Writing Meme
There's a new writing meme floating around, and it's basically a quick-and-dirty rundown of the way you (as a writer) approach a handful of issues. I had another marathon morning of productivity (another 6,000 words! w00t!) and I thought it might be a good time to take a look at my own approaches, quirks, and squicks.
The meme was gakked from arrow00, whose answers are wonderful and thinky and put mine to shame.
Ideas. Where the hell do they come from? Can you make those little fuckers show up?
I think I'm a good idea-machine. I've got WiP for about twenty-two stories right now, and ideas for another sixty. Most of those are plotted, either in my head, in a notebook, or on a scrap of paper. I don't (usually) have a problem coming up with ideas. It's writing them that's the problem.
Wild horse-bunnies. When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
It's happened a few times. Both Price of Distance and Wings of Desire were written like that. The words flowed easily and I didn't agonize over every turn of the story or every line of description, and I was pleased with the result. But my bunnies are usually flirty types, who flash a little leg and then run for cover, after which I have to go and chase 'em down with a big stick.
Writer's block. Have you been scourged?
Oh yes. Yes and yes. This is why I've been working on stuff like the Rentboy AU for two years. My block comes in two forms: a traditional block where the words won't come or I'm writing total shit. And while that kind of block is bad, certainly, I know it will eventually pass and I'll fall back into my groove. It's the second kind of block that kills me. This block comes as an intense wave of boredom for myself and my own stories. I've got the outline sitting right there. I know where this sucker is going. I've plotted all the major scenes, I know how the pacing is going to work and what the characterizations will be like. But I just can't be bothered to connect the dots and actually write the damn thing. That's what I went through with all those poor half-formed stories for the ds_Match challenge, which was probably one of the most painful writing processes I've been through.
The magic solution to both forms of block seems to be distraction. Once I work on another project (a different story, or a podfic) I can usually get past the tough period and start writing again. My output seems to hover around 2-3 stories/ficlets/snippets/podfics a month, which should tell you how often I get blocked on my longer fics.
Clean up duty. Do you like editing?
God yes. Perhaps too much. Y'all know I teach writing for a living, right? It's freshman composition, "Mechanics of Writing an Essay" stuff, but in that class I always stress the importance of editing. That's where you hone and refine and do the best of your sculpting work. The stories I'm less happy with (see: most of what I've posted since October) have been done in a rush for one challenge or another, and I didn't give myself enough editing time. The one thing I've liked about writing longer stories is that I have plenty of time to go back and revise, mainly because I've given myself that time. Which is why it's taking me months and years to even get close to being done with anything longer than 20,000 words.
The ending. Is it hard for you to find the ending?
I think my endings are weak across the board, even in the stuff I'm happy with. It's not that I don't have an ending in mind when I write, but it's more like I can't stop myself from committing the cardinal sin of track and field competitions: I see the finish line in sight and I slow down. I don't sprint through that tape, I ease back and my prose gets sloppy and my characterizations start to crumble. Luckily I've got a fabulous group of betas whom I regularly pester with drafts. Usually they send back feedback that consists of: "Um, this needs an ending. Please." Which is very sensible advice, y'know? This needs an ending. It's like a Zen koan.
The title. Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
Heh, again, this is usually a question I ask my poor betas. "Find me a title!" The titles I've really liked have all been chosen by other people. "Like Fingerprints Upon the Land" was actually pitched by my beta on that story - she even did research to find it! And it's perfect. So, yes, this is reason #100,001 why my betas are completely awesome and I am just a jibbering baboon without them.
Plot. If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand.
Yep. All of my longer stuff is outlined, and each scene is broken down into bullet points, rough notes out of which I can usually construct a full scene based on the snatches of dialogue and description I've already included. It's a security blanket (I know I'm writing toward something) and it's a way to remind myself where I was going with a scene when work, life, or other stories come knockin' and I have to abandon it for two months.
POV. How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
I just start writing. My Arizona Kidfic Story (tm) was meant to be 3rd person omniscient. And yet when I started writing I found that it wanted to be first-person Kowalski, which is the scariest. Voice. Ever. I don't even write 3rd person Kowalski very well! But I guess the story picks the POV. I'm just the monkey at the keyboard, and I play around with it until the POV and the story click.
Challenges. Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
My challenge record hasn't been that great. I like them because they do force me to produce, but I'm starting to discover that I resent the pressure of a deadline and it impacts my writing in a negative way. I think it's residual burnout from grad school, which had a pretty heavy production schedule in terms of term papers. So my (new) resolution is: no more challenges. We'll see if it lasts.
Sex.Do you like writing sex?
I really hated writing sex when I first started out in slash. I'm not very focused on physical details and I think my stuff falls far short of the goal of good erotic fiction. I still don't understand a lot of the finer points (how to inject narrative into a sequence, how to make the sex echo the relationship and vice-versa). Writing sex has gotten easier and it's a little more fun than it used to be, but I'm still not entirely comfortable with it. So, yes, feedback on my sex scenes make me happy, because I still feel like those bits fall flat.
Okay! So that's me, and that's my writing. Like arrow00, I hope you'll fill this out - I'm always very curious about other people's processes and how they approach stuff like POV and sex.
Here's the meme for your c/p convenience:
Ideas. Where the hell do they come from? Can you make those little fuckers show up?
Wild horse-bunnies. When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
Writer's block. Have you been scourged?
Clean up duty. Do you like editing?
The ending. Is it hard for you to find the ending?
The title. Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
Plot. If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand.
POV. How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
Challenge. Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
Sex. Do you like writing sex?
The meme was gakked from arrow00, whose answers are wonderful and thinky and put mine to shame.
Ideas. Where the hell do they come from? Can you make those little fuckers show up?
I think I'm a good idea-machine. I've got WiP for about twenty-two stories right now, and ideas for another sixty. Most of those are plotted, either in my head, in a notebook, or on a scrap of paper. I don't (usually) have a problem coming up with ideas. It's writing them that's the problem.
Wild horse-bunnies. When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
It's happened a few times. Both Price of Distance and Wings of Desire were written like that. The words flowed easily and I didn't agonize over every turn of the story or every line of description, and I was pleased with the result. But my bunnies are usually flirty types, who flash a little leg and then run for cover, after which I have to go and chase 'em down with a big stick.
Writer's block. Have you been scourged?
Oh yes. Yes and yes. This is why I've been working on stuff like the Rentboy AU for two years. My block comes in two forms: a traditional block where the words won't come or I'm writing total shit. And while that kind of block is bad, certainly, I know it will eventually pass and I'll fall back into my groove. It's the second kind of block that kills me. This block comes as an intense wave of boredom for myself and my own stories. I've got the outline sitting right there. I know where this sucker is going. I've plotted all the major scenes, I know how the pacing is going to work and what the characterizations will be like. But I just can't be bothered to connect the dots and actually write the damn thing. That's what I went through with all those poor half-formed stories for the ds_Match challenge, which was probably one of the most painful writing processes I've been through.
The magic solution to both forms of block seems to be distraction. Once I work on another project (a different story, or a podfic) I can usually get past the tough period and start writing again. My output seems to hover around 2-3 stories/ficlets/snippets/podfics a month, which should tell you how often I get blocked on my longer fics.
Clean up duty. Do you like editing?
God yes. Perhaps too much. Y'all know I teach writing for a living, right? It's freshman composition, "Mechanics of Writing an Essay" stuff, but in that class I always stress the importance of editing. That's where you hone and refine and do the best of your sculpting work. The stories I'm less happy with (see: most of what I've posted since October) have been done in a rush for one challenge or another, and I didn't give myself enough editing time. The one thing I've liked about writing longer stories is that I have plenty of time to go back and revise, mainly because I've given myself that time. Which is why it's taking me months and years to even get close to being done with anything longer than 20,000 words.
The ending. Is it hard for you to find the ending?
I think my endings are weak across the board, even in the stuff I'm happy with. It's not that I don't have an ending in mind when I write, but it's more like I can't stop myself from committing the cardinal sin of track and field competitions: I see the finish line in sight and I slow down. I don't sprint through that tape, I ease back and my prose gets sloppy and my characterizations start to crumble. Luckily I've got a fabulous group of betas whom I regularly pester with drafts. Usually they send back feedback that consists of: "Um, this needs an ending. Please." Which is very sensible advice, y'know? This needs an ending. It's like a Zen koan.
The title. Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
Heh, again, this is usually a question I ask my poor betas. "Find me a title!" The titles I've really liked have all been chosen by other people. "Like Fingerprints Upon the Land" was actually pitched by my beta on that story - she even did research to find it! And it's perfect. So, yes, this is reason #100,001 why my betas are completely awesome and I am just a jibbering baboon without them.
Plot. If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand.
Yep. All of my longer stuff is outlined, and each scene is broken down into bullet points, rough notes out of which I can usually construct a full scene based on the snatches of dialogue and description I've already included. It's a security blanket (I know I'm writing toward something) and it's a way to remind myself where I was going with a scene when work, life, or other stories come knockin' and I have to abandon it for two months.
POV. How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
I just start writing. My Arizona Kidfic Story (tm) was meant to be 3rd person omniscient. And yet when I started writing I found that it wanted to be first-person Kowalski, which is the scariest. Voice. Ever. I don't even write 3rd person Kowalski very well! But I guess the story picks the POV. I'm just the monkey at the keyboard, and I play around with it until the POV and the story click.
Challenges. Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
My challenge record hasn't been that great. I like them because they do force me to produce, but I'm starting to discover that I resent the pressure of a deadline and it impacts my writing in a negative way. I think it's residual burnout from grad school, which had a pretty heavy production schedule in terms of term papers. So my (new) resolution is: no more challenges. We'll see if it lasts.
Sex.Do you like writing sex?
I really hated writing sex when I first started out in slash. I'm not very focused on physical details and I think my stuff falls far short of the goal of good erotic fiction. I still don't understand a lot of the finer points (how to inject narrative into a sequence, how to make the sex echo the relationship and vice-versa). Writing sex has gotten easier and it's a little more fun than it used to be, but I'm still not entirely comfortable with it. So, yes, feedback on my sex scenes make me happy, because I still feel like those bits fall flat.
Okay! So that's me, and that's my writing. Like arrow00, I hope you'll fill this out - I'm always very curious about other people's processes and how they approach stuff like POV and sex.
Here's the meme for your c/p convenience:
Ideas. Where the hell do they come from? Can you make those little fuckers show up?
Wild horse-bunnies. When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
Writer's block. Have you been scourged?
Clean up duty. Do you like editing?
The ending. Is it hard for you to find the ending?
The title. Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
Plot. If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand.
POV. How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
Challenge. Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
Sex. Do you like writing sex?