Writing Meme Thing
As seen recently in the journals of:
turps33, pensnest & nopseud *G*
Ideas Where the hell do they come from? Can you make those little fuckers show up?
Ideas can come from anywhere, I suppose: listening to a song, a conversation, dreams, memories, just about anything. I don't think I can *make* them show up, it's just a matter of remembering them when they pop up and then putting them into a story.
Wild horse-bunnies When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
At least half of mine are like that. My favorite is Chris' Cave, which is long, but I started writing it one day and it just flowed out so easily. All the scenes were there when I needed them. The ones that flow usually seem better that the ones that drag on for months/years.
Glitter & Spice, The Inside Story and Horsing Around were ones that came really easily and had me laughing so hard while I was writing that I could barely type. Fond memories though.
Writer's block Have you been scourged?
Yes. I do better when I think with the mindset of writing for me, rather than for other people. I tend to get writer's block when I start thinking that other people won't enjoy it or that no one will bother reading it. That can put me in the *why bother?* mode. Mostly I write sequels to stories that people enjoy. Some I've never written because no one seems interested.
Clean up duty Do you like editing?
Yes and no (Libra moment!). I don't edit my own stuff much, mostly just for typos and saying the same thing a paragraph or two apart. The first read through, I'm happy to find the errors and correct them before I post the story. If I find mistakes after the story is posted, I tend to cringe about them.
I enjoy helping others, so if beta reading helps someone else, I'm happy to do it. I don't expect them to take all my suggestions, I just enjoy throwing out another option, another opinion on their story and letting them decide. I always want the story to be in the author's own voice.
The ending Is it hard for you to find the ending?
Not generally. I usually have at least a vague ending in mind by the time I'm halfway there, if not before I even start writing. I just seem to have trouble getting there quickly, though, which is why I tend to write a lot of longer stuff.
The title Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
I usually have the title before I've even started. Sometimes it takes a bit of writing before it comes to me, but for some reason, if I don't have a title (even just a simple working title) it bothers me. Occasionally I list 2 or 3 titles as they come to me, then choose one when I'm finished.
Plot If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand
As far as a written plot, never. I tend to see my stories visually, like watching a movie, so I usually know generally how it's going to go before I start writing, but I don't sit down and *think* about it. The ideas just come like that.
On rare occasions, I may have a scene or a bit of dialogue that hits me out of sequence and just *demands* to be written. I just tack it onto the end and let the story flow into it. Like on It's Been A Long Time, I'd written the beginning and the ending, then filled out the middle part years later.
POV How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
I generally write from the POV of omnipresent narrator (sees all/knows all). Occasionally I'll try something else. Just as I normally write in the past tense, occasionally I'll write in the present tense.
As far as scene by scene, I just write what *feels* right to me. Like I mentioned a bit ago, my stories tend to come to my visually, so it's just a matter of interpretting the pictures into words.
Challenge Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
I tend to get inspired by *some* challenges, although, with the exception of SeSa, I generally don't sign up for challenges anymore. When I did, I at least had a story already in mind and sometimes have even finished writing before signing up.
Aside from SeSa, deadlines tend to worry me and sometimes cause writer's block, either because *I'll never get done on time* or *Everyone else's story will be better than mine*.
I do have stories that I started writing for challenges, but knew I wouldn't get done in time, so I never signed up.
Twisted Fortune was an idea I had for the Sick & Twisted Challenge.
I didn't get finished until about 3 months after the challenge went live. Never signed up.
It's Been A Long Time was an idea I had for the Reunion Challenge.
I wrote the beginning and the ending months before the due date, but got busy and stopped working on it. I finished this 2-3 years later. Never signed up for the challenge though.
And there are probably other examples. These are just the two that stand out to me.
I don't know why SeSa is different. I like writing for my original recipient as well as doing a back-up story, for which there's usually only 24-48 hours to complete. I've managed to do back-up stories for 3 years and SeSa for 4, and always got the assignments completed before the due date. My big secret with writing for my original recipient is not to procrastinate. I know the closer to Christmas (and the deadline) it gets, the less time I'll have to work on it, so I always try to get started before Thanksgiving.
Sex Do you like writing sex?
Does anyone like writing sex scenes? I don't mind writing them when they're flowing nicely, but sometimes it's so hard to put everything into words and keep things hot and passionate at the same time. When I first started writing popslash, I enjoyed challenging myself by writing them, because I'd never written anything like that before. Now, it depends on the story. Sometimes they're there, but it's not like every story I write has to be based around sex scenes.
turps33, pensnest & nopseud *G*
Ideas Where the hell do they come from? Can you make those little fuckers show up?
Ideas can come from anywhere, I suppose: listening to a song, a conversation, dreams, memories, just about anything. I don't think I can *make* them show up, it's just a matter of remembering them when they pop up and then putting them into a story.
Wild horse-bunnies When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
At least half of mine are like that. My favorite is Chris' Cave, which is long, but I started writing it one day and it just flowed out so easily. All the scenes were there when I needed them. The ones that flow usually seem better that the ones that drag on for months/years.
Glitter & Spice, The Inside Story and Horsing Around were ones that came really easily and had me laughing so hard while I was writing that I could barely type. Fond memories though.
Writer's block Have you been scourged?
Yes. I do better when I think with the mindset of writing for me, rather than for other people. I tend to get writer's block when I start thinking that other people won't enjoy it or that no one will bother reading it. That can put me in the *why bother?* mode. Mostly I write sequels to stories that people enjoy. Some I've never written because no one seems interested.
Clean up duty Do you like editing?
Yes and no (Libra moment!). I don't edit my own stuff much, mostly just for typos and saying the same thing a paragraph or two apart. The first read through, I'm happy to find the errors and correct them before I post the story. If I find mistakes after the story is posted, I tend to cringe about them.
I enjoy helping others, so if beta reading helps someone else, I'm happy to do it. I don't expect them to take all my suggestions, I just enjoy throwing out another option, another opinion on their story and letting them decide. I always want the story to be in the author's own voice.
The ending Is it hard for you to find the ending?
Not generally. I usually have at least a vague ending in mind by the time I'm halfway there, if not before I even start writing. I just seem to have trouble getting there quickly, though, which is why I tend to write a lot of longer stuff.
The title Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
I usually have the title before I've even started. Sometimes it takes a bit of writing before it comes to me, but for some reason, if I don't have a title (even just a simple working title) it bothers me. Occasionally I list 2 or 3 titles as they come to me, then choose one when I'm finished.
Plot If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand
As far as a written plot, never. I tend to see my stories visually, like watching a movie, so I usually know generally how it's going to go before I start writing, but I don't sit down and *think* about it. The ideas just come like that.
On rare occasions, I may have a scene or a bit of dialogue that hits me out of sequence and just *demands* to be written. I just tack it onto the end and let the story flow into it. Like on It's Been A Long Time, I'd written the beginning and the ending, then filled out the middle part years later.
POV How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
I generally write from the POV of omnipresent narrator (sees all/knows all). Occasionally I'll try something else. Just as I normally write in the past tense, occasionally I'll write in the present tense.
As far as scene by scene, I just write what *feels* right to me. Like I mentioned a bit ago, my stories tend to come to my visually, so it's just a matter of interpretting the pictures into words.
Challenge Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
I tend to get inspired by *some* challenges, although, with the exception of SeSa, I generally don't sign up for challenges anymore. When I did, I at least had a story already in mind and sometimes have even finished writing before signing up.
Aside from SeSa, deadlines tend to worry me and sometimes cause writer's block, either because *I'll never get done on time* or *Everyone else's story will be better than mine*.
I do have stories that I started writing for challenges, but knew I wouldn't get done in time, so I never signed up.
Twisted Fortune was an idea I had for the Sick & Twisted Challenge.
I didn't get finished until about 3 months after the challenge went live. Never signed up.
It's Been A Long Time was an idea I had for the Reunion Challenge.
I wrote the beginning and the ending months before the due date, but got busy and stopped working on it. I finished this 2-3 years later. Never signed up for the challenge though.
And there are probably other examples. These are just the two that stand out to me.
I don't know why SeSa is different. I like writing for my original recipient as well as doing a back-up story, for which there's usually only 24-48 hours to complete. I've managed to do back-up stories for 3 years and SeSa for 4, and always got the assignments completed before the due date. My big secret with writing for my original recipient is not to procrastinate. I know the closer to Christmas (and the deadline) it gets, the less time I'll have to work on it, so I always try to get started before Thanksgiving.
Sex Do you like writing sex?
Does anyone like writing sex scenes? I don't mind writing them when they're flowing nicely, but sometimes it's so hard to put everything into words and keep things hot and passionate at the same time. When I first started writing popslash, I enjoyed challenging myself by writing them, because I'd never written anything like that before. Now, it depends on the story. Sometimes they're there, but it's not like every story I write has to be based around sex scenes.