1LShelby
I recently ran into someone referencing a writing quote. I have now looked up the original:
“I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that shows.” -- Ernest Hemingway
This reminded me of how P. G. Wodehouse claimed that his notes were longer than the stories they were for. I recently read one of his books, and I noticed that although his madcap plot seemed a bit random and happenstance on the surface, in actual fact everything actually played into everything else, with each crazy happening was carefully set up in advance. The result feels breezy and lighthearted, but once I started paying attention I could see just how much work it must have been to pull all the elements together so neatly, and satisfyingly.
I have trouble imagining myself writing 70K words worth of plot notes, but I could easily see myself drawing up multiple evolving color coded charts while trying to achieve the same effect.
What about the rest of you. What "underwater" work do you do when you are writing?
“I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that shows.” -- Ernest Hemingway
This reminded me of how P. G. Wodehouse claimed that his notes were longer than the stories they were for. I recently read one of his books, and I noticed that although his madcap plot seemed a bit random and happenstance on the surface, in actual fact everything actually played into everything else, with each crazy happening was carefully set up in advance. The result feels breezy and lighthearted, but once I started paying attention I could see just how much work it must have been to pull all the elements together so neatly, and satisfyingly.
I have trouble imagining myself writing 70K words worth of plot notes, but I could easily see myself drawing up multiple evolving color coded charts while trying to achieve the same effect.
What about the rest of you. What "underwater" work do you do when you are writing?
2thorold
>1 LShelby: On the subject of PG Wodehouse and how he wrote, have you read the published version of his last unfinished novel, Sunset at Blandings? That reproduces both the final text as far as it went and his working notes, a fascinating insight into the process.
