As a writer, I usually get some bit of plot first. If there's a character in the initial idea, then it's "wouldn't it be cool if someone like THIS did something like THIS?" This might be partly because I tend to write stories with some kind of science-fiction or fantasy or comic book element...I like there to be something in there larger than life, at least by a little.
(Joss Whedon said it about right on one of the Angel DVDs, saying he was interested in writing musicals and science fiction and vampires and superheroes and everything that doesn't happen in real life, so he can use it to talk about PEOPLE and everything that actually does happen. Of course he worded it much better than that, only I'm too lazy to surf the internet for the exact quite right now.)
As a reader, I certainly need stories to work on multiple levels. I need characters I care about and interesting things happening to them, a good thematic level helps, and the prose needs to be at least at a certain level to hold my interest. There are authors out there who write prose so clunky I just can't stand to read them...I have a physical reaction, like hearing nails on a chalkboard. (Apologies to the many fans of R.A. Salvatore.)
And I also, both writing and reading, see very clear movies in my head, with sound. It's why I find writing dialogue (and scripts) so much quicker than writing prose. I love prose, but it takes me some time to work out just the right words to achieve the effect I need. Dialogue...I tend to just hear the characters talking in my head (yes, I hear the voices!) and transcribe. Sometimes I have to go back and edit and polish them a bit later, but even that comes a bit more smoothly than shiny prose.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
Elf's 2 pence
Date: 2005-07-04 01:15 am (UTC)(Joss Whedon said it about right on one of the Angel DVDs, saying he was interested in writing musicals and science fiction and vampires and superheroes and everything that doesn't happen in real life, so he can use it to talk about PEOPLE and everything that actually does happen. Of course he worded it much better than that, only I'm too lazy to surf the internet for the exact quite right now.)
As a reader, I certainly need stories to work on multiple levels. I need characters I care about and interesting things happening to them, a good thematic level helps, and the prose needs to be at least at a certain level to hold my interest. There are authors out there who write prose so clunky I just can't stand to read them...I have a physical reaction, like hearing nails on a chalkboard. (Apologies to the many fans of R.A. Salvatore.)
And I also, both writing and reading, see very clear movies in my head, with sound. It's why I find writing dialogue (and scripts) so much quicker than writing prose. I love prose, but it takes me some time to work out just the right words to achieve the effect I need. Dialogue...I tend to just hear the characters talking in my head (yes, I hear the voices!) and transcribe. Sometimes I have to go back and edit and polish them a bit later, but even that comes a bit more smoothly than shiny prose.
John (Elf), somewhere in the universe...