I wrote a chapter near the end of my current novel recently and it was a major titanic battle between the protag and her family's celestial nemesis. However it was really quite emotionally bland and even though my writer mind tried to inject something more interesting into it (I didn't want a straightforward battle I wanted an emotional event to turn the table) it still feels out of place. Ice tried to make the entire novel more intimate to the protagonist’s problems and her voyage or self discovery which involves some very unpleasant truths and tragedy ultimately. But anyway it's a first draft so it won't be perfect. Suffice to say what you say here about making some huge events smaller (because it fits your writing style) is interesting as I'm an emotional writer and big sweeping high stakes settings don't necessarily gel I think with a huge urge for emotional introspection.
I also love questions like these because I feel like it gets to the heart of lightbulb moments in writing. When you realise your storytelling is in need of something very specific to make it its best. So I assume when you say divergent is large it's because of it's sprawling outward scale and some of those really big world moments. As my writing style has also been quite large and sprawling (not withstanding the current need to go deeper into the individual characters emotional turmoil) I've debated whether that even still exists in tosay’s published works. I guess it does with some works! So thanks for the insight.
Some people do a large scale really, really well. I think what I realized is that I could spend a lot of time developing that skill (anyone can!) but that I didn't have the *interest* in doing so. My priority is always the emotions and the relationships between the characters, even when the backdrop is big and sprawling. So why not write a story that flatters the characters and emotions instead of competing with them? Why not find a way to prioritize what I do best?
You can and should grow and improve at the things that aren't currently your strengths-- but it's also okay to choose your priorities, and I think that's what I've realized after a handful of books. Because you don't have to do everything with your story-- you only have to do what really matters to you. So I wish you luck in figuring out the right balance for you! Maybe it will require some experimentation in revision.
Thanks -- that's good advise! And I agree it felt like a sudden distraction that's also only relevant to the universe the book is from (the chapter). Still the entire book built up to multiple things and this chapter was one of them.
At any rate it'll definitely require some experimentation to get the right balance I agree. Right now though I'm rather looking forward to a six week break or maybe longer! Before I dive back into it. Plenty to think about.
This is truly such good advice, V. As someone who writes lit fic, my stories are always intimate which makes me feel worry if readers would be engaged in reading, but that worry comes later, AFTER I have told my story. Distancing after a draft is crucial, yes, but it didn’t occur to me to distance to come back to it as a reader to build that experience for both the writer in me and the reader of the book.
What a freeing idea, to not have to be every kind of writer, and to choose to prioritize what inspires you, and what you're good at. Thank you, as always, for your insights!
hope that you are well. I just want to say that you wrote a really good post some good material for my essay I am doing as part of my undergraduate creative writing disertation. Congrats on the new book and am really excited for the new divergent book collection which i hope i can purchase in braille. I also wanted to say how pleased i am with the audio description captions you did on this post it was really accessible to me as a blind person. happy writing
Growing pains in what to do and to not do in allowing Hollywood to take the story you work on and becomes part of your family and hand it over to those who may not see it as you do. That's what I saw with the Divergent series. The magnificent ethos and world you created and to see Hollywood remake it like you would a Lego building. Others like the Maze Runner stories ran that way too. I wonder how you feel now with Hollywood. Many authors achieve a love-hate status with it. I remember reading interviews from Stephen King and Dean Koontz that they had to evolve in the creative control of the project. So, you have become a slightly different person and that's the way God makes it since your life experience is different now.
You know, I went into the movie adaptation process fully aware that I would not be in control and would likely not be included any more than necessary-- my representatives were very realistic with me about how it all works. From the outset I knew the most control I would have would be to choose people who seemed to understand the story and seemed most likely to adhere to its spirit, if not its every detail. In that respect, I succeeded and failed, because the people shifted around a lot as the movies progressed. But my feeling about Hollywood has remained essentially the same: the movie adaptations did a great deal for my career, my domain is novels and I have no desire for that to change, and yes, it would have been better if the latter two movies had stayed on course, but that wasn't within my control. I'd still do it again if I could go back.
This changed my point of view! Thank you!
I wrote a chapter near the end of my current novel recently and it was a major titanic battle between the protag and her family's celestial nemesis. However it was really quite emotionally bland and even though my writer mind tried to inject something more interesting into it (I didn't want a straightforward battle I wanted an emotional event to turn the table) it still feels out of place. Ice tried to make the entire novel more intimate to the protagonist’s problems and her voyage or self discovery which involves some very unpleasant truths and tragedy ultimately. But anyway it's a first draft so it won't be perfect. Suffice to say what you say here about making some huge events smaller (because it fits your writing style) is interesting as I'm an emotional writer and big sweeping high stakes settings don't necessarily gel I think with a huge urge for emotional introspection.
I also love questions like these because I feel like it gets to the heart of lightbulb moments in writing. When you realise your storytelling is in need of something very specific to make it its best. So I assume when you say divergent is large it's because of it's sprawling outward scale and some of those really big world moments. As my writing style has also been quite large and sprawling (not withstanding the current need to go deeper into the individual characters emotional turmoil) I've debated whether that even still exists in tosay’s published works. I guess it does with some works! So thanks for the insight.
Some people do a large scale really, really well. I think what I realized is that I could spend a lot of time developing that skill (anyone can!) but that I didn't have the *interest* in doing so. My priority is always the emotions and the relationships between the characters, even when the backdrop is big and sprawling. So why not write a story that flatters the characters and emotions instead of competing with them? Why not find a way to prioritize what I do best?
You can and should grow and improve at the things that aren't currently your strengths-- but it's also okay to choose your priorities, and I think that's what I've realized after a handful of books. Because you don't have to do everything with your story-- you only have to do what really matters to you. So I wish you luck in figuring out the right balance for you! Maybe it will require some experimentation in revision.
Thanks -- that's good advise! And I agree it felt like a sudden distraction that's also only relevant to the universe the book is from (the chapter). Still the entire book built up to multiple things and this chapter was one of them.
At any rate it'll definitely require some experimentation to get the right balance I agree. Right now though I'm rather looking forward to a six week break or maybe longer! Before I dive back into it. Plenty to think about.
Love this.
This is truly such good advice, V. As someone who writes lit fic, my stories are always intimate which makes me feel worry if readers would be engaged in reading, but that worry comes later, AFTER I have told my story. Distancing after a draft is crucial, yes, but it didn’t occur to me to distance to come back to it as a reader to build that experience for both the writer in me and the reader of the book.
What a freeing idea, to not have to be every kind of writer, and to choose to prioritize what inspires you, and what you're good at. Thank you, as always, for your insights!
Hi Veronica
hope that you are well. I just want to say that you wrote a really good post some good material for my essay I am doing as part of my undergraduate creative writing disertation. Congrats on the new book and am really excited for the new divergent book collection which i hope i can purchase in braille. I also wanted to say how pleased i am with the audio description captions you did on this post it was really accessible to me as a blind person. happy writing
Growing pains in what to do and to not do in allowing Hollywood to take the story you work on and becomes part of your family and hand it over to those who may not see it as you do. That's what I saw with the Divergent series. The magnificent ethos and world you created and to see Hollywood remake it like you would a Lego building. Others like the Maze Runner stories ran that way too. I wonder how you feel now with Hollywood. Many authors achieve a love-hate status with it. I remember reading interviews from Stephen King and Dean Koontz that they had to evolve in the creative control of the project. So, you have become a slightly different person and that's the way God makes it since your life experience is different now.
You know, I went into the movie adaptation process fully aware that I would not be in control and would likely not be included any more than necessary-- my representatives were very realistic with me about how it all works. From the outset I knew the most control I would have would be to choose people who seemed to understand the story and seemed most likely to adhere to its spirit, if not its every detail. In that respect, I succeeded and failed, because the people shifted around a lot as the movies progressed. But my feeling about Hollywood has remained essentially the same: the movie adaptations did a great deal for my career, my domain is novels and I have no desire for that to change, and yes, it would have been better if the latter two movies had stayed on course, but that wasn't within my control. I'd still do it again if I could go back.