Floating an idea around - a quicksand story "treatise"

[Viridian]

Six years ago, I came out of lurkerdom and wrote my first story on Deepsinking. I've been writing ever since, with the occasional dabble into artwork. Though there's no official log of every story I've written, the figure is crawling closer to the 100 mark -- some of which are multi-chapter serials, others are 30-minute wonders that I shudder to look at.

I doubt I'll be writing forever, as time and real life commitments catch up. Having done my share of writing and reading, I'd like to attempt something unique for the community. I'm interested in pooling my experience of writing quicksand fiction and exploring the complexities of how to create an engaging story exclusive to our tastes. I know there are a few people out there who want to have a go at writing but can't think of a way to make it sound interesting. I also want to challenge the perception that quicksand isn't something you can really write about a lot (and hopefully by my 100th story I can disprove that).

I'd like to see this as a chance to inspire and challenge current and future writers.

I'm pitching the idea out there: who would be interested in such a thread, and what kind of things would you like to see commentary on?

[Fred588]

I like the idea.

A very long time back, in the days of Yahoo Groups being actually functional, there was a small group formed for this very purpose. The original moderator was Sigmund Fraud and I was the moderator for a time as well. Mostly, members submitted their work for critique. Everyone was expected to submit work from time to time and everyone was supposed to do critique from time to time as well. There were only about a dozen members but it worked for a while. Personally I found it very useful - I was an experienced writer of non-fiction but had never attempted fiction before.

[Viridian]

I recall we had a small writer's workshop group on the DS forum too, back when we had a small corps of frequent writers (Lomax, wubble, Rusty Shackleford, to name a few). Back then, too, we had a few nasty unwanted critiques; both against newcomers giving it a shot with one-paragraph pieces and against other regular writers. I was in an unfortunate clash when another prolific author decided, for some unexplained reason, to write up a 2000 word (in what I felt like was a mocking tone that made me feel like I had actually done something horrifically wrong) critique on creative and scientific grounds -- that was longer than the story itself, which was not up for critique in the first place. One of the side-effects of such a public sandblasting was that other readers, instead of enjoying the story, felt influenced by the criticism. I don't really want to see new authors put off by heavy-handed comments, but I do want to give them a way to become "better" without running the gauntlet.

The upshot of this idea is that it's more of one person's take on the elements that make up a good quicksand story rather than a specific critique of a submitted piece, so there's no pressure on people to write and no discouragement for those who don't feel confident or comfortable with sharing their work.

[Fred588]

See your email through the forum system

[Rusty Shackleford]

I'd be interested in helping out with this, although I'm a little unclear as to what exactly is being proposed. I used to write a lot, but then I got the bug to start doing art. Recently though I've been missing writing as I'm finding art has some limitations that writing does not.

[Viridian]

It's basically me writing an information thread covering a literary approach to writing quicksand stories, based on my experiences, thoughts and views.

[Aiko]

When writing quicksand stories I often find it hard to keep myself from repeating expressions and phrases that I have used before. And that's something that does not get easier with each story but actually harder. I want my writing to remain original, ie. not start copying myself (or others). But there are only so many synonyms for "quicksand" I can think of, and only so many ways to paraphrase "sinking" etc.

Also I am at a disadvantage as a writer here, because English is not my first language. My vocabulary will never be quite as large and varied as that of native English speakers. Even so, considering all the quicksand stories already out there, I'd expect others to face the same problem - though probably to a lesser degree.

So, what's your opinion on this? Any tips on how to come up with new, original ways to describe the things common to most quicksand stories?

[Viridian]

My take is not necessarily to come up with an original way to describe quicksand, but rather to create original stories. Especially when writing a lot of stories, it becomes easy to become too fixated on the quicksand element -- and there is such a thing is too much of it.

In this context, a developed plot should be allowed to progress while the quicksand scene is taking place. Sinking takes time -- therefore, the focus should actually be away from the quicksand. That's the real challenge. The reader knows the character is sinking in quicksand, and doesn't necessarily have to be reminded of that frequently. Descriptions of the sink should be intermittently sited so that it takes second place until the time comes to make it the primary focus again (e.g. a submergence of struggle).

Dialogue is the most common and easiest way to stretch out a quicksand scene -- but something should be happening alongside the quicksand experience. This is what separates a well-written story with a plop-and-sink. The real problem with plop-and-sink is that there is nothing *but* quicksand, and it actually is quite hard to explain the details of the quicksand if that is the only thing happening. When you can set up a story that allows you to take the details from another part of the scene, you don't have to worry about inventing new synonyms, because the reader won't care. I personally only use a handful of words -- sinking, slipping, quivering, undulating, quaking, etc.

In another line of thought, separate the sinking experience between what the character is doing (sinking, struggling, etc.) and what the environment is doing (sucking, pulling), and begin to personify the quicksand.

[Aiko]

I see. I think I have been very much fixated on the actual sinking and struggling in most of my stories. My latest CYOA-style story did actually offer options to leave the sinking scene for a while (to pick up clothes or go to the car), but those got too few votes. Maybe I'll give those a story paths a shot anyway, or try one of the new ideas I'm getting now.

[PM2K]

When writing quicksand stories I often find it hard to keep myself from repeating expressions and phrases that I have used before. And that's something that does not get easier with each story but actually harder. I want my writing to remain original, ie. not start copying myself (or others). But there are only so many synonyms for "quicksand" I can think of, and only so many ways to paraphrase "sinking" etc.

Also I am at a disadvantage as a writer here, because English is not my first language. My vocabulary will never be quite as large and varied as that of native English speakers. Even so, considering all the quicksand stories already out there, I'd expect others to face the same problem - though probably to a lesser degree.

I have the same problems myself with repetition, but as Viridian says, as long as the story propels one along, that doesn't matter. After all, there is only so many ways to describe quicksand and the act of sinking into it.

It was once said to me if your story would still reads well without a quicksand scene, you are on the right track. There's nothing wrong with a plop and sink, but it does limit one. Still, they are good practice.

When I first started writing qs fiction for myself, I essentially re-did my fav stories I had read in the way I would do them. I would never post these or anything, but it did give me a chance to practice and work out my own style. In time, I felt confident enough to do my own work, and then work up the courage to start posting them.... I haven't had any complaints...

I still have a stack of these early original ones, typed out on paper. They inspire me to this day.

( By the way, Aiko, your English is fine. I would never had guessed it wasn't your native language.)