#siennanotes

I am little bit binary when it comes to my favourite things to write. I am really into philosophy and metafiction, and exploring the what can be done with the narrative as a concept. On the other side of that I love writing suspense because it is so easy to get excited when writing. You know something you have been looking forward to writing is coming. 

           This is a little out of date. I finished chapter 3 yesterday, it was just that I didn’t get round to writing the log up for it. I had a little bit of writer’s block with this, but it was only after writing the third chapter that I figured out why. The issue at the moment is the manuscript is very plot driven. I was so excited to start writing after my GCSEs, I just wanted to start, and didn’t really think about the consequence of that. I made a verybrief plot graph which today I think I am going to take some time out to work on the characters in perticular, to make sure that everyone is a bit more fleshed out; they deserve better. When I was writing the last time, I made these extremely detailed character chart that just weren’t helpful at all, so I think that is what put me off it this time around. When I started writing this time, I also was really excited about the characters, and didn’t really stop to think how well I know them. The text also feels a little too information based at the moment for my liking, so there is now an explanation for that as well. I definitely feel as though I can do better, and want to. I used to think that plot and characters are separate, that you can work on one without working on the other. Weaving them together I think is one the most important things about writing. I am still really excited about the plot and characters, I just think they need a little bit more work.

         I think my struggle with this chapter was that it felt for a while a bit like an interval, and something that I really didn’t want to do was create empty space. It was the main reason I made a brief chapter plan before writing, so that I made sure that I wasn’t just spinning my wheels. Every chapter I think needs to have a reason.

           In terms of writing, I am really starting to get excited now. I can feel the plot really take a shape in my head. What is interesting to me, however, is how much your mind forms sub-consciously. Sometimes you can be aware that you are thinking, but not quite sure what you are thinking about. It only really becomes clear when you write things down on the page. There was a point when I was writing and not sure how to get from A to B, before I had the idea of linking the chapter back to the prologue. As much as I felt that I wanted to know the direction I was going (again, not just spinning wheels)  I also love that I don’t know everything. There should be balance be a balance between discovery and sense of direction. Curiosity and knowledge, I feel, often go hand and hand.

I was away with my family over the weekend, so while I didn’t get to write, I got the chance to do a lot of thinking about what I wrote for chapter one. I realised happily that I really liked it AND was enjoying myself, unlike last time where I was enjoying myself but wasn’t quite confident in the plot line. It also however, gave me a chance to reflect and realise that some characterization didn’t quite corrolate with the plot in the way that I wanted. I read a lot of articles that tell you to leave editing to the very end of the story, but in some ways, that message really doesn’t make sense to me. The last time I was writing when I went to read it back through, I realised how many plot holes there were and how much of the beginning of the story made the rest of the story not make sense. Hence me rewriting now. Something that I noticed about editing the big things was that it helped make sense of what you want to write next. I am hoping that I will finish chapter 2 by the end of the day, but because of editing, I have a much clearer idea of what I want to achieve. 

Everything tends to make more sense once you make sense of one thing. English and maths are very similar in terms of how you have to learn it because of that. You have to build the basics up. You can’t write a sentance until you know how to write words. You can’t simplify a equations without knowing the basics of algebra. It’s a very one foot in front of the other situation, I think.

     I have come to the conclusion that prologues are much easier to write than first chapters. The same sort of thing happened when I was writing last time, and I think I know why. In prologues, I have a lot more wiggle room to be abstract. I have the same sort of issue with poetry and prose. Prose can often result in a lot more explanation needed because more of a story is being told. There are a lot of things that replace these restrictions in poetry as well, but for me at the moment I find that poetry is more fluid because in many ways, I am just writing down what I feel. I think I will catch on to more structure as I go on with it, hopefully.

           This is not to say I did not love writing the first chapter. Although I don’t want stray too much from the writing process, I have never had so much fun editing something before. I want to say this, because it feels like ever since I picked up a pen, I have HATED editing. It felt like something tedious I had to do when all the excitement of creating the story had drained away. This, however, was a bit more like whack-a-mole. At the beginning it was still going through making sure sentences made sense, but the truth is I have a new found-joy in finding plot-holes. What I think so fun about them is that they make my brain work a bit more; it feels like problem solving. Earlier this year, when my school went to the Science Museum in Orlando, they had a problem-solving room and there, and I had the same sort of rush.

           Writing felt long because you need to let the reader into the world. I have been told a lot by my teachers that I don’t tend to give the reader enough information for them to actually figure out what’s going on. I am often too abstract. I was determined this time it was going to be different. The process however, took a lot longer. I think I am going to create a habit of writing in a different area of the house every day, because I don’t I am very good with handling being in the same place.

           Something else that really excited me was characterisation. Making mind maps of characters personality was one of my main tactics for moving forward with my story during the GCSE period. They were quick, and they were easy. This was however, the closest thing I think I liked about formatted planning about characters. It felt very much like procrastinating to me, but now that I am actually, physically writing, it feels as though I have something to play with when it comes to plot and characters. Everything and everyone is a lot more tangible.

I hope that you find everything is tangible as well,

There is something I have noticed when writing. I wrote a version of the book I am re-writing now when I was 13. I hated it so much that could never look at it again because it showed off my age. People tend to either embraces their age or deny it, and I hope one day I get to be the former. This is not to say that I am not glad I wrote that first draft. I learned so much from that process and at the end of the day, I really did enjoy writing it. I am still using ideas and characters that I started the develop then. Maybe one day I will look back at it as an adult I not feel so insecure about it.

One of the main reasons, however, that I was so disappointed with it was because it only had fragments of what I wanted to write. There are parts that I am still using, but there was very clearly to me things that weren’t working as concepts in the main scheme of the plot. A lot of the novel wasn’t what I wanted to say, or the story that I wanted to tell.

I have been taking my GCSEs for the past two years, so while I have had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do, there wasn’t much time for writing. I think it is for this reason that now, I am able to write what I wanted to write in the first place. I have found that half the trouble with worldbuilding and creating plot is to narrow down on vague concepts.

I think we, as humans, tend to get sentimental about a lot of internal things. Memories. Stories. When your finally looking a memory, or in my case, a story that means a lot to you in face, it can seem quite daunting.

What was interesting to me was how much easier it is to write when you have the first line. The first line was what I found the most intimidating because I kept thinking about how it was the first impression the reader would have of me. The strange thing that I forgot about writing was how everything fades away when you are writing. The build-up and worries go away. You see so many articles about how to write (these caught my eye particularly when I was taking my GCSEs and couldn’t write) and it can be easy to forget why you started.

Passion tend to flow once you start, it’s just the matter of starting that makes passions diffcult to peruse. Everything gets blocked every now and then, but I think it’s better to look at exactly what’s stopping your ideas from becoming concepts, and concepts becoming art. I think it’s better to get excited when the traffic light flicks from amber to green. I hope you like what I found when that switch occurred.

Intro

Hi! My name is Sienna, and I will be taking English Literature, History, and Sociology for A-level next September. My posting has been very speradic until now, so I am hoping since that my GCSEs are over, I can be more consistant. I also until now haven’t been great at tagging things, but most of my orginal things will now be under siennanotes. I have made a post on ‘keeping inspiration flowing’, where I accidently put a comma in the tag siennanotes, so it doesn’t come up, but you can find the post under the tag ‘muse’. 

About

My aspiration is to be a writer, so my plan with what I post is to keep a log of my writing, so that you will be able to see my thought process thoughtout, with hopefully a novel at the end you will be able to read. I will post a log at the end of every chapter I write, but will be focusing more on the writing side than the plot itself, so not to include spoilers. My hope with this is to create a relationship with you guys, so that you can kind of see what has been going on inside my head while writing.

My other interests and passions include dance, reading, cinema, and science. I love anything that tells a story, so I will be posting reviews on books, dances and films whenever I can.  

See you soon!

Sienna