WisCon 29, Sunday & Monday

[truepenny]

Whoof.

Scattered thoughts.

WisCon was fabulous as always. Both panels I was on seemed to go well. Other people's perspectives and comments welcome; it's really hard for me to judge a panel while I'm on it, unless something egregious in either direction occurs.

The rewriting panel basically boiled down to:

(1.) Rewriting is a Good.

(2.) No two people rewrite--or do anything else associated with writing--in the same way.

Ergo, (3.) Figure out what works for you, and do it. Don't worry if it's not what works for other people, and don't worry if in another year, or two, or ten, it shifts into something else.

The worldbuilding panel was a lot of fun, which at 10 p.m. on Sunday is something of an accomplishment. I don't know if we said anything useful or not, but I at least had a lovely time.

The only thing I want to articulate at the moment is a thought I had during the rewriting panel and was reminded of by yhlee after the worldbuilding panel, which is that every writer has their own metaphors. Creativity is a horrendously subjective process, and it's one that the rational brain--the part that has access to language and thinks of itself as "I"--doesn't actually have very much control over. You* have to figure out a way to talk about your process to yourself, and you can only do it by metaphors, because there aren't words to describe any of it directly. My metaphors tend to the violent and morbid (as for example, I said during the rewriting panel that trying to edit while writing the first draft is like trying to write the history of a war while fighting it); other people's metaphors may be very spiritually uplifting or employ registers of education or other things. But you have to find the metaphors that help you understand the inside of your own head and stick with them, whether you borrow them from someone else, or make them up yourself, or some strange melange of the two. Representing the brain to itself is incredibly difficult, but I have found that making the effort actually helps me a great deal both in being aware of my own creative process and in accepting it for what it is.

People were looking incredibly beautiful last night for the film noir party.

I was at least dressed in black.

We (being matociquala, valancy, and I--sosostris2012, were you there for this bit?) were talking about The Skinhead Hamlet this morning, and I post the link in case there's anyone reading this who doesn't know it. It is sublime.

matociquala, the actor who played John Adams in 1776 was William Daniels.

---
*Assuming that "you" are someone who doesn't think that thinking about something will prevent you from being able to do it.

Comments

[oursin.livejournal.com]

When I was writing fiction (and on reflection it could apply fairly readily to writing academic stuff as well), my metaphor was based on archival practice: the first draft is like doing the rough sort to find out what's there, and rewriting/editing is the process by which the collection gets coherently organised and accessible. As most people have no idea what an archivist is or what they do, this is probably a metaphor of very limited relevance.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

Well, it makes sense to me, for what that's worth. It's not my metaphor (my metaphors for writing tend to include the Great Grimpen Mire), but it's a metaphor I can appreciate and sort of get behind.

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

When Damon Knight wrote Creating Short Fiction, there were very few things he thought all writers did while writing. One of them: The conscious mind thinks linearly. The subconscious thinks in webs of association. (He called the subconscious "Fred," but that's another story.)

After reading that a number of times, I realized that 1) my conscious mind thinks in webs of association and 2) it's some other part of my mind which thinks linearly.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

The rewriting panel basically boiled down to:

I kinda figured it would end up like that...I mean, what else is there to say?

[awelkin.livejournal.com]

I too had a fantastic time at Wiscon. It's a wonderful convention.

Catherine

[seajules]

Your thought about writers and metaphors feels like one of those things that should be perfectly obvious and yet people keep arguing about it. You articulate it well.

[applecameron.livejournal.com]

Oh, my god, that skinhead hamlet is the funniest thing I've read in ages. Holy fuck!

You* have to figure out a way to talk about your process to yourself, and you can only do it by metaphors, because there aren't words to describe any of it directly.

Cool. True.

[westleyo.livejournal.com]

It would depend on what you were going to do with what you have written. If you are keeping a journal or writing a book you can only write what you know and feel. But if you are writing for a commercial venture like a television show you need to make sure that the people who are watching understand the message right from the begining. I don't like ambigous endings, for example. If I wanted to make up my own ending I would have written a story myself.