the Oxford Dic, by and large I find it to be a lesson in word economy.

Screenwriting is power of suggestion encapsulated. Every word will eventually be translated into a visual scene. Since so much information will be carried by the camera and performances, economy again is the key.

Hence when I write out the 'treatment' for my full-length fiction novel. I tell the whole story in less than 20 pages. My first chapter clocks in at a page and a half. I'm learning that you have to describe your description, but the initial attempts are clunky at best.

But like all things, try and try again....