Writing.....

[fractured_sun]

Yay it's friday, and yay a little more progress on my hlh-shortcuts fic. At the moment it's not so much a fic as unconnected paragraphs.... This is however a step up from bullet points so progress has been made. It's funny how my method of writing changes between stories.... Some start out as random ideas in bullet points and get written out of order as paragraphs more bullet points get added and turned into paragraphs and then (hopefully) the whole lot is fit together. Others I start at the beginning, and just write without benefit of plot and see where it takes me. (Amusingly the one's which basically are bullet points were written in order, from start to finish in one go). None of them ever turn out quite what I originally planned and whenever I read them back I am always surprised by which bits worked and find things I didn't even notice before. I always do when I read other peoples writing, but you would think that having written that I would know it inside out . Does anyone else find that with their writing?

Comments

[mogwai_do]

Happens to me all the time ;) I've gone back and read old stories and had no recollection of writing them or read something and thought, wow, that was actually *good*.

My subconscious is a strange and dark place - I think it does most of the work ;)

[unovis]

My writing process changes from story to story. Very often I write chunks of a story, not necessarily in order, that are put together later. I always have this -- slush pile? sock? this space at the bottom of my story files where I throw ideas and scraps of dialogue or descriptions that may or may not find their way into the final story.

Sometimes I start at the beginning and write until the end. I hate plot.

[elistaire]

I like this bullet point idea. I may try that.

I generally start at the beginning and go until the end. My brain has usually worked out all the main elements before I even start writing, and little detail stuff gets decided on the fly.

[mackiedockie]

I have often read some of my old files, and wondered "Who did this, and how did it get into my computer?"

Writing, I usually start pretty close to the beginning, and power on through, but I almost never know where exactly the road is going until I actually get there. Sometimes to my beta and fellow writer's despair, no doubt *g*. I usually have a solid scene in mind, and a conundrum that must be faced or overcome, but I still sometimes surprise myself with the ending. Nah, I have to admit, I surprise myself all the time. Not the most stable writing style, indeed.

[jinxed-wood.livejournal.com]

My writing style is all over the place, and the way I write depends greatly on what inspired me to write the story. For instance, I really want to write a Christmas/Solstice crossover fic featuring Methos and Romana, and I want the mood to echo this Christmas music video I found by Annie Lennox. So in my mind, I can picture the place and the mood - but a plot? Not so much:-P





On the other hand, hlh_shortcuts has turned out quite plotty, but the mood of the piece veers from amusing fluff to drama. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

I do know my writing is like my painting in one respect. I can tell in the first thirty seconds of a writing/painting session whether I'm going to produce anything decent that day. It's either clicking or it isn't.

And I obsess about my opening paragraph.

[snakewhissperer.livejournal.com]

oh yeah, i even have it where i make a throwaway comment in the begin and somehow, they'll come back at hte end and refer to it...60 pages later. And I've got to go back and check it.

[silvercobwebs.livejournal.com]

*nods* Absolutely.

And I also wondered if many other people wrote in a non-linear fashion. I hate opening paragraphs with a passion, so I usually start writing the middle and the 'good bits' I must write there and then before I forget why they're supposed to be good *g*.
Sometimes I'll revisit an old fic and be either pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised by a line I'd totally forgotten about, or one that I'd obsessed about at the time and now can no longer see the big deal with. Writing's funny that way, isn't it?

[darthanne.livejournal.com]

I /love love love/ your icon.

I tend to start at the beginning and write in order these days, although I have notebooks full of ideas/notes especially for the longer stuff. Sometimes I wonder why I do those as things change as I go along. Muses do what they want, and ignore the plan. Some are worse for that than others.

[adabsolutely.livejournal.com]

Wrote my shortcuts first draft in four scenes chronologically, but when I read it again, after letting it stew for a couple days, I discovered scene one and four had to be chopped. Now I'm backfilling and will need a new ending. Sigh. I'd had it all nicely outlined, for all the good that did me, but I'm happier with it now. An outline makes me feel secure, though it doesn't always work.

[lil-1337.livejournal.com]

My process varies between the two styles too. The longer fics, especially ones that are plot heavy, I tend to have at least a few things I know need to be in it and then the rest fills itself in. Shorter stuff I open and document and just let it flow out.

[pat-t.livejournal.com]

I'm about half way through mine and stuck. Darn it all. I'll figure it out though.