tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14457468.post6580084540117916409..comments2024-01-25T19:38:45.170-05:00Comments on Tate Hallaway's Blog: Feeling Ittate hallawayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06631759014508937940noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14457468.post-16547610214290528222007-08-20T11:01:00.000-04:002007-08-20T11:01:00.000-04:00This is the comment I posted there:I'm often emoti...This is the comment I posted there:<BR/><BR/><I>I'm often emotionally detached from my writing - and yet when I show it to others, they feel all the emotion that the scene is supposed to have. Despite that, I feel insecure about this sometimes - I do have stories get into my head and not let go, but my characters never take on lives of their own like other people say theirs do. My characters do what I tell them, and if I try to stand back and let them take over (a common piece of advice) they do nothing at all. I can't watch my stories unfold like a movie, and I don't feel my characters' emotions. I'm glad to know there's someone else who works the same way.</I><BR/><BR/>I agree with you that the story has to matter. The basic premise has to draw me in. Sometimes, when the writing is going badly, I'll feel detached from the premise as well - but if I wait a couple of days, I can see the kernel of coolness there again. That kernel, for me, is what's important. There has to be something in the premise that makes me think, "Ooh..."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14457468.post-9207718904699765842007-08-17T16:58:00.000-04:002007-08-17T16:58:00.000-04:00I've actually found that the scenes where I felt t...I've actually found that the scenes where I felt totally emotionally connected and completely swept away end up being the scenes I have to revamp the most, because I was so excited, I didn't pay a lot of attention to technique or readability.<BR/><BR/>These scenes are matched in uck-ness by the scenes I write at 1 AM when I should have been in bed an hour ago and just want to finish this one chapter, crammit!<BR/><BR/>Though, in all honesty, the stories I write where the main character shares a lot in common with me tend to come out a lot better than the ones where the main character and I are quite different. That's where I run into the "write what you know" dilemma. It's more a "write WHO you know" dilemma for me. Who do you know better than yourself?<BR/><BR/>-MelM. Francis Hastingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17114187848659946736noreply@blogger.com