The Art of Hurdle-Jumping (1 Viewer)

[glitterfairy]

There are some problems common (or similar) to all writers, and I thought it might be an idea if any other 05 EE2 students (or earlier) would like to run through the challenges they faced in their major works, and how they overcame them.

Everyone's major work is very much a personal thing, and I do understand completely that nothing in EE2 is as simple as 1, 2, 3. Furthermore, I understand that there is only so much another person can influence another person's work (thank you illodous for this contribution)- the writer is always the gatekeeper.

That being said, some of you may be more motivated after hearing that everyone else in past years has gone through the exact same challenges. The methods of overcoming these challenges (which greatly vary depending on the individual) are not the *only* way, but they are the way *we* did it, and hopefully they will inspire you to overcome your own hurdles.

If any of the below posters (assuming someone else other than me posts) are open to have 06's pm them for advice, please state so. And remember, the EE2 forum is always open for EE2 discussion - if you have a question, feel free to ask it - you do not *only* have to post in the Bitch and Procrastination thread!

I'll go first.

Note - I will be constantly updating it whenever I remember stuff to add Me human, me no remember everything at one time. Also, I have this inability to shut up, which I’m sure some of you have noticed.

Note 2: I have merged a more recent thread with the same concept into this thread. If members wish to elaborate (or even refine, if you're feeling nit-picky) their responses they are more than welcome

Problems and their Solutions in my short story Pieces of Me

-will post up link when I can be bothered, otherwise it's in the 2004 BOS Showcase thread.

Part 1 (see attachment)
Getting Started – Ideas and the initial working process up to and including first full draft

CONTENTS
- Character names
- Different voices for my different characters
- Getting too caught up in my characters and forgetting about the story
- Plot Problems
- Becoming too attached to my story
- Having good ideas but having problems putting them in
- Squishing myself into a short story writer’s perspective
- Wondering where the hell my story was going, if anywhere, Part 1
- Why can’t I move forward? What’s holding me back?
- Working on an already fragmented story in sections

Part 2
Reworking and Refining – More on the writing process and progress

Critiquing your own work
Every individual approaches this differently. Some are able to simply work on the computer screen, other people find it easier to print off a hard copy and critique with a coloured pen (or sending it to someone else to be critiqued with a coloured pen).

The vast majority of people will find that their concept doesn’t come across as clearly or consistently as they want it to be. In some situations, you might even look at something you wrote and think “This is so pathetic, and what’s even more pathetic is that I can’t see how I could make it any better”. Do NOT give up! This is what the reworking is for! No-one expects the first draft to be perfect. In fact, I have yet to hear from anyone whose first draft *was* perfect. Most people have found that general concept and character names aside, the first draft does not resemble the finished product at all. So don’t give up just yet!

Personally, I was pretty ambivalent by the time I’d finished my first full draft. I was just SO glad I’d got that far at all, and yet extremely frustrated because what I’d slaved over didn’t look anything like what I wanted it to. “Should I hand it in now as it is, or burn it up?”, I pondered. My teacher emphasised again and again that my first full draft was a base from which to work on

What I did was to print off a copy of my major work and make the margin sizes pretty big. I cut away the oversized margins (alternatively, split a page in landscape view in half), and stuck them into my journal – leaving plenty of space to right notes around the section of my story. A lot of the notes I had were things like “the rhythm of this sentence sucks. Change it!” or “I don’t like the way this is going. Replace it with something better!”

How to approach your first full reworking
Your first full reworking will likely be just as challenging as your first full draft, however, it will be quite different. Many find the first full reworking more satisfying, as they can easily see the progress of their work and how it makes the story work more cohesively. It’s a good idea to have a hard copy of your first full draft on hand for you to work off (so you don’t have to keep switching Microsoft Word windows).

Before you sally forth to do great deeds, have a moment to stop and think about your reworking. What are the most important objectives? What and where exactly are the big problems that need to be fixed, and how can I fix them? Keep all of this in mind when you rework, to ensure consistency.

For me, my goals were to make my concept and intention far clearer, and also to plant the “little seeds” of the plot way in advance so I could reduce the amount of jackhammering that went on in my first full draft. Just thinking about all the changes I had to make was mind-boggling at times (my first full draft was very sketchy, and that’s putting it nicely). It’s important not to overwhelm yourself – the changes that can happen in a reworking can be quite significant. What is important is that these changes be for the better. 

There’s a beautiful line in the film Finding Forrester that says: “The first draft you write from your heart. The second you write with your head”. I loved this quote, and stuck it into my journal to look at frequently. The key is not to waste time kicking yourself for things you think are stupid, but instead, to look for the things you can improve/change for the better.

The process of reworking
Put bluntly, this is where (and how) we turn little stick-houses into works of art. It can be tedious, involving re-writing a particular section over and over again to get it right, restructuring, merging, turning it upside-down and inside-out, deconstructing, the insertion of new ideas/themes etc, and more. But the end results will be fabulous. Prepare to be amazed!

I’d printed off a few copies of my first full draft and sent them around to different people, who returned them all covered in red (or purple) pen. Working from the top, I did my best to take on board their constructive criticism (which was generally very good, although it depends *who* critiques your work). I had a couple of situations where I disagreed with what they were saying, but usually this was due to me not making my intention clear enough. The biggest comment I got from all my sources was that they didn’t really ‘get’ what I was trying to do, so fixing that was my overall reworking theme.

Since the story was fragmented way out of control, I played around with several “linking” ideas, such as motifs here and there to link the different character pieces along (which doubled as a way of sneaking in the idea that they’re not really different people at all), dream sequences etc (as well as a VERY obvious tear scene. Like, hello!!! How much more jackhammering does a reader need?!?!?!) but it got a bit fiddly. And here is where we start working outside the square.

My initial idea was to only refer to my “whole”, who had minimal or no voice in what was going on. It was obvious from my first full draft and the feedback that what I had tried to do wasn’t clear enough. Fair enough, I’ll just do it another way. I played around with anything that could work, and looked for strong methods that would support the story as a whole. The key word is playing around – I wasn’t taking it too seriously at the time, anything that worked and felt good, I left as it was. Plenty of time to refine it later, but what was important is that I had something I worked, and something I was happy with (and knew I would be happier still later down the track).

To resolve the major jackhammering (for the uninitiated, it means confusing the audience by throwing too much too quickly at a reader. So literally, jackhammering) issues going on in my major work, I worked from the top downwards. Thanks to my first full draft, I had a plot, now I just needed to make it work as a whole. I had printed out a copy of my major work and had written out notes to myself about where the important stuff had to start easing in, and where the insignificant stuff could be cleanly removed. The essential thing is for the story to work as a whole – everything I changed, I did so because it benefited the story as a whole. A bigger load on the mind, but it was a good thing - reworking with the entire story in mind ensures that there’s a lot more unity to the piece as a whole, and there are no huge “suprises” for the audience to have to gulp down without the aid of a spoon.

Wondering where the hell my story was going, if anywhere, Part 2
I remember last year, at various points of my reworking, looking at a bit and thinking “omg, where the hell is this thing going?”. Like so many other people, I had what I thought was a very clear idea of how I wanted my major work to end up like. My first full draft was an attempt at getting ‘there’, but it wasn’t coming across right. Isn’t that frustrating? I was spending too much narrative time on some scenes, and not enough time on others, which lead to imbalance and only half-conveyed ideas. More changes had to be made, not only to the direction of my major work (and how my key concepts were expressed) but in my approach to the story itself. This was one of the few times I actually listened to some of my own advice – “If it’s not working one way, try another way”. It’s never fun changing *again* after you already made big changes the last time, but sometimes it’s worth it.

Whilst I was reworking, I found my story going into a completely new direction, particularly with the inclusion of another “voice”. I was torn between trying to complete what I’d started, and running with wherever the story took me (I’m of the “a story writes itself, an author just writes it down” camp, although some of my friends disagree and they are still very good writers – we just work differently). In the end, I decided to just let it play itself out and ended up writing up a whole new tail end of my story (a good 3 000 words or so). Due to all the changes in the reworking process, the mood of my story changed, its direction changed, the reactions changed.

And you know what? It worked.

Taking Care of One’s Self – keeping sane as an ee2 student in the HSC

Juggling multiple major works

This is a bit like saying you want to build a grand architectural masterpiece within the one lifetime. And then, tilting your head to one side and thinking a second one might just look really grand sitting right next to it.

Happily, the reality of juggling multiple HSC major works is a little bit easier, but you *must* balance your time roughly equally between them.

I did Textiles and EE2 last year (although I know a girl who is going 5 major works this year – art/textiles/english extension 2/music/society and culture – crazy!). Whilst I kept english pretty much under control, textiles required a lot of almost all-nighters to get it done because I misjudged the production time.

If you haven’t done it already, draw up a realistic timeframe your major works require to be finished (and make sure you have “emergency time” planned in as well). The key word is realistic – don’t give yourself a week to get 40% of your major work done. What I did initially was count up the hours my major works required, added them together, threw in some “emergency time”, and voila. Divide this grand total by the number of weeks left till hand-in date, and then you have a very rough idea of how much work you need to do. Depending on how flexible you are, you can somewhat comfortably work around all your assessments. Mind you, the above idea was very rough – if you need to have something done by a particular time, then you must fiddle around with your timetable as needed.

Note that I mashed up my two timetables. The reason for this is that I’m not the most consistent person in the world – there were time when I’d spend days on end sewing (this includes in roll call and on the train… haha) and there were other times I’d spend writing endlessly. My theory was “so long as I’m working on *something*, it’s ok”.


-Constantly under construction. Attached files will also be updated as needed-

*Thanks to illodous for the pdf conversions

NB: Whilst I do not particularly like my EE2 major work these days (I’ve actually forbidden some of my friends from reading it…) I learnt a lot from the writing process. I'm proud of what I did last year, and more importantly, I'm satisfied - I don't regret a minute of it. The more you do, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more you can do, and so on.

 

[AsyLum]

Problems in my post-modern short story 'Thesis of a Dead Man'

Plot

I got lost in the 'post-modernism' aspect and being pretentious for the sake of being pretentious. It had basically affected the story in such a way in which the plot was non existant for a variety of segments disjunct and non-flowing. Additionally, a lot of the segments appeared very difficult to read, and test reading with people doing standard english and normal people reflected this problem. I decided to take upon a notion of 'I'd rather be read than be admired.' It has stuck with me since then, although a lot harder in essays.

I managed to rectify the problem by going back, and following a basic plot, and implementing it. First i stripped the story back to its bare essentials and had the intro, and end result. I read intensively within a 2 week period to find out what exactly i wanted and how other authours had achieved a similar style. After this was done, i went back and implemented it, first by rewriting sections to form a much more flowing line of thinking.

Moral of the story: make sure it's easy to read, make sure that there is a viable plot to entertain the marker and do not underestimate the value of the plot.

Ideas

I did not have a story until well into the course, probably 3-4 months till submission i had written 1 page introduction which would eventually become page 3. I didn't panic, nor did I get frustrated at not being able to come up with a viable story, for i was reading virtually every other day. I had a general idea in my mind with which i would focus my efforts, and although the first attempt was somewhat a failure, it set up a working piece which i could edit and re-edit and re-write later.

It is extremely valuable to understand and know the very genre and stylistic influences of the various authors within your style. No need to emulate it, but be familiar with some important works, as a means of identifying a process by which to write.

 

[jhakka]

I don't think my contribution will compare with Lynn's especially since she's covered a lot of the ground I would have, but hey, I might as well add my bit. As per usual, this is mainly aimed at the short story people because that's the only medium I am comfortable giving advice on. I would suggest asking ujupheg for information on screenplays, anti for multimedia, glycerine for critical response and super_katie for poetry (Katie is our 2004 Board of Studies Showcase girl).


Got my concept, but don't know how to use it:
This was a major problem for me when I was composing my major work. I had a concept that I wanted to use for it, but I didn't know how on earth to throw it into a story that I would be able to write effectively. I initially started with a story about pirates with some rough scenes sorted out, though when I tried to write it, I wrote absolute rubbish.

My problem was that I was writing about something I didn't know about. I had next to no useful knowledge about pirates, piracy or sailing, so as a result I couldn't write it. In the end, I decided to write whatever popped into my head first, and if I liked it try and continue with the story.

What happened was that I ended up writing a letter that was written in a medieval-esque fictional world. As a result, it turned out that I wrote a story in the genre that I had about seven years worth of knowledge in: fantasy. Not only that, but I also had a stack of fantasy texts to refer to whenever I got stuck (language, conventions, social construct, etc).

When it comes to concept, pretty much anything you can come up with is doable. It's usually not the concept that's the problem, but the setting or style that you're trying to fit it into. Stick with something you know, because odds are you'll be able to come up with a realistic or acceptable wat to make it fit. Don't confine yourself to one plot, style or genre, because if you end up having trouble, it's usually a combination of those that is causing it.


Plot (or lack thereof):
Plots are a major problem. When I started with my final product, I didn't have a plot in mind. I just wrote the letter I mentioned earlier. When I decided I liked that piece (and got the nod of approval from my classmates), that was when I tried to fit my plot around it. Of course I made some significant changes to the content of the piece, but most of the original plot opportunities were still there.

So what I would suggest before coming up with a plot or characters or anything is to just write whatever pops into your head, whether you like it or not. Or think about something you'd like to write about and then link that loosely into your work. If you come up with something you think is workable, go with it. Or at least use it as a point of reference for future attempts. If you go with it, use what you've written to establish some important facts about your work such as what the world you're writing about is like, what some of the major characters think/believe in or even how some of them may or may not even appear in your work. Then you have something.

For weeks after I wrote my first piece, I couldn't come up with anything else related. I couldn't even work out how to link everything I wanted to happen into the story without going over 8000 words. Eventually I decided to let the story take place over about three years, while only writing about significant incidents. Even though I didn't know how to fit what I wanted into my work, and I didn't actually write anything, I was always thinking of scenes, characters and how they could eventually come to fit into the 8000 words, somehow link to the original piece and just make it work.

When I did come up with my plot, I still didn't know what scenes to write or even add to my work. In the end, I just wrote bits and pieces that wouldn't necessarily appear in the work in the order written, but they were something, and they were linked to the plot. They also gave me insights into my own characters and how they act, think and react. Some bits were easy. Some weren't. Some were great. Others were total crap. I cut one out because it was poorly written, rewrote one because I knew I could have done it better, and just left three or four out completely (these didn't make it to paper, but they were all in my head).

My first final draft was 8000 words exactly. Because I was constantly thinking of how to add to my work and get the plot going, there weren't as many holes as there would have been if I made it all up as I went. One thing I don't like is when people say "I've written 4000 words, but don't have any idea of how I want it to end." It's fine if they've been working hard and consistently, but it annoys me when they're just hoping for that flash of inspiration when the word count hits about 7000.


Such a character:
One thing that drives a short story (usually) is characters and how they develop. And some of the best stories I've read have stacks of characters with complex relationships with each other, their own beliefs, habits and accents. Unfortunately these were all novels, and so the best Extension 2 major work probably wouldn't have these things.

What I would suggest is to have a bare minimum of major characters. Just enough to keep the story moving. I had four major characters in my story. One never actually appeared in the main plot: he was alluded to, and I added a bit of a speech by him as an extract between chapters. Another wrote the letter I keep mentioning, and although he did appear in the story, he was only mentioned in one section, and was described. There was no dialogue added for him, nor was there any real action instigated by him, apart from the fact that he was there. The other two were my major players. One of those was the one telling the story, and the other was the main character. I know that's odd, but my narrator was more of an observer than anything, and it was through his understanding of the other characters and events that the story was established.

If you have too many characters, your story gets very crowded very fast. In the end, there is no room for development whatsoever because you need to fit in eighteen thousand other characters and a plot. So keep it low-key. If you want eighteen thousand characters, write a novel. If you want an Extension 2 major work, keep the essential characters and make them do the job of the others you can't use. I would rather see two or three well developed characters and four mentioned in passing than eighteen thousand main characters who are pitifully undeveloped and not going anywhere fast.


Editing:
It has been said that many times, so I'll keep this section short. Get your first draft. Print it. Get a pencil and read it while making notes to yourself before giving it to your teacher, friends or other mentors for feedback. Then let them write all over it (in a different colour, or not, depending on your own preference). When you identify everything that needs to be changed, retype your entire work with the changes. If you need to change a whole scene, do it. Repeat the process again and again until you're happy. You can never edit enough. I went over my work at least fifteen times, and there are still bits I'm not happy with.


Will add more when I think of it.

-Justin

 

[Porcia]

Now that your time has passed...

What can you say to those who are about to embark on this journey? Time planning of major work, topics, hints, advice!

You know, I read quite a few times here, and alot of you seemed to just finished in time for the hand-in, and i'd like to have mine finished nice and early (if possible) as I will be doing two major works simultaneously. So what time-frame do you suggest

 

[kami]

If you want to be finished early - start now. And when I mean start, I mean start in earnest. Make sure that every week you have something done whether it be a few hundred words, a decent diary entry talking about your plotting or drafting your proposal. And if you hold yourself to that the whole year from now then you will be well ahead of the pack.
And you'll find our time hasn't *quite* passed - we still get to be pensive till we get our marks back.
EDIT: Also, you should worship the ground that past EE2 students walk on, your marks will exponentially increase But seriously - its invaluable to get input from people who understand the course, many will vouch for the effort glitterfairy and jhakka have put in this year to help people get through. And whats more they can't steal your idea, so invest in them! And I'm sure when the time comes next year if any of us still haunt this forum we'll pitch in as well. Another point - don't just go to your EE2 teacher for advice, you have Advanced and EE1 teachers, use them! Show them your work as many times as they're willing. And lastly be prepared to dump some one else's opinion if it doesn't work for you - if your teacher wants you to make your story about for example red hiding hood the rapist, a postmodern dissertation on textual portrayal of virginity, then consider *why* they're saying it but don't just dump everything you've done on some one else's command - that would be a tragedy.

 

[Sweets]

I maintain that this is still our time, seeing as we still have our HSC exams and marks to get back (i seem to have forgotten that, since im not studying at all!)

Anyway I digress, my words of advice would probably be to research extensively, start early, use not only your teacher for feedback but anyone you can find who will read your work, be consistant and work on it from day one, use your assessment to pace yourself and make sure you are meeting your deadlines. And if you are doing 2 major works as i did, make sure you finish one early, leaving you ample time to stress about the rest.

If only I had followed my own advice.

 

[_muse_]

my advice: RUN! just run, run now! get out!

ha i kid... just dont leave everything with 2 months to go - its not enough time even though it sounds like it is, continue to do research right through until you're finished, it helps to keep your mind fresh and full of knowledge

 

[courtnez]

Just work on them both consistently throughout the year. I did that for my Ext 2 at least - I left my drama a little late which I feel fairly stupid about. But I worked continuously about Ext 2 - made little notes even in feb about what I'd do in my Reflection Statement and JOURNALLED. Make your journal something that you want to write it, make it fun. I used nice colours and stickers just to jazz it up and make it something I liked, nay LOVED to flick through and work in.

Consistent work = the best.

Also, pick something that you know you'll enjoy doing. Usually by the end of the year you're sick of everything - but pick something that you know you can stand looking at continuously and actually WANT to work on. Otherwise it's really not that rewarding a subject if you think "oh shit not again" when you go to work on your MW.

Let other people read and critique your MW (pref. in RL - it can get sticky over the net esp on a message board place like here because of plagiarism) - and just digest it all and tinker. Workshopping with other Ext 2 people I found to be one of the most rewarding aspects of the course because you get to practise your own honing skills on other peoples works and it's a case where everybody wins!

 

[666_blessings]

Best advice i can give: do not put dates on anything you put into your journal. That way, it looks like you've been doing work throughout the year.

 

[fleepbasding]

A good, original, clever idea will really help. So do a lot of thinking. And definitly start working now and continue working consistently throughout the year. A good gole might be to have a first complete draft by the end of the christmas holidays.

 

[bustinjustin]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's all about verisimilitude. As long as you can convince the reader that it's realistic and relevant, you can create the most idiosyncratic characters and put them in the most absurd situations.

Considering this, it's best to write something you know about in great detail, or an area that you're so interested in researching to the point that it becomes second nature (okay maybe not to that extent).

Oh and don't be verbose just for the sake of showing off your fabulously wide vocabulary - it becomes glaringly obvious that you're trying too hard with little success, and it pisses your teacher off. Remember, complexity doesn't always equate into sophistication, and you need to maintain a balance between the esoteric and realistic, or 'straight forward' styles of writing. Don't feel that you're 'dumbing down' by describing something blatantly on the odd occassion or two to achieve clarity - an action or object can often be symbolic in itself.

 

[bustinjustin]

Oh and as ideal as it may be, few, if not any of you will have it finished by the end of the summer holidays. It's just the way it is.
Besides, your writing will improve drastically and often exponentially as the year (quickly) passes by...