Always sneaking up from behind to say “Boo!”
Hard at work.
How do I write?
I'm still learning how. But, you might want to know how the story comes to be. I have several roles, and shift among them.
Plot
I listen quietly to learn the plot. I used to call this role "the plotweaver." But I have since discovered that anywhere I tried to drive the story, those bits are ultimatley removed. I don't make the story up. I wait. Then I sit at the computer and type. On a good day, they do their stuff. It's often a mess writing-wise. Bits of action and dialogue. Lots of dialogue. I understand them as they act and speak. I have cried while typing, listening to the action unfold (mostly stuff out in Volumes 4 and 5 -- yes, a lot has been written).
Storytelling
Then comes the hard part -- turning that "download" into story. When I read what I have, I can cry again because it is so messy. Sometimes I get pieces out of order. I spend a long time putting the story in order. Often I "ask" questions, and have to wait for answers. Sometimes days, sometimes weeks. But eventually the answers come, and the story is clarified. This is my biggest job - to take the tale as I hear it and make it suitable for our ears.
Liteary Artist
Then comes the really hard part -- turning the writing into something that has a modicum of literary quality. For all the wonder that it is to work with K’me K’ea on this project, she has beat me up a few times when I've tried to implant some of my literary style. This story is told in her voice. Still, I have to help her get the constructs right. That's something I was never good at to begin with. By the way, if you want to know waht my voice sounds like -- this entire author's section is my voice. And of the writing that I do personally, a snippet is presented at the top of my Biosketch.
Editor
Most painful is editing. That's when I get a second chance to see what a lousy job I've done putting into well-formed sentences the actions of those in the story. And so I edit repeatedly. I don't read much of anything else anymore because I re-read the pages of this work over and over and over.
