One of the trickiest questions I’ve been asked on a panel is “what is the hardest thing to write? Dialogue, descriptions, sex scenes or violence?”
I think at the time I answered sex scenes (as I’m always in danger of getting a fit of the giggles if I get too graphic!) but in the midst of revising my latest manuscript I have realized that it’s not the sex scenes or the violence, it’s not dialogue or description. The hardest things to write are the most mundane - how one of the characters gets across a room for example, or sits in a chair – because, if you have a room full of characters all going about the ordinary acts of life, like pieces in a chess game being moved around, then it’s all too easy to fall prey to lazy writing and suddenly the whole chapter starts to plod. Yet the sometimes tedious mechanics of getting characters where they need to be are nonetheless critical. Readers will start to wonder why a character never got up from the chair or why she left her coat in chapter one hanging on a coat stand but is then seen wearing it again (as if by magic) in the next chapter. How much easier it must be to be a script writer who can dispense with all the niceties and merely say in parentheses that ‘Ursula left room’ or ‘Ursula gets coat and exits’. Do this in a book, though, and it’s snores-ville for a reader.
While it can be great to try and come up with novel ways of describing how characters walk across the room, for example, trying too hard to make it sound interesting can also be just ludicrous. Imagine a book where every scene was overwritten – where no one just walked, they all ‘strode purposefully’ or ‘clomped angrily’ or ‘tiptoed gracefully’. So how do you find a balance between the boring and the overdone? That, I think is the hardest part of writing a novel – moving the characters between scenes or through a scene, filling in the movements between description and dialogue, between the tension and the confrontations, with it appearing seamless - neither boring the reader witless with humdrum banalities yet including enough continuity so readers can see how the characters live and move through the ordinary aspects of their lives. The key, I think, is to value every word, to treasure every detail of gesture or movement as a potential opportunity to illustrate settings and characters. So when I face revising a scene where my character has to get from point A to point B I now realize the challenge in making the boring mechanics of the scene ‘come to life’ as well as the necessity of including the richness that comes from making every line on every page count.
What do you think is the hardest aspect of writing?
And be sure to check out Clare’s own blog at Kill Zone! She’s doing double duty on Mondays.
-
The hardest part to write for me? The middle. I can start and I know how I want the end to be but going from step a to z seems daunting, even when I outline.
And keeping the details the same. This might be since it takes me so long to write the next chapter, I lose the character. What kind of car does she drive, her eyes, her hair, even her best friends name.
by Lynn
on August 25th, 2008 at 6:18 am
-
I totally agree with you - the transitions from one place to another and from scene to scene were so frustrating for me, I have put the whole thing aside to try and read more and figure out a way to try again. I could write an interesting scene, in and of itself, but trying to connect it to anything to push the plotline forward was disheartening.
by Kate Hathway
on August 25th, 2008 at 8:15 am
-
I’m okay with transitions (newspaper training, I think), but the hardest thing I’ve ever written to this point was my first sex scene. Took me 2 weeks to write 2 1/2 pages. Give me a murder scene any day of the week–no problem.
Hmmmm. Probably shouldn’t admit that.
by laura
on August 25th, 2008 at 8:21 am
-
Excellent post, Clare. And count me as someone else who agrees. Description and transition is harder than anything else. Especially long stretches of it. I can add the sentence where the protagonist puts on her coat or walks across the room or sits down without much trouble, but describing the mundane… the weather, what the surroundings look like, what’s going on for two days while the protagonist is waiting for the inquest - that stuff is hard. If I could write a book entirely in dialogue and flat-out action, I’d be a happy girl!
by JennieB
on August 25th, 2008 at 10:10 am
-
Glad to hear other people have the same issue! I agree that sex scenes are still tricky - I try to write these quickly so I don’t start laughing. Laura’s 2 weeks sounds hilarious! Violence is so much easier…hmmm…
by Clare Langley-Hawthorne
on August 25th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
-
[…] popular public links >> treasure The Hardest Things to Write? by Clare Langley-Hawthorne Saved by tracyjo on Sun 02-11-2008 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be Saved by FINGERMASTER123 on Wed 29-10-2008 Guest Blogger - Resources to Help you Build Green Saved by mich on Sun 26-10-2008 The treasure in my heart Saved by secroxs761 on Fri 24-10-2008 Barefoot black and white… Saved by ndb3dgj on Tue 21-10-2008 The Treasure of the Poor by Henri Nouwen Saved by brunotorres on Mon 20-10-2008 Searching For Treasure? Saved by mediaeater on Mon 20-10-2008 Mounds of Second-Hand Clothing Saved by mathowie on Thu 16-10-2008 2008 Hot Wheels SUPER Treasure Hunt Dodge Challenger Funny Car Saved by mtayla on Mon 13-10-2008 Raise event from user control to main page / Event delegation from… Saved by silva888 on Mon 06-10-2008 Why Buy a Vintage Steinway? Saved by MasterGir on Sat 04-10-2008 More infos on Blood & Treasure Reas’ latest exhibit at Lazarides … Saved by homaid on Wed 01-10-2008 Treasure Trove Saved by tastodestro on Wed 01-10-2008 A Few Strange Letters Saved by jernskjorte on Mon 29-9-2008 Trash or Treasure Saved by klaxon on Mon 29-9-2008 Coin Treasure Claim from Peru Over "Black Swan" Shipwreck Saved by justinph on Thu 25-9-2008 Farewell to a National Treasure Saved by vanblog on Thu 25-9-2008 Treasure Masters, Inc Game on TakeOnGames.com Saved by joey0028 on Sat 20-9-2008 The Civil War “Battlefield Ring” Saved by fridman on Sun 07-9-2008 Olympics: Saved by johnmora on Fri 29-8-2008 […]
Loading ...