Questions for a Writer

[Viridian]

Hello all!

A short while ago, I pitched the idea of writing of a treatise for writers of quicksand stories (viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8655). To clarify, it's mostly a collection of my thoughts and experiences as a writer in the time I've been in the community (7 years), so new writers have some food for thought when creating their own works. This is not intended to be a how-to guide or a rant about stories, but rather an insight into how I work as a writer so that others can take ideas or inspiration.

I don't have a timeline for this project, but I'd like to get some preliminary work started by opening the project for community input. This is open to readers and writers alike, and I'm interesting in hearing both questions and other's responses and opinions, which I may choose to include in my project as a viewpoint.

So, what questions do you have about quicksand stories and/or the process of writing them?

[Viridian]

I've had some people contact me with some valuable questions about writing. To stimulate discussion, here is a sample of what I am working on.

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Generating the Idea

You can call this “planting the seed”, but I prefer to see it as a “genesis”. A story is a creation, like any piece of artwork. And like artwork, it has to start somewhere.

A question that is often raised is “How do you think of original ideas?” It’s true that writing quicksand stories is a very narrow topic, and authors can struggle to weave intricate plots around it. But it doesn’t have to be complex.

When I studied creative writing, one activity was had to do was to observe the world around us in our daily life and to record one instance, which we used as a stimulus to write a story. In a sense, you put a part of your life and your experience into the creation of a story idea. This is an essential concept in writing an authentic, believable story. You can easily tell when someone is writing about a topic they have never experienced before.

“But most of us haven’t experienced real quicksand”. That doesn’t matter. The challenge is not the quicksand, but how to incorporate it into your story. This is where we draw on real world events, experiences and emotions. Here is an example.

Once I had to supervise a school camp. In the afternoon, we took the students down to the beach. The path led from the back of the campsite. It was windy, uneven, overgrown and was muddy in some areas. The path eventually joined up with a gravel track that led to a road, went off on its own again and finally to the beach (it was a decent 25 minute hike). Along the way, I noticed warning signs about unstable ledges. We had to traverse the base of the cliff to get to the beach. The kids ran around and had fun. Some of them were trying to run up the side of the ledge, which was loosely held by thin roots, and the sand would crumble and they would slide down. One of my young, attractive colleagues tried getting up the long way, but also had trouble with the loose sand and eventually gave up. The tide was coming in, so we had to head back. My colleague and I led the way as the seawater rushed against the base of the cliff. The weary group made the hike back to camp.

There’s no quicksand. But…what if?

What if my young colleague was at the rear, but took a wrong turn and found herself in quicksand, alone and out of sight, struggling to control her panic while we searched for her?

What if we were the last to leave the beach and the end of the group? Perhaps we had to look for a missing wallet or shoe. Then we get caught in the rising tide and barely make back to the path, soaking wet, but lose our way and find ourselves surrounding by quicksand.

Or perhaps the tide cuts us off from the group. We become stranded on the beach, which is suddenly turning into quicksand! Our only way out is by climbing the sand ledges, but we keep on slipping back down the unstable slope and back into the quicksand!

Because these offshoots are based off a single real experience, they’re quite plausible and steady platforms for a quicksand story. A story doesn’t have to be set around quicksand, but rather the quicksand can be inserted into a story. Story ideas don’t have to be fantastical, and even the best fantasy stories are based on real life in some way (the popular Harry Potter series, for example, is really just another coming-of-age, school life story). Experienced writers can extend their experiences across broader genres, but the idea doesn’t need to be a complex one to begin with. It can simply be a memory of a place you’ve been to, an anecdote from a friend, a what-if from a news report, and so on.

This is why the possibilities are endless. By drawing on real experiences, a writer can begin to connect thoughts, feelings and fantasies to create an immersive narrative – and for us, one of those fantasies happens to be quicksand.

[Viridian]

I remember reading a story on DS called "First to Find", which was about a mother who became obsessed with geocaching, but despaired at never being the first to find. She comes across a geocache with a high terrain difficulty, which turns out to be a quicksand pit. She survives the encounter and opens the cache to find towels and coupons for a spa. She celebrates her achievement, and the story ends with a voyeuristic note with a camera being turned off. If I recall correctly, the writer was an avid geocacher. I felt he captured the feeling and excitement perfectly, and the quicksand scene was a delightful bonus.

[clayboy]

Quicksand Doctor74: It's about time a writer such as you comes along to balance out the scales a bit. Several of us look forward to your stories!

[beardguy]

I'm mostly too afraid to put my stories down on the computer. Mostly because I'm uncomfortable with my sexuality(I'm into guys sinking, as well as furry), and my stories seem to have a gay 'vibe' no matter what I do. And then I'm afraid one of my stories will turn someone gay and then I'll go to hell for 'corrupting the innocent'. I'm sorry if that sounds offensive It's just the way my mind thinks. I've been working on it with my psychiatrist and we've made some progress.

For instance, one of my stories is set in a fantasy world where a young fur has to go through the swamp and an older fur guides him but they end up in quicksand. I noticed I tend to emphasize their struggling, their muscles straining, their chests slowly being consumed by the mire, that sort of thing. They're up to their chins before the older guy throws a dagger to cut a vine to pull himself out. The younger guy, who has serious trust issues, thinks he's just going to leave him there, but the older guy throws the vine and pulls him out too. I like to emphasize trust and bonding too. I do NOT like death, so my stories always have a rescue, often close, but still rescued.

[beardguy]

Hah, yeah. I didn't mean to criticize you for liking grim endings, it's just that it's not my preference.
It's just that, here's the general plot:

A needs to cross the swamp in a hurry. B agrees to guide him.
Confused by the changes in the terrain during recent floods, B gets him and A into quicksand.
After struggling and sinking, B gets out and rescues A.
Story ends.

To me the story just seems pointless, except to get A and B into quicksand. Or is that the point? Quicksand is fun, but the writer in me wants to explore questions, like why does A need to cross the swamp and why does B agree to guide him despite the dangers.

[Viridian]

Though I don't want to necessarily stop the discussion, I would like to ask that this topic not be hijacked and that further posts consider the point of my thread.

[beardguy]

Though I don't want to necessarily stop the discussion, I would like to ask that this topic not be hijacked and that further posts consider the point of my thread.

Ah, sorry. For some reason I can't ever stay on topic .