A writing meme
I nicked this from morgan32
Ideas. Where the hell do they come from? Can you make them show up?
I get quite a few ideas listening to music, and quite a few of my stories are basically glorified song fic - James and the Cold Gun, So Many Colours, Cloudbusting, Burning Clean - all of them had their germination in song lyrics, and titles to match. Otherwise, sometimes a story concept just comes. Other times, a scene comes, and I have to work out what it's all about.
Wild horse-bunnies. When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
Not often, but it's amazing when they come. Tamlin. Cloudbusting. Kings or Knaves. Most of the time I do have to *work* at some aspects of a story, at least, but those three essentially wrote themselves.
Writer's block. Have you been scourged?
Not really. I have patches where I don't feel like it, or where I have to let an idea simmer, but so far I've not been in that situation of seriously not being able to write something. I've abandoned stories that weren't working for me but only to go on to something that was. Knock on wood...
Clean up duty. Do you like editing?
I love it. It's necessary, but it's also a procrastinatory tool as well, so I have to watch my motivations. Am I editing to make my story better, or to avoid tackling a difficult bit? But yes, I edit, and I hope I'm getting better at catching what needs to be polished.
The ending. Is it hard for you to find the ending?
I very seldom start a story without having an idea of where it's going and what the end will be. The bits in the middle are usually the problem.
The title. Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
Some stories start with a title, especially if they're 'songfic'. Other stories go with a working title and I sweat bullets over the real title. The longer it takes to find a title, the less likely I am to be happy with what I end up with - but I have to call it something...
Plot. If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand.
Sort of raises hand. If I think I need a plot, I certainly have something at least traced out before I start. 'Before Sunrise', I made sure that I knew what the workings of the crime plot were before I started any serious writing. Sometimes I know 'what', and I have to take a break to work out 'how' in the middle of proceedings. But I would never start a long story without at least a rough idea of what the hell is going on.
POV. How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
Early stories it was seldom a conscious choice. I often went with Jim because I felt more comfortable with him. Later stories, like the Regency stories and The Children of Cascade I made conscious choices related to how I wanted to tell the story.
Challenges. Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
I feel stressed by challenges, but they do stretch me. However, I'm picky about what I take up.
Sex. Do you like writing sex?
No. Yes. Maybe.
When I first started writing I was very embarrassed and unsure about the idea of writing sex. Then I got into writing it and was kind of fun. Now, it's a case of, do I need to write sex here or not? Sex started out a big deal and now it's just part of the whole story writing process. If I need it, it's there. If I don't, it's not. Course, I'm writing slash about pretty boys, so sometimes I feel it does need to be there. *g* But it really depends. I prefer my sex scenes character based, but if a PWP bunny bites, I sure as hell won't turn it down.
Ideas. Where the hell do they come from? Can you make them show up?
I get quite a few ideas listening to music, and quite a few of my stories are basically glorified song fic - James and the Cold Gun, So Many Colours, Cloudbusting, Burning Clean - all of them had their germination in song lyrics, and titles to match. Otherwise, sometimes a story concept just comes. Other times, a scene comes, and I have to work out what it's all about.
Wild horse-bunnies. When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
Not often, but it's amazing when they come. Tamlin. Cloudbusting. Kings or Knaves. Most of the time I do have to *work* at some aspects of a story, at least, but those three essentially wrote themselves.
Writer's block. Have you been scourged?
Not really. I have patches where I don't feel like it, or where I have to let an idea simmer, but so far I've not been in that situation of seriously not being able to write something. I've abandoned stories that weren't working for me but only to go on to something that was. Knock on wood...
Clean up duty. Do you like editing?
I love it. It's necessary, but it's also a procrastinatory tool as well, so I have to watch my motivations. Am I editing to make my story better, or to avoid tackling a difficult bit? But yes, I edit, and I hope I'm getting better at catching what needs to be polished.
The ending. Is it hard for you to find the ending?
I very seldom start a story without having an idea of where it's going and what the end will be. The bits in the middle are usually the problem.
The title. Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
Some stories start with a title, especially if they're 'songfic'. Other stories go with a working title and I sweat bullets over the real title. The longer it takes to find a title, the less likely I am to be happy with what I end up with - but I have to call it something...
Plot. If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand.
Sort of raises hand. If I think I need a plot, I certainly have something at least traced out before I start. 'Before Sunrise', I made sure that I knew what the workings of the crime plot were before I started any serious writing. Sometimes I know 'what', and I have to take a break to work out 'how' in the middle of proceedings. But I would never start a long story without at least a rough idea of what the hell is going on.
POV. How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
Early stories it was seldom a conscious choice. I often went with Jim because I felt more comfortable with him. Later stories, like the Regency stories and The Children of Cascade I made conscious choices related to how I wanted to tell the story.
Challenges. Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
I feel stressed by challenges, but they do stretch me. However, I'm picky about what I take up.
Sex. Do you like writing sex?
No. Yes. Maybe.
When I first started writing I was very embarrassed and unsure about the idea of writing sex. Then I got into writing it and was kind of fun. Now, it's a case of, do I need to write sex here or not? Sex started out a big deal and now it's just part of the whole story writing process. If I need it, it's there. If I don't, it's not. Course, I'm writing slash about pretty boys, so sometimes I feel it does need to be there. *g* But it really depends. I prefer my sex scenes character based, but if a PWP bunny bites, I sure as hell won't turn it down.