There are times when I have to prod myself to use my imagination a little more. I can have a story full of wildly fantastic or futuristic things, but for some reason my mind gets caught up on little details that I'm trying to make realistic (usually realistic to now.) Then I can get bogged down in research for that one little thing because it needs to be accurate. And then I'll get reluctant because there's just so much to learn.
My novel has several of these little details in it. I've recently had to shake myself more frequently than usual to remind myself that I'm writing fiction. Science fiction at that. If I don't understand how the rocket engines for a space ship work or how best to blow them up, I need to just make it up. The particulars of how aren't terribly important to the plot, and few people other than engineers will even blink at it. Time to throw out some convincing gobbledegook or make up a piece of junk technology and move on. Which is exactly what I did. And now that I'm exercising this tactic a little more frequently, perhaps I can employ it in the next WIP without the drama beforehand.
What about you? What seemingly obvious things do you sometimes need to remind yourself to do in your writing?
(Don't ask why I used italics so much in this post. It just seemed to fit my mood today.)
1 comment:
Just remembering that I'm writing fiction is the one thing I have to do. In the pursuit of perfection, it's easy to get caught up on the small thing. Just remember, it's all made up and to just have fun.
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