Reference VS. Outta My Head

I posted the following on DeviantArt and am waiting for the potential backlash. I don't have many watchers over there, so I doubt it'll create a stink. But it IS a legitimate concern I have. Let me know what you think:

"In the extensive browsing I've done here on dA, I noticed how far I have to go to reach my full artistic potential. Some pretty amazing stuff on here! But then I realized that the major disconnect in my art and "theirs" is the extensive use (legal or otherwise) of reference material for the completion of many of these works. As I work mostly out of my head, but don't disdain use of reference, I found my work doesn't compare to many for this really basic reason. Most of my art is doodled when I don't have access to reference, or when I want to preserve a stylistic approach that reference would affect.

I have noticed repaints over copyrighted photography or artwork, blatant redraws of anime/manga pages, and impressively-drawn/finished digital art that may or may not have used "reference material" in the completion process. Reference material is to be looked at for inspiration, not to be ripped directly from the source material. Now, I know such a staunch position on use of reference can't be all that popular in this community. I doubt many people who misuse reference will respond to this message unless they are angrily defending their process or angrily denying their process. So in that case, please don't bother commenting. I mean no personal disrespect. Your methods, while they may garner much attention and praise, simply are not my methods.

I could discuss at length how the beloved Masters used mirrors and other tricks to exactly copy the portraits of their subjects onto the canvas, and that these methods were considered acceptable for accuracy's sake. It wasn't the resulting "copied" drawings that made the Masters... Masters. It was the finishing of the work. But when photography came into existence, the need for accurate recording of an individual's face by an artist dissipated. Art was freed to be more organic and less "perfect." (That's just the Master's degree talkin'. Teachin' art is a habit and one-time profession.)

Now, apparently the "change three things" rule exonerates copiers from the copyright laws. And, more apparently, as long as an artist doesn't make money from that art, it's okay. (The originator of the character or concept COULD sue you for damages, especially if your work is wildly popular.) You're not going to see someone paint a near-exact work of the Mona Lisa and expect someone to believe they originated the concept. Also, I do not count useful "Master's Copies" among blatant copyright infringement. They have their place in a student artist's skills development. Sharing techniques, skills and procedures is an age-old method of creating improved artistic techniques, skills and procedures. And deviantArt is very generous in this respect. So even THAT isn't the issue.

I think, at the core of what bothers me, is that some artists soak up praise for their work and don't readily admit that they used or abused the reference process. Why? Because they wouldn't get as much praise for it. I'm not good at keeping up pretenses. If I use reference for more than it's basic intention, I'll let you know. And if you've read this far and would like to answer my questions, I welcome your opinions...

Now, I know we're all "deviants" here, but at what point does use of reference lose it's respectful position in artistic society? Do you agree that money-making is the fine line between okay and not okay? Or is over-use of reference without commentary a breach of trust to viewers, who think some artists are awesome without basis?

Curious as to what all...2 or 3 of you will think! :)"

Cuddles,
Tamara

Creativity VS Making Money

Some comments that may be of value about creativity versus making money. I've talked about this story somewhere before, but it reared its ugly head again. 


I posted this comment on Goodreads a couple days back, in response to a comment, in the thread for Stephen King's On Writing book: 


"A friend gave me this book following his Creative Writing class in college. His VERY anti-King professor told him that he could have assigned a dozen great books on how to write well, but he assigned On Writing because the students wanted to learn how to make money writing. The professor hates King's writing but knows the man makes a killing doing what he does best: telling good stories. Writing well and making money writing are not always hand in hand. Oh, and I loved the book. Other than the awesome personal-life accounts, King gives basically two orders: 1. Write every day. 2. Keep writing."

I received a response to the effect that the professor was a jealous idiot, and that Stephen King writes well, and could write better if he wanted to, but chooses to focus on the story instead. I consider this a moot point. So I responded in kind:

"Well, this professor isn't an idiot, but he does have it out for King. Just doesn't like him. Jealousy may be a factor, but most likely it's the haughtiness I've witnessed in some professors. One of my dear art professors, for instance, is an awesome artist, but he disdains Thomas Kinkade for shirking tradition and "lessening" the value of his work by selling prints AND by doing simple genre scenes.

It is all quite silly. Kinkade made a killing with his art prints and brand, and is one of the most well known artists of his generation, painting what everyone wanted to hang in their homes. Also, far be it from me to judge an author like King who brings home millions, writing (pretty vividly) what people want to read!

As a writer and artist, I have my own biases. But they don't cloud common sense. Creative people create. Financially successful creative people create what people want to buy."

I repeat: Financially successful creative people create what people want to buy.

End of story, right? Or just the beginning? :)

Cuddles,

Tamara

NOVEL: REVISION IS LIKE PAINTING

After letting the book rest for a while, I've started the content and line revision. Line by line, chapter by chapter, tedious task by tedious task-- it is exactly like starting all over. Questioning every word and all dialogue is the one thing that makes a book better if the story's already decent. Especially if you can do it without making the sentences stiff. Writing is similar to art in this way. If you paint holding your brush too tightly, the brushstrokes will look stiff and overworked. Keeping a loose grip on the brush (a trained skill) is key to making a dynamic painting. In writing, if you make every sentence technically perfect (holding the brush too tightly), you strangle the life out of the words and end up with immobile, stuffy, uninteresting, overly verbose prose that flaunts skills at the mere level of anal-retentive proofreading and far below dynamic editing. Rant, complete.

And after I've finished the revision, I'll attempt a final polish. If my head hasn't exploded by then. To calm myself, I did a five-minute cover mock-up in MS Paint with the unfinished cover art and a haphazard tagline:

Looks like something out of the seventies! :)

Yep. That makes me feel better. Nothing like the promise of a book cover (a much better one than this!) when I've finished!

I've hired a good line-editor who I promised would not have to do story revision. And because of my previous rant, he knows I just want a basic editing of lines and final proofreading. And the pointing out of any glaring problems he may encounter, if I haven't resolved them by then. (If something annoys him so that he can't edit, he is to report it! :D)

So that's where I am. Wonder if this'll be done by the end of the month? That would be promising!

ON MY KINDLE "MARKET RESEARCH": 

I don't want to self-publish with glaring spelling errors and confusing sentence structure. Simple is best, right? So I downloaded a few freebies on my shiny new Kindle Touch (I'm behind the times. Back off!) to see what the free market offered. The potential of a decent story was often drowned out by the lack of much common-sense editing... sense. I understand that people who view themselves as visionaries can't be bothered with details, but those same visionaries should hire someone who can be bothered. I know it's not all completely amateur stuff, for crying out loud! Luckily, I don't view myself as a visionary. I didn't, after all, invent the eBook or even the paper book. I'm just a storyteller and artist, a creative person who wants to get her stories out there...

But this is a business, right? I'm doing a job, on which consumers may be willing to spend money. To consume my product, if you will. And consumers want to spend their money on products that deliver. You don't buy a cell phone that doesn't receive calls. So you shouldn't have to buy a book whose line editing or lack thereof detracts from the reading experience. A book, by definition, should be readable. Now I cut the free books some slack. They are not purchased with money. But people spend or waste TIME on them, which is far more precious. So these free books should be handled with the same product-pride that the paid books (should) offer. Now, that said, on to the paid books...

My only consistent gripes with the paid self-pub books is that 1) they all seem to be done in first person POV and my book is not and 2) the writing often has a self-conscious quality, a "See Ma? I can write well!" wordiness that distracts me from the story. As in, the way I wrote that novel back in high school... Also, 3) Barring the presence of the ever-popular "young man in a strange world" theme I've incorporated, I haven't found anything that hits the same nerve I wanna hit. I'll keep researching, though. And stop picking it apart for now!

Like I said, I'm not a visionary. I'm a storyteller and artist. I'll stop worrying about them for now and try to make something I love into something that is better than it is right now.

Love and cuddles,

Tamara

NOVEL: THE HOME STRETCH

At almost 52,000 words, my novel is in the final lap toward completion. I had stalled as of my last post, but gained momentum when I just sat down and started writing. So here I am, giving a quick update to say that I'm doin' the writing I avoided for so long.

I could probably crank out one of these books in a couple months if the silly call of the real world would allow such a pace. However, I'll settle for the stumbling blocks that became platforms to learning and growing as both a writer and a person.

I also settled for a loose mapping-out of the remaining events of the book for tonight's progress instead of my usual organic writing method that may not have tied up the loose ends as I would have liked. The result is a concise action-climax and resolution map that will ensure I don't forget the major events. I also managed (or realized) a few surprising tie-ins with the next novel and made more specific notes in my trusty Notes doc. It's like the story decided its course years ago, and I just had to get my butt in gear to record it, with an "I'll be darned" kinda reaction from me.

I just realized that most of the above was disjointed. As I've learned a lot about my brain's particulars regarding my creative process, I'd hate to do it a disservice by being unclear. Consider the following for clarification.

So here's my novel-writing process, in varied POV, for retrospect and fine-tuning, as a compulsive list:

1. Format Volume Word Doc and Create Notes Word Doc.

2. Find and combine all the scattered notes, post-its, napkins, electronic docs, and other stuff into one jumbled mess and sort to make a story. Perhaps write it down longhand in the notebook assigned to such tasks.

3. Compose loose story outline in Volume Word Doc, as, you guessed it, a LIST of events!

4. Type Part and Chapter Headings into Volume Word Doc, separating outline list into logical chunks. Make at least a short note on what will happen in each chapter, if outline isn't specific.

5. Type a few starter Character Names and short descriptions into Notes Doc under a heading by the same name. Also make categories for World Details and Customs, etc, to help keep things in line. All uncategorized notes get dumped at the end of the Notes Doc for sorting or use later.

6. Decide on a starting point. Don't dwell. "Decide" is the operative word. Your protagonist could be staring at a freakin' flower for 10 minutes before you realize he should be doing something. But at least you're writing! Worry about Hitchcock's axiom in the editing process. (...the one about a good story being life with the boring parts removed, I think.)

7. Start writing! Keep a notebook and your Notes Doc open. If you get an itch of an idea that won't happen for a hundred pages, make a note of it. If something from three books down the line occurs to you, type it in. The point here is that, short of true writer's block, you should write when you sit down to write. Just don't let new or different ideas stall you out, or you'll never finish. Redirect that nagging or fleeting idea to a note and get back to what you intended to do in the first place. Flesh out big action or complex scenes as mini-outlines. Save often.

8. Note new character names and relationships in your Notes doc, as well as any customs, mannerisms, world details or other crap you may need to recall later. Nothing grinds writing to a halt like filtering through a hundred pages of writing for a tiny detail that you NEEEEEED before you can finish a sentence. If you can't come up with a new character name on the spot, type a long blank ________ or brackets and a description [So-and-so's sister], and come back to it in the editing process. Save often.

9. Make notes of plot developments either at the bottom of your Volume Word Doc or in a category of your Notes Doc. I keep a lot of plot notes and ideas at the bottom of the actual novel doc because as I write about the event, I cut and paste it into the Notes Doc. It's like checking tasks off a checklist. Save often.

10. Write a book that you would want to read. Don't be afraid of your audience, because you're the only audience right now. Chances are if YOU'RE wondering what will happen next and can't put your own book down, someone else will feel the same way. I feel like such a dork when I think "Wonder what'll happen next?" only to realize that I...have to...write it first. And... save often!

Hmmm... Nice to know the writing style that works for me evolved into a 10-Step-Process where I do most of the steps simultaneously and with little stress. How did I ever finish that whopper of a first novel without it??? (It was 160K words and has since been dismantled for a major rewrite later.) Oh, wait! This process evolved from that drudgery. As I said, stepping stones from stumbling blocks, or something.

Cuddles,
Tamara

What Makes a Good Story (A Preview of Another Phase)

1. Catharsis
2. Strong female characters (the maidens in distress who will kick your butt!)
3. A lead worth cheering on, in the face of the worst adversity
4. The extreme side of this statement: "Without darkness, there can be no light!"
5. The worst in someone brings out the best in another

Well, now I realize that these are generic statements, but the more generalized the story, the more universal it becomes. The more universal the concepts, the more likely a multitude of people will identify with it. That's why most manga and anime is set in high school. It appeals to a particular age group more literally. But the reason that it appeals to different age groups (oldies like lil ole me) is because of the universal truths. Oh, and things like plot, narrative, character design, theme, etc. And the pretties.

I'll even watch a mech show if ya twist my arm. And I may even like it!

I'll post some more of these tomorrow. I want my stories to have all of these things eventually, so it'll help me focus. :)