There was a time when I thought this phrase was solely about flying. Such is the brilliance of Douglas Adams. After learning a lot about the act of putting pen to paper —well, at least it’s been a lot for me— I truly believe that this phrase can be applied directly to creative writing.
Whether Adams thought of it like that, is neither here or there, and is probably somebody else’s problem. I haven’t searched the interwebbs to find out. But because I specifically make a point of never meeting my heroes, I’m perfectly fine to imbue them with magics and abilities far beyond their imagination —and with Adams, that’s saying something.
Writing: Act One
You have to start with an idea.
I think you’d be hard pushed to find any writer that started with a void and then yelled, “let there be comma splices with varying tempo!”
Everyone has an idea to start with. Then you quickly run into the various ways different writers might treat that idea. Despite the human compulsion to put everything (including themselves) into boxes. I’m going to refer to them all as writers, because whether they are a Pantser, Plotter, or Planstastica —they pretty much do a similar thing, just at different ends of a scale, with varying degrees of flourishes.
Some might spend far longer on fleshing that idea out before they start writing, others will just jump straight in and to hell with the consequences. But I truly believe, any great writer (or at least someone writing a great story), must do the following:
Come up with an idea.
Aim for that idea.
Miss the idea you were aiming for.
And find something better during the journey.
It is the very act of taking time, going back over the story moment by moment, that allows you to find hidden meanings and additional layers. And whilst every story does not need this level of complexity, personally, I believe the great stories must do this.
Writing: Act Owt?
Taking my time and discovering new elements is exactly what has happened to me over nearly every single story I’ve tried (and continued) to bring to life.
It happened with ‘Is that it?’
It happened with my online game plots for ALWTM and EXIT.
And it’s happened (very much so) with TEOWAD.
Way back when, Teowad started as a simple ‘buddy’ story. Mainly because I was rather bored with watching and reading so many arcs where the main characters all had a ‘will they, won’t they’ thread.
It seems I’m rather on the pulse with that kind of sentiment, for once.
I really wanted to write a story of a man and a woman who clearly did not have this thread, not at all. For them, thinking of some kind of romance, would be like making a breakfast of milk and lettuce.
But I also wanted to write a buddy story where you were slightly puzzled at how the two ended up together. I didn’t immediately realise how best to do this, despite how I first encountered the characters (they were arguing on the other side of a wall). I tried a few different things, essentially ignoring their argumentative side. But, true to this ‘learning whilst writing’ thing, I stumbled back into it, and realised that taking this one element ‘of a close relationship’ would be enough to puzzle people.
A number of early critiquers and beta readers precisely thought that their arguing meant they were in a romantic relationship. Or, added their own imagined ‘will they, won’t they’ story (at least in the early chapters). Ignoring the one person who seemed to read everything as if they hated each other —which was odd to my brain, at least, but perhaps it was the ‘British humour’?
This is just one example, but there have been many like that over the years.
So, yes, taking my time, bumping into things, overthinking and under-appreciating everything led to improvements in the story. The overarching idea didn’t change —and for that matter, I would count myself as a planner. But, there are very much areas of the story that developed ‘by ear’, and absolutely needed that.
Writing: Act—ion!
But… yes. Getting back to why I originally started this post. The beauty of what Adams, and countless other authors have been able to do over our monkey-adventuring years, is to discover or invent phrases, ideas or entire plot lines that have multiple levels.
I know this isn’t new, and I’m sure it is exactly what many authors strive for.
But it’s those ideas that draw me in when reading, and it is those ideas that lead me to reread books, time and again, discovering new dimensions. Even if those elements were put there by the author on purpose or not.
And I really 100% believe you cannot write that kind of story in six months.
That’s nothing on people who write books that quickly, I just don’t expect
that kind of story to be the kind of thing I get wrapped up in.
All the above said. I have very much definitely tried to put some of my own layers into TEOWAD. It’s taken long enough. Whether I’ve managed to do it well…? That will be down to the readers and their reviews. Either they’ll be comparing my work to something regurgitated by the Bugblatter Beast of Traal, or —hopefully— worthy of being printed on a towel.
Message ends.
PS. For those who missed the original phrase I was going on about, it was in the title. And if you did miss it, then you need to go and read ‘Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy’. I don’t care if you’ve already read it, read it again… I’m off to get a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster because I’m definitely not a Hoopy Frood and need the Vitamin C.
