presents “Two Voices” – a discussion about writing
by 2 writers, Alfred Brown and Anh Thi
| (male) ALFRED | (female) ANH |
| I don’t have a set process, by any means. More like typical ingredients. Anxiety, as mentioned, is a common ingredient.
Not “common” as in ubiquitous, but “common” as in often. Isolation is frequent and, again, not required. Different ingredients will bring about different flavors. Different mindsets (chemically induced or emotional) bring about different concoctions. Rarely is one better than the other, simply different. |
Having a set process doesn’t work for me either. I like to flow with the idea of the moment. And there isn’t one thing that gets me into the mindset of writing.
I just have to do it. Most times, it’s a chore, which is not the best way to describe what I love, but it is work and work is not always fun. So you just have to resolve to do it. And that’s the only way I can get anything done, is to simply saying “I’m doing this” and then following through on my word. |
| I do not have to be in alone or in a crowd, but I do have to be left alone. I’m not much of a multi-tasker, so if someone is trying to have a conversation with me at the same time, that’s going to impede. When I’m anxious and in a more social setting, I’ll likely draw instead of write, because that can be stopped and started easily, and I won’t mind as much the interruptions.
I don’t handwrite, such as in a journal, because no one’s going to transcribe what I write in a journal, including myself, as even I’m not really able to read my own handwriting. Typing my words is better for dissemination, organization, reference. I use outlines depending on the format. Screenplays require them, as the structure is stricter than a straightjacket, but poetry does not. Maybe epic poetry does, as it is epically long, but regular poetry needs little more than meter and rhyme schemes. Frankly, I only do outlines when I have to, because they take a lot of the fun out. Editing is almost always good to do. For years, decades, I avoided it, as it was not (and never has become) fun. And it is a skill in itself that may actually hurt some work, until you are experienced enough to use it without killing the spirit. That’s why I keep all my drafts because you can see the point where you “over-edit” and help avoid it. Basically, I now edit unless the project is unimportant and I’m completely bored with it. |
I have to be alone to write. I must focus solely on the world and characters of my story, rather than the real world and the characters that live and breathe in reality (because reality is distracting as it is maddening and inspiring too).
And I have to type. My thoughts come too quickly when I get into the swing of things, and writing would cripple my flow. It’s effort to get into the space and frame of mine to write, and I’m not wasting that energy with the sluggishness of handwriting. I guess that makes me a writer for today’s world, where we have lost the art of handwriting and the measured communication of letter writing. We Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, Instagram, etc. We create the stories of our lives through social media and we become the character we want through the Internet. We measure our communication in bytes, and we do it fast. Growing up like that, it’s natural to type and never handwrite. Not that I haven’t tried, but it doesn’t feel natural. As for drafts, I don’t keep them anymore. I just write over it. I’ve learned that I never look back at my drafts, though I will take notes on my ideas, storyline, and characters. Otherwise, I’d forget details and traits that fade away when I step from my story world into the real world, and vice versa. |