Writing fiction is problem solving
On wondering how to explain to a non-writer friend what's it like to fix my first draft and realizing that I don't feel that creative.
A few weeks ago, I found myself trying to explain to a good non-writer friend what it feels like to be fixing the first draft of my novel.
The conversation started because they said something like this:
“Writing is such a creative activity! You need to have so many ideas—it’s impressive!”
It was interesting to notice my internal reaction to those words: I had the instinct to push back. Not because I wanted to deny that writing is an impressive activity—it is, and I’m impressed every time I pick up a good book and immerse myself into a different world created by little inked signs on paper.
However, something about defining writing as “an incredibly creative activity” felt somewhat wrong.
It’s not wrong. Writing is a creative endeavor, there’s no doubt in that. But I realized there’s a specific image that some people may conjure when they think of a writer, which I don’t think depicts quite exactly what writing fiction feels like—or feels like to me.
It’s the imagery of the author sitting at a café, looking in the distance with a lost look on their face, about to put pen to paper, listening to the Muses, and wading through ideas. Struggling, maybe, not to be submerged by them, and coming up with new fantasies, whether they are characters, plot points, or entire worlds.
I’m not that kind of writer. I generally don’t feel like I’m a “creative” person: I don’t like having to be creative on command—writing birthday cards is a struggle, and party games with loose rules in which you have to come up with something funny and out of the box in a limited amount of time (see Dixit or other Charade type of games) aren’t my favorite. I need my time and space to come up with… anything.
The generating ideas part isn’t even what draws me to writing, really. That may be something weird about me and I genuinely wonder who else out there feels the same way. Don’t get me wrong, I love an interesting concept, but I’ve concluded that ideas are just the starting point.
The magic of writing a good story comes with the step right after: problem-solving.
That’s what hooks me: the art of making a story make sense. What I need to do right now with my first draft is stare into the huge gaping holes in the plot and try to come up with something to close them up. I have to think about the characters, their motivations, their actions, and make them align with whatever I want the story to be. I have to come up with reasons for character A to do B and go to C and talk to D and say to D about B and C and have all of that feel like it’s coming together organically and inevitably.
It’s thinking and analyzing and strategizing. It’s covering a wall of Post-it notes and connecting them with red threads.
Sure, you need “creativity” to connect all of the elements that make a story. Problem solving is in its way a creative endeavor. But it feels different from “coming up with ideas”.
Moreover, especially in the stage where I’m at, ideas can become something to be handled with extreme care: they can be downright dangerous. They can end up derailing the story and transform it into something else entirely or stopping you from tying it up, freezing you with their tantalizing possibilities.
I love the problem-solving part. I don’t know that I’m good at it, but I sure want to learn how to be. As of right now, I’m reflecting on each element of my story, wondering what their point is and how they connect. There is so much to go through! I still don’t quite have a strategy for the second draft, yet, but I’m getting there.
For other writers out there, does this entry make sense to you? What draws you more to writing, the coming-up-with-ideas part or the problem-solving part?
Let me know by simply replying to this email, writing me at ryeyoubs@gmail.com, or leaving a comment!
Take care,
Rye Youbs
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When I'm working at a cafe and start staring out the window with a vague look in my eye, it's usually because I'm trying to figure out if there's a limit to how many times my character can flick the hair back from her face in a single scene, or something similarly dumb. Muses? Bah!
I think it's interesting that you draw a distinction between generating ideas and problem solving, because they are really both creative acts. One is just more focused than the other. But I suspect there are people who are better at one over the other.
I love that meme haha! I too have definitely felt like that character when I'm trying to make the threads of my worldbuilding make sense. I still believe that revisions take creativity, but I think it's a more focused version than the creativity of forming a first draft from a blank page. I personally love drafting from a blank page the best, but there is also something deeply rewarding about revisions too. It's almost as if when you're doing the first draft, you are making the basic shape of a sculpture, but in revisions, you carve out the details and features that make that sculpture something amazing. Best of luck with your writing as always!