I totally agree - gut instinct is such a major part of my successful stories. As wannabe-esoteric as this may sound, I've had to learn to trust my inspiration, because when I don't, or when I go ahead with my own ideas even when the story is telling me to go somewhere else, it always turns out badly.
It took me a long time to finish Freedom is Slavery, for instance, because I had a very fixed idea of where I wanted it to go; I had a central paragraph written from which the whole story blossomed, but in the end, as much as I loved the tone and style of that paragraph, I had to cut it in order to get myself over the plot-barricade I'd constructed from my stubbornness. And the whole time my inspiration's sitting in front of me, telling me to listen to it because it knows what it's doing, I can trust it, etc. I remember hearing an interview with Kate Grenville where she said that writer's block is often her characters' way of protesting against the direction of the story - that comment rang so true with me. Huzzah for character autonomy! (Well, to a degree :D)
Challenge is important in writing... I really admire you for taking on so many prompt challenges. I have so much trouble responding to prompts; it might be the broadness of the keywords, or something, but I can never get my ideas to develop far enough to get a story out of it. On the other hand, though, I'm quite easily inspired (read: I see a slash conspiracy-theory in everything - Freedom is Slavery, case in point), so it's not often that I'm searching for something to write. Of course, I still go through periods of intense hatred towards my writing, my style, my excessive use of commas, and my total inability to describe things the way I want to... *sighs* Such is the life of the writer.
I'll certainly go and read Damaged People - that sounds awesome, and yay for busting the voice-stereotypes! I'm impressed by the way you embrace your challenges and you're not afraid to try something unconvential. I tend to stay in my comfort zones, these days... I don't know why I do that, because the best work I've turned out came when I was stretching myself beyond what I believed I could do, and not shying away from second person or future tense or subjects I found uncomfortable. Those were the days...
But since I've taken up enough of your comment space to rewrite War and Peace, I'll run along. Lovely to talk at you! :P
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It took me a long time to finish Freedom is Slavery, for instance, because I had a very fixed idea of where I wanted it to go; I had a central paragraph written from which the whole story blossomed, but in the end, as much as I loved the tone and style of that paragraph, I had to cut it in order to get myself over the plot-barricade I'd constructed from my stubbornness. And the whole time my inspiration's sitting in front of me, telling me to listen to it because it knows what it's doing, I can trust it, etc. I remember hearing an interview with Kate Grenville where she said that writer's block is often her characters' way of protesting against the direction of the story - that comment rang so true with me. Huzzah for character autonomy! (Well, to a degree :D)
Challenge is important in writing... I really admire you for taking on so many prompt challenges. I have so much trouble responding to prompts; it might be the broadness of the keywords, or something, but I can never get my ideas to develop far enough to get a story out of it. On the other hand, though, I'm quite easily inspired (read: I see a slash conspiracy-theory in everything - Freedom is Slavery, case in point), so it's not often that I'm searching for something to write. Of course, I still go through periods of intense hatred towards my writing, my style, my excessive use of commas, and my total inability to describe things the way I want to... *sighs* Such is the life of the writer.
I'll certainly go and read Damaged People - that sounds awesome, and yay for busting the voice-stereotypes! I'm impressed by the way you embrace your challenges and you're not afraid to try something unconvential. I tend to stay in my comfort zones, these days... I don't know why I do that, because the best work I've turned out came when I was stretching myself beyond what I believed I could do, and not shying away from second person or future tense or subjects I found uncomfortable. Those were the days...
But since I've taken up enough of your comment space to rewrite War and Peace, I'll run along. Lovely to talk at you! :P