What I'm looking for is a step (at least) before what Gerrold's talking about. If I were going to use his method, I'd first have to come up with things to put on the cards. That's the part that tends to be a brick wall for me (in much the same way that description is for you, IIRC).
In fact, some of his examples elide over the very issue I struggle with. "Kirk finds fuzzies in ship's stores" -- yes, but how? What on earth makes the Captain of a starship go and look in the stores cupboards? (I mean, I know how it happens in the actual episode; I can very nearly recite "Tribbles" from memory. But if I were trying to write that story myself, that's exactly the sort of thing I'd hang up on.)
I think a lot of people discuss scenes "backwards" when talking about plot, which is probably why it frustrates me so much -- and I suspect it's another example of me thinking about story differently than, apparently, the rest of the universe. I can usually tell *before* I've written it what a scene needs to achieve, what it needs to do in terms of pacing, structure, and character, even a sort of general kinesthetic "feel" for what kind of thing needs to go there. It's getting the thing itself -- what actually happens -- that's my sticking point.
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Date: 2020-Jul-21, Tuesday 03:39 am (UTC)In fact, some of his examples elide over the very issue I struggle with. "Kirk finds fuzzies in ship's stores" -- yes, but how? What on earth makes the Captain of a starship go and look in the stores cupboards? (I mean, I know how it happens in the actual episode; I can very nearly recite "Tribbles" from memory. But if I were trying to write that story myself, that's exactly the sort of thing I'd hang up on.)
I think a lot of people discuss scenes "backwards" when talking about plot, which is probably why it frustrates me so much -- and I suspect it's another example of me thinking about story differently than, apparently, the rest of the universe. I can usually tell *before* I've written it what a scene needs to achieve, what it needs to do in terms of pacing, structure, and character, even a sort of general kinesthetic "feel" for what kind of thing needs to go there. It's getting the thing itself -- what actually happens -- that's my sticking point.