tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post36272629106303967..comments2024-03-29T00:39:54.374-04:00Comments on The Alchemy of Writing: If You're Digging an Endless Ditch, Bill Schulz is Your Best FriendBryan Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555071335245492790noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-55487944063202755762010-08-21T20:18:52.956-04:002010-08-21T20:18:52.956-04:00I am obscenely stubborn...that is what keeps me go...I am obscenely stubborn...that is what keeps me going. Plus I have more than a hint of perfectionistic compulsion that propels me into revision upon revision. Although sometimes it takes also talking myself down: "Take the pen out of your hand, you are slashing through most of the plot." <br /><br />I love anything that has to do with a Charlie Brown reference. I loved Mr. Schutlz; he was all Charlie Brown till the day he died. <br /><br />I agree though. I miss the days when I was seven and it just seemed that all I needed to do was pick up a pen and keep writing, pick up more books and keep reading, and the whole thing would just fall into place. How couldn't it? I was so in love with literature. <br /><br />It definitely gets harder the further into the journey you go; such is life on the whole.Alicia Benedicthttp://www.aliciabenedict.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-73516614018832626052010-08-18T14:01:27.691-04:002010-08-18T14:01:27.691-04:00I love the Literary Ace. He personifies my struggl...I love the Literary Ace. He personifies my struggle in a lot of ways! (I am a huge Snoopy fan, too!)<br /><br />I keep going because I can't NOT write. Despite periods of rejections and frustrations and self-doubt, I always return to the page. Always.Melissa Amateishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16086267508858187716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-21221597043549409862010-08-18T13:21:20.264-04:002010-08-18T13:21:20.264-04:00You're not the only one. This is something I&#...You're not the only one. This is something I've been thinking about lately. I started out with childish dreams and now I just have the knowledge that I have a lot to learn. But that's okay - there will be shovel in my hands for as long as it takes, and if I die before it happens, then they can pry the shovel out of my hands to bury me with.Heidihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01901886302578503906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-4259414076702910892010-08-16T21:10:56.373-04:002010-08-16T21:10:56.373-04:00I suppose I keep writing because it never occurs t...I suppose I keep writing because it never occurs to me I'll need to get through draft 27.<br /><br />You'd think I'd know better. ;-)<br /><br />But I'm one of the stubbornest people I know. When I start something, I tend to finish it. (Eventually.)Deb Salisbury, Magic Seeker and Mantua-Makerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01513482264195697450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-16614998023778173642010-08-16T17:02:45.616-04:002010-08-16T17:02:45.616-04:00here here.here here.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11271149538259398956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-124105768026250402010-08-16T13:25:49.980-04:002010-08-16T13:25:49.980-04:00Whoops, forgot to change my picture.
In terms of ...Whoops, forgot to change my picture.<br /><br />In terms of doggedness for YOU, Bryan, you need to keep on because you are mega-talented, and you need to share that with the rest of us. <br /><br />Basically, I want to read your books. That's really why you should keep on. So, I can read your books.<br /><br />So, there you are.Mirahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558405035294107657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-15109832614901624212010-08-16T13:20:38.064-04:002010-08-16T13:20:38.064-04:00This is a very inspiring article, Bryan. Nicely d...This is a very inspiring article, Bryan. Nicely done.<br /><br />Love the comics. :0)<br /><br />So, yeah, I don't really have that dogged determination thingy. I need some of that. Where do you get that? K-mart? McDonalds?<br /><br />I may have to settle for freaking out at the idea that I won't accomplish my goals that mean more to me than life itself, so I run screaming to the typewriter.....but some persistant positive habits sound more peaceful, if nothing else.Mirahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558405035294107657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-58623044853667804942010-08-16T12:09:06.089-04:002010-08-16T12:09:06.089-04:00I won't say I thought it was going to be easy,...I won't say I thought it was going to be easy, but I definitely thought it was going to be easiER.<br /><br />I love that you brought this up this way Bryan, especially considering you old avatar from the forums. The only way to guarantee failure is to give up, which, like Charlie, I don't ever intend to do.Matthew MacNishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03264738483763244969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-81256148252597351922010-08-16T10:55:45.663-04:002010-08-16T10:55:45.663-04:00Dogged determination is something I've thankfu...Dogged determination is something I've thankfully had most of my life, so that helps tremendously. Because, as you say, writing is an endless improvement process, with endless critiques (long after you've put the pen down).<br /><br />Something I just realized recently, though, is how the world is moving as well. I'm not talking about the e-revolution here, although that is obviously occurring too. I mean a change in the form of the novel itself.<br /><br />I read this passage recently, in Donald Maass' Writing the Breakout Novel: <br /><br /><i>In the long history of literature, the novel is a relatively recent development. It arose during the Enlightenment, flowered during Victorian times, and in more recent decades has shortened and grown more intimate in response to our faster pace of life and in reaction to the dehumanizing aspects of our times. The novel today has downsized, grown more direct and has made character supreme.</i><br /><br />This was written in 2001, and I think the trend he was talking about has matured into a greater emphasis on first person POV, and even now a switch to present tense as more acceptable (even "prefered" by certain agents at a conference I recently attended). It's almost as if everything needs to feel <i>immediate</i> in order to have relevancy.<br /><br />I'm not sure that I like this turn entirely (especially the present tense part), but it brought home to me that not only do we have to continue to strive in craft, but that part of that is because the craft is a moving target.Susan Kaye Quinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348197999397141067noreply@blogger.com