On Writing!

[gentlehag]

Finished my do_me_veela fic and came in at 12k which is AMAZING for me. The only thing that saved this from turning into 50k of me fucking around is the fact that it has absolutely zero plot.

Okay let's talk about fic/fiction writing strategy

I've gotten 4 inquiries on my writing process for Azoth now, which is just mind-blowing to me since I never felt like I did anything special writing-wise, but I know this is a question I've often had of other writers, too, so maybe it would be fun to talk about what we all do when we're planning a fic. We can compare/contrast, share tips and tricks, or maybe just bitch about the process.

I'll get us started. Feel free to share this post around to other writers. I'd loooove to hear what you guys do when you're planning a fic (or when you're writing if you don't pre-plan).

I support making your comments all about *you* so I don't feel like a douche for talking about this in my journal. :D

THINGS I DO. Could be spoilers here. Actually, there are.

1. I always start with a title—even if the title later changes. Often I'll have a title in my head just sitting around for weeks or months, waiting for a fic (or original novel) to be written about it. This has been the case with Every Single Thing I've Ever Written Even Poetry. Last year, I really wanted a fic called "Manticoria," and it took me weeks to figure out what "manticoria" actually was (it turned out to be a potion—a topic I seem to be fond of). This year, I wanted a fic called "Inner Alchemy," so I wrote an entire fic about the inner alchemy inherent in life changes and then angsted to eidheann_writes about changing it to "Azoth" all of 10 minutes before I submitted it to the mods.


2. I always know what's going to happen in the end—even if it later changes. I never start writing unless I know where the story's going. I might not know what's happening in the middle (often don't), but I know what the ~big revelation~ will be. I write towards this scene. Everything that goes into the beginning and middle of the story is there to get me closer to that ending scene. With Azoth (since people are asking), I knew that the big revelation would be when Harry saw the boggart again and realized that he wasn't truly happy without Draco, he just couldn't know what he was missing until he had it.
   
   Things I didn't know: How the alchemy would work; that there would even BE alchemy; that there would be five fucking cats plus Hermione and McGonagall; whether or not Harry would apprentice under Snape or a foreign master; what Draco would study; which side characters would be present; why Terry Boot was there; whether or not Harry would recognize what Ron really means to him; other things.


3. I look for ways to make every character complex, flawed, and meaningful. This is a cheap trick. I just add props and I pretend they're character development. I give Harry a cat that looks like him because he misses Hedwig and the cat vaguely represent how he feels inadequate post-war. I make Hermione and Draco struggle with something that comes easily to Harry. I make other characters laugh at their screw-ups. I put Terry Boot in to reflect how jaded Harry feels and to show that he's not really unhappy, he just doesn't know what he wants or needs. I also tend to make Harry an unreliable narrator when it comes to Ron, just because bromance isn't always perfect...even if it's perfect.


4. I research the most mundane shit. Like which art movements Snape will look best in; what color sulfur turns when it heats up; the layout of Diagon Alley in canon; types of magic used in other fandoms; how the fuck chemistry works; major cities between London and Brisbane; CPR; everything I could possibly find on ancient alchemy; philosophies on balance; how fantasy football works; other things.


5. I never write a scene if it doesn't move the plot or characterization forward. Let's be real: I have enough trouble as it is keeping things short. I don't waste page space writing things that I don't think are necessary. Or sometimes, I'll write entire scenes that I later realize are pointless, and even though it pains me, I'll snip that shit right out.

How about you guys? What are your writing tips and tricks?

Comments

[tryslora]

TITLE. I've realized in the last year that if I don't have a title, I will flail around all day, because those few words give me some vague direction. And yeah, titles change--I angsted a ton about the title to "If I Followed You Home" because it spent most of its writing life as "Bright Lights, Big City, Cold Corpse" or something similar and then the working title just didn't fit at the end. But I need something to help give me a feel for what's going on.

Other things--definite great advice, especially that all scenes need to advance something. I read too much stuff that I backbutton out of because it's just noodling and there's nothing happen, so I get impatient. Keep the reader thoroughly involved!

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

Vague direction is a good way to put it. I find it's good for me because it's something that's always at the top of every document. If I start flailing around, unsure of what to write, I can look up at it and remember to rein things back in.

I also backbutton out of noodling fics. >.

[eidheann_writes]

Cold Grave ;)

[dysonrules.livejournal.com]

AWESOME! I love reading other people's writing processes. Everyone seems to do it differently and yet, LOOK! AMAZING FIC, regardless of process! :D

1) Title - I never start with a title. If one magically occurs to be before or during writing I cuddle it like a cup of hot coffee. It's a rarity. :3 At times I can't come up with a freaking title at all and I break out the dictionary and flip to "P" - one scan of my fic list will show you how frequent this is. Instead of titles, I start with a vague idea - sometimes a single scene - and flesh it out from there.

2) I rarely know how it will end. Sometimes I actually start to panic after 30k and it doesn't seem to be ending because bwaaaah? This is also why I tend not to start posting until the damn thing is finished. Once in awhile the fic will demand an actual outline and then I have a better idea of how it will end.

3) I look for ways to make every character complex, flawed, and meaningful. <--- I love that idea. I should try it.

4) I research the most mundane shit. OMG YESSSS, hell to the everlasting fuck yes. This is also why writing does not get done. "I need to look up potential ingredients in a healing potion..." *six hours later* "What the was I looking for...?" *glances at 352 open tabs*

5) I put words on paper without thinking about it too much. I do go back and reread six or seven times and if it bores me I'll chop that bitch, rewrite it, or add 6,000 words to make it less boring. My plotlines start with a single point and turn into spiderwebs, even if eight of the subplots never make it into the story.

6) I know way too much about the lives of every single character in the fic. If someone appears, I generally know everything about how they ended up there, why they are in the story, where they go when they leave the scene, and why. I just think it's fun.

7) I write in a linear fashion, so when I get stuck, I am STUCK. I have to work at the scene over and over and over in my head to try and force my way through it. Sometimes I'll rewrite the whole thing from a different POV just to make things move. Do not like.

I'LL STOP NOW. :D

[sophie-french.livejournal.com]

That's really enlightening too! It's great seeing how you write as well! Thanks for sharing as well! ♥

[kedavranox.livejournal.com]

I'll make a longer comment when I'm not working, but I'm really fascinated at how different our processes are! Maybe this is why you write long fic, and I don't? Who knows.

Really interesting stuff.

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

I should also be working. >.>

[capitu]

I'm so excited about your DMV fic it's not even funny. I love that fest and I can't wait to read!

I'm always fascinated with the writing process, sometimes I want to mail random authors whose work I love and adore and ask them and have them talk and talk and talk about it. :D

I don't because I'm so awkward but hearing about it, it's like makes it so much real. As a reader I often believe stories just happen, they are waiting to be told, but of course I know it's not that simple, there's a huge effort behind. It's more than having the notion of a story, is finding the right way to say it, too.

Thank you for sharing. <3

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

Omg aww :D I'm excited you're excited.

You should definitely mail random authors and ask! I like hearing about what other authors do, too, so maybe if everyone just starts asking about things that stick out to them, fandom will become more collaborative, and we'll all improve from it.

<3<3<3

[sophie-french.livejournal.com]

That's perfect, thank you! It answers all the questions I had, and it really helps, thanks a lot. You are incredibly talented, and I don't know how on earth you managed to do all this in three months?

Thank you so much for sharing with us! ♥

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

<3 Happy to help. I work well under pressure, so I guess that helped, haha!

[sophie-french.livejournal.com]

1) TITLE: I suck at titles, as I suck at summaries... So I definitely won't start with this! It's funny to see how you do it though, it's not something that would even come to my mind! :)

2) I always know what's going to happen in the end: me too: Harry and Draco will end up together! lol But it's basically it. The whole thing for me is how I will get them together. But I like your way of doing things better, and I think that's what I should be heading to.

3) I look for ways to make every character complex, flawed, and meaningful: that's what's still a bit hard for me right now. But I'm working on it. Today I worked on that, and also on the "Show, don't tell" concept. And your approach is definitely interesting.

4) I research the most mundane shit: Ah, me too! How many hours I have spent on potions ingredients and the complete list of spells! Oh, and I found a great plan of Diagon Alley that was a great help!

5) I never write a scene if it doesn't move the plot or characterization forward. That's what I'm working on. If it's not meaningful, just cut it out. Stephen King said you had to edit at least 10% of your work anyway, so...

6) I am definitely a planning person, BUT the story I have written and that I like the most is the one I haven't planned. I mean, I sat in front of my computer one weekend and wrote 8K without any planning at all. Now I've started working on the rest of the story and had to plan the rest, but the first 8K won't be touched, just slightly edited. But in the end, I guess I couldn't really write a long fic without a minimum of planning. I can not plan if it's a short fic though.

7) I write in a linear fashion too. I didn't think I would, but I definitely do. I realised that while writing The Greyest Eyes. When I got stuck on a chapter, I couldn't work on another one (it was also probably due to the fact that I posted one chapter every week).

Thank you so much for this very interesting post! ♥

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

01. I love titles so maybe that's why it comes easier to me. I feel like they set the tone for the entire fic, and knowing the tone helps keep me in line.

03. Sometimes what helps me with this aspect is just the fact that I *want something* in the story. I love writing about magical beasts and I wanted to have a Kneazle, so I tried to figure out how I could incorporate a Kneazle. I also wanted to have fantasy Quidditch, so I tried to think of how fantasy Quidditch could move the story forward. Adding things like that helps me to give things *place* or *timing* sometimes. I always have something to fall back on if I run out of scenes to write, if that makes sense. So maybe you could just think about something that you'd love to write about, even if it has nothing to do with your original plot, and find a way to add that in. Maybe you want to write about beer-making, so you decide to make Draco a brewer of potions AND beer. Who knows! Could be anything.

05. Stephen King would know! It's hard to edit. Maybe another option for you would be to look at the scene and ask yourself, "What can I add to this to make it relevant?" If you have a scene of Harry staring off over a cliff and ruminating on the scenery, that's a meaningless scene, but you could add him reaching into his pocket for cigarettes and finding a letter from Harry instead, or seeing a body on the rocks, or nearly falling off the edge and realizing he wants to live/marry Draco/change careers.

06. That's a good way to start! Sometimes getting that first scene out can be a great way to figure out the tone of the story. Is it a somber story? A funny one? Planning's a good idea, but not required.

07. I feel you! I have the same problem.

Thanks for commenting! It's so interesting to see how you write!

[firethesound]

I love hearing about how other people write. I always think it's so interesting to hear how we all have such different ways getting our stories onto the page. Thought my writing process mostly reads like a great big what-not-to-do list. But it mostly works for me.

I usually don't have an ending when I start writing. Some of the time I don't even have a beginning. And even if I do write the beginning, I always end up rewriting it after the fic is complete, because otherwise it totally doesn't match. This is why I don't post things until they're completely written. I usually start with a scene in the middle that I really want to make come to life, and the rest of the story is basically an excuse to make that scene happen and give it context.

I am not a linear writer. I'm the worst with shorter stuff (under 10k) where I'll skip around at random, writing a bit here, a bit there, and then filling in all the blanks. My beta deserves a gold star because she usually has to go on a scavenger hunt for missing words and half-written sentences because I'll be mid-paragraph and suddenly go, Oh I wanna go write this thing over here now! and just sort of wander off in the middle of a sentence. Long stuff I write semi-linearly, where I'll write out chunks of conversation or rough outlines for scenes further along but I'm fleshing them out and filling in the blanks in a more-or-less linear way.

I am not a monogamous writer. The same way I can't write something start-to-finish, I can't stay focused on any one thing for as long as it takes to write it. I'm constantly jumping back and forth between fics. When I get stuck on one, I skip to another. This is good, because it means that it minimizes the time I spend staring at my cursor and waiting for the words to come. It's bad because I have (::goes off to count::) oh fuck, really? I have NINETEEN fics in various stages of completion, and most of them will not be completed anywhere in the near future because newer things are always shinier and thus more deserving of my time and attention. This is sort of a problem.

I don't plan. I'll start with a vague "outline" sometimes, which is more of "here are chunks of conversation/snippets of scenes/bits of action I want to hit along the way. I'll have some idea of the direction things are heading in and a vague idea of the ending (whether it's going to be happy or whatever) but I'd say at least 60% of my writing is what I randomly pulled out of my ass as I was typing. This is why I generally don't write things with complex or long plots. I'm more comfortable writing stories that are character driven rather than plot driven because the whole not-planning thing works better that way.

I do some of the things you (and other good writers, I imagine) do. I research the shit out of everything, down to the last bitty details. I'm constantly googling strange things, like what month the leaves of aspen trees turn, or what's the average temperature of London in April, or what's the most expensive filling for a duvet. (Mulberry silk, according to the internets, because I imagine Draco has expensive taste in things like that.) I love writing flawed characters, because perfect characters are boring. I always have a title, even if it's just a working title. (All Our Secrets Laid Bare spent most of its creation being referred to as The Boy With the Dragon Tattoo.) Oh, and I write down EVERYTHING. Every snippet of conversation, scenes, details, lines of dialogue, everything gets written down because even if it doesn't fit into one of my story ideas now, someday it might.

Whew this was long. Er. Sorry.

(Edit because I'm also really great at making typos that are words so they don't get caught by spellcheck.)

[sophie-french.livejournal.com]

I love reading how you do it, and to be honest, I had wanted to send you a message about that for a while, to ask you how you were doing it, but never dared do it, so I'm glad you did it here!!!

It's great to see everybody's writing process!

Oh and about that: what's the average temperature of London in April the other day I googled "opening hours for shops on Christmas Eve in London" lol

[nherizu.livejournal.com]

Oh I remember writing about this two years ago in a workshop. :D

1. I always decide a theme and other general stuff first. If I see a prompt, I'll think about the theme (coming out!fic? time-travel? PTSD?), the tone I'm gonna use (light or mellow or funny?), which character's POV I'm gonna write (Harry? Draco? 1st person? 3rd person? Limited? Omniscient?), what kind of story it is, target audience, and other little things that seem unimportant but play a great role in my writing. I wrote 'When the Songbird Stopped Singing' in two different tones because of the characters' mental condition (from stiff and serious to light and a bit dorky), and it was planned out before I even started writing it.

2. I always write a plot-line. Per scene, in detail, from the opening scene to the ending. Everything I write is always already plotted out. Maybe I add or delete things as I write, but generally I always follow my plot-line. I never insert anything that's not important to the story. Even the most mundane scene serves a certain purpose (only I don't know if readers understand that purpose, lol). I always follow this formula: opening (conflict introduction) + conflict + climax + solution + conclusion/closing scene. Unless I write a PWP, which is... very rare. :p

3. Research is my friend. I always leave notes when I write a plot-line, and then I'll dive into research. I do interviews with people with real experience ('When the Songbird Stopped Singing', for example, I interviewed 2 lovely ladies who experienced Behavioral Disability) and mix the results with my own research. I also research things like sunset time, interesting things in a city (for example, I researched about Celliwig in Callington when I wrote 'And the Clock Keeps Ticking' even though the thing was only mentioned in passing once xD).

4. For characters... I always design the characters in detail, too. If it's original fiction, I think about everything like hair style, hair colour, eye colour, clothing style, habits (good and bad), quirks, what kind of friends they have, in what kind of environment they grew up, their accent, hobbies, their dreams, etc. If it's fanfic, I tend to use the characters' bad habits in canon and perhaps add some little bits that aren't in canon to make them more interesting. Like, when the characters are nervous, what kind of things they do unconsciously? What kind of mistakes certain characters do, why they make those mistakes, and how they fix their mistakes. Each character has their own unique way in solving a problem. Small things like that make the characters become more human.

5. Title and summary never come to me until the very last minute. I always just let ms. word pick the first sentence to be the temporary title, or if it's a fest fic, I just name it with 'HD Book Fair 2013' or or 'DTH 2014'. I spend weeks to search for a perfect title, but in the end it's always a last minute decision. xD

6. I always write in a linear fashion, too. Mostly because I've already got everything plotted out. I'm the kind of writer who can't work on other stories until the current project is finished.

I can't think of anything else right now. I've been working nonstop for hours and my brain's kind of fuzzy right now, go away, wrackspurts! Sorry for typos or errors @__@

EDIT: Eh.What? What? What? You wrote Manticoria? OMG. I loved that fic, and I read it even before I got into H/D. Well, technically, I was already into H/D, but not this deep. Right now I'm already beyond help.

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

You have a very professional writing modus operandi. Very sophisticated. I like it.

Your plotting strategy especially is nice. I try to generally follow Larry Brooks' story structuring format, but it's in a very loose way. I follow it more closely when I'm writing origific.

And I love how you research! I may try interviewing someone next time!

Themes. I love having themes. I feel like it makes the writing process easier. Something I don't have to spend time thinking about is POV--if it's H/D, Harry is always the main POV. Sometimes I'll have secondary POVs, but it's never just Draco's POV and never 1st person POV. I just can't seem to get in anyone's head like I can Harry. I like how you're able to do different tones for different POV characters. That's something I would find difficult.

Titles. I must be like the only person who has a title in mind when I start, haha!

Also, yep! Manticoria was mine. I'm glad you liked it! I have a love/hate relationship with it myself, haha. :D

[birdsofshore]

Oh MANTICORIA! Of COURSE you wrote that. *rolls eyes at self* Your name change really threw me, I guess. I hadn't put two and two together at all.

I like your post. I am terrible with titles. I had one all the way through for my Rubber duck fic and I found that SO comforting. Usually (my betas will back me up here) I am emailing them saying "a title? A TITLE????" about 10 mins before it is time to submit. Often I don't know wtf the story is about until I am right at the end. Then I go back and add bits in that fit with whatever theme seems to have developed, and the title might reflect that. 'Hungry' worked that way; as I wrote, Harry just developed this great, well, hunger for life, as well as a prodigious appetite, and I wanted to bring that out in the title.

Btw I meant to say before, Azoth is a way better title than Inner Alchemy.

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

>.> Yes. *hides* Were there two and two to be put together? I mean, did it feel like similar writing? I can never tell. Manticoria is an anomaly to me sometimes.

Thanks! What was your title before Rubber Duck? Or is it a secret?

I will start a titling service for fandom. Send me your summaries, I'll send you a title, haha.

Hungry was a good title!

YES, I AGREE. I love the word and it's the last word in the fic, so it feels right to me. The only angsting was because Azoth wasn't defined until really late in the story and it was a concern that it wouldn't make any sense. I just added the definition of the word "azoth" to the beginning like an epigraph and that solved that.

[bk03.livejournal.com]

Interesting. While a title may come to me as I'm writing, I usually wait until after I'm finished to come up with one. Certainly agree with you on #2, I usually have the major points of my fics plotted out. It's how we get there that I don't always have figured out until I'm writing it. I do #4 just for fun, I love reading random Wikipedia articles, and sometimes it'll spark an idea that I end up turning in to a story.

Something I've learned the hard way is that there is such a thing as too prolific. You can't simply jump from fic to fic forever, if you do there will be a point where you just crash and burn. Also, come up with some way to keep track off all the random thoughts you get during the day. You never know when they'll spark an idea for what you're working on or for something new.

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

I tried (with original fiction) to plot out every stop between point A and point B, but I've found that the "puzzle pieces" never quite fit together right if I'm not writing more organically. Sometimes, the solution I had plotted just Does Not Fit Anymore and I have to swerve to a different solution while I'm writing.

Interesting tip! I don't think I've gotten to that point yet. I like to have a WIP going and one or two small fics. More than that and I'll just push the least desirable one permanently to the back burner.

[eidheann_writes]

I feel kinda redundant with this... XD

1-- Title: Sometimes it comes to me in the first bit of writing, but often the result of whining to friends and last-minute flailing and panic. My Remix had a title almost from the first brainstorming session, and my two owlposts came easy... but my minifest, I am pretty sure I spent more time banging my head into my desk trying to come up with a title than I did on the writing process otherwise.

2-- Ending: Sometimes I know the ending so well I do it first. I'm a fairly linear writer, I tend to like beginning to end just so I don't lose track of what I'm talking about. But what I often end up doing is write while it's easy, then when it gets hard, jump to the end and write that, then go back. I only have one fic I feel I truly jumped around a lot on (A Dream of Waking) as opposed to simply skipping over smut and leaving any sex scenes to do at the end. And I didn't like the feeling of that, I felt too scattered and like I made it more difficult since I lost my flow of story. But then, it's the fic I always say is my favorite, so I dunno.

3-- Editing: I edit the crap out of my words as I go. I am *BAD* at anything other than spag-level rewrites, though. As I'm going through, I'm constantly picking at whatever section I'm working on until that section is complete. Clarifications, misused words, rephrasings are all kosher. Adding entire sections is fine. But needing to do large-scale delete/rewrite makes me twitch.

4-- POV: I am locked in a fairly near 3rd person pov, with a single focus character. I don't do POV switches EVER. If a story starts with Harry's perspective, you can be certain you're going to be in Harry's head until the end with no jumps, be it 1k or 20k. It's not anything I have against switching POV, I just have no idea how you do it. My brain just... locks in on a specific character at a specific time with a specific story and that's what my brain does. (Attempting something from the "wrong" pov just causes me to flail around and get no useable words and have to start over again. Which was my big problem with hd_hols XD)

5-- Planning: Um, I kinda plan. Maybe. *cough* Some things have pages of notes of backstory that never actually is important but is THERE to make sure I am consistent in what I'm doing, even if the story itself has no outline (*cough* In Flight *cough*). Some things have a basic scene list. Nothing really specific, but a general "this happens then this happens then this happens" that summarizes a 15k fic in 5 sentences. Some things don't have any planning at all, but those are usually the super-shorties. Hard to have an outline on 1000 words.

6-- Monogamy: haha. I am fic-monogamous. If I get sidetracked for too long from something *eyes her months-hiatus'd WIP* it takes WEEKS to get back in the groove of what I was doing. I tried with Remix to dabble in Hurtfest when I was feeling stuck in hopes that it would allow me to come back with a fresh perspective... But it actually just made things worse, and I felt MORE stuck and frustrated with Remix after. So, yeah. Serial Monogamy here.

7-- Prereader: capitu must be mentioned, because I think I've lost the ability to follow through with anything if I don't have her emailing me asking why I haven't updated X yet. So I consider that one of my writing processes.

[sophie-french.livejournal.com]

POV: I am locked in a fairly near 3rd person pov, with a single focus character. I don't do POV switches EVER. If a story starts with Harry's perspective, you can be certain you're going to be in Harry's head until the end with no jumps, be it 1k or 20k. It's not anything I have against switching POV, I just have no idea how you do it.

This is all so interesting!!! I'm the kind who likes changing POV, it even saves me somtimes! (except for the short fics).

For The Greyest Eyes, I was stuck with one of my character, until I decided to write in his POV. And after that it was much easier, because it had helped me understand his motives (even if I totally disagreed on his views!)

As for Pre-readers, yes, they are very important!

[0idontknow0]

Title: Yes (usually). Or I might have a word that I have in mind that describes all of the things in the fic. The thing that always gives me a pain is the summary. I suck at those.

Ending: Usually it's just a vague idea of how it ends. Bla bla bla is the what the fic is about and I want this to be the end goal but I don't know the millions of things in between or the details of it. At times I'll know that I want things to be resolved in a specific way, but mostly its wibbly wobbly and in no way coherent for a while.

Complex characters: Ha, I'm fail and don't do this -- even though I say I will. I hate to admit it but it's probably because I'm pretty bland IRL. I'm also terrible at reading people. Writing fanfic is how I make myself learn about people because I'm forced to try and think like someone other than myself. Which is kind of fun. Sometimes I'll know what someone's past is, sometimes they're just there because I couldn't get red glasses out of my head and I formed a character around that pair of red glasses *rolls eyes at self*.

Mundane things: Totally. I've looked up drywalling and how to lay shingles on a roof (did not end up using it). I even watched a video. I went on a DIY home renovation information hunt and then probably wrote two sentences =_= Mundane things all day. Men's fashion? I look that up so often because Draco is a pain in the arse. Random herbs? Yes, because potions. When I'm not feeling lazy I'll even look up names and their meanings before I name a character, other times I just pick a name I like.

Unnecessary scenes: I wish I wasn't guilty of this. I feel like I am. And then I wonder who is going to read all of those extra words.

And I usually write in a linear way. I don't often write a scene that's three scenes ahead and then go back because there's usually something I change that will tweak that. But when I do get all crazy and time travel (this is what I'm going to call it lol) it's because that scene just felt so important that I had to get it down before I forgot what I wanted from it. Or I'll make bullet points for it.

Tips... Hmmm. Don't write when you're falling asleep? Lol. It'll look like this when you're typing but then liek this whn you're re-reading when you're re-reading it.

Oh, I do this weird thing where I end up writing what I think is my idea but it's actually what sparked my idea... so sometimes I end up writing a prequel and then I know that this is why this happens etc. It isn't always fun when you write a story and realize it isn't actually the story.

[nherizu.livejournal.com]

Don't write when you're falling asleep?

THIS. lol. I once wrote when I was barely able to open my eyes, and the next day I ended up deleting the whole thing... orz.

Thanks for sharing your writing process!

[awakenyourfaith.livejournal.com]

1) I rarely start with a title nowadays, but earlier in my fanfiction writing "career" I wrote a lot of 'song fics', so I kinda cheated then XD

2) I'm the same :)

3) I look for lots of characterization and ways to make different things meaningful..

4) EEYUP. Though, oddly enough, in my case this didn't come into play with mobiles and cell phones, am I right? XD

5) Same.

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

Heheh I've done exactly ONE song fic. It was to Remy Zero's "Fair" and I am still embarrassed of it. It was so twee. (Probably more to do with my writing at the time than it being a song fic).

4. LOL

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

Huh, where the hell do I begin?

1-- Title: Sometimes it comes to me in the first bit of writing, but often it's at the last minute, and I try to think of one that works with the story I'm writing.

2-- Ending: Sometimes I know the ending so well I do it first. I'm a fairly linear writer, I tend to go from beginning to end so I don't lose track of what I'm talking about. But what I often end up doing is write while it's easy, and then that's when the ending arrives.

3-- Editing: I edit the crap out of my words as I go. Redundancies, clarifications,spelling errors, misused words, re-phrasings, etc. Adding entire sections is just fine. But needing to do large-scale delete/rewrite makes me cringe.

4-- POV: I am locked in a 3rd person pov, with a single focus character. I do not do POV switches, none whatsoever My brain on any story just lovks in on a specific character at a specific time with a specific story and that's what my writing process is like.

5-- Planning: I plan a lot at times, and some things have a basic scene list. There are some things that don't have any planning at all, but those are usually short stories or drabbles.

6-- Monogamy: I am fic-monogamous. End of discussion on that.

7-- Prereader: My sister night_owl_9 usually prereads my stories before they get the OK for anything, so that helps.

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

Having pre-readers is THE BEST. It can really keep me on track or help me to figure out something that's *missing*.

Haha, I love how you decide when to end!

[lettered.livejournal.com]

I LOVE THIS POST. Thank you for telling us about your process. I'm sorry I flailed all over your comments; this is just so interesting to me.

I hate titles. Sometimes I have a working title, but only because I know I'll have to come up with one eventually and I dread it so much that I try to get a jump start so I don't have to choose something crappy in the end.

I usually know if something will end happy or sad, but that's about it. Actually, even that's a bit much--I'll know if the conflict introduced by the premise gets resolved or not. In H/D, usually the central conflict is usually H/D, even if there are other huge plots going on, so when I start I know if H/D end with a happy relationship together or not. But for instance, I wrote another fic in which the central conflict was that the main characters got turned into children. They managed to turn themselves back into adults by the end, but none of the emotional issues were resolved, which I didn't know would happen when I started the fic. That fic was part of a series, but I have no idea whether the series ends happy.

I feel like my planning method is fairly common, and yet I've never quite heard someone describe it the way I think of it. I start with the resolution (or non-resolution) I describe above, which is a bit like vaguely knowing you're headed east. Then I picture east, and the scene directly in front of me is pretty clear. The next scene after that is kind of vague, then vaguer and vaguer as you head farther and farther east. I know there are some stops along the road I really want to get to before the end, so there might be some unexpected turns, but all of that is hazy and distant. Now, within that first scene, I generally know the first words of the first line, and then I sort of know the gist of the next few lines, and then I know there have to be some lines after that--so the scene is like a tiny mini-road, where the first part is very very clear, and the end of the scene is clear, but the exact words I'll use to get there aren't really fleshed out until I write those initial words.

As for making characters complex and flawed, I don't usually plan on that. That said, usually the scenes I want to get to are character moments rather than "I want a dance scene". For instance, in The Boy Who Only Lived Twice, I wanted a scene in which Harry told Rabbit that Draco meant nothing to him, and I wanted Harry to say it not because Draco meant nothing to him but because he was confused about how he felt about Draco and didn't want to lose Rabbit, and I wanted Rabbit to be visibly devastated without Harry understanding why. It was just a scene I needed to have even though it wasn't strictly necessary for the plot. But once I wrote it it became strictly necessary for the characters to be who they were, and it made each of them that more fucked up, so I didn't have to consciously think about making them flawed.

I do do quite a lot of research. For He Who Must Not Be Normal I picked the actual place where Draco lived, where he worked, researched restaurants that could be reached within walking distance, looked at their menus to make sure Draco could afford them, then read customer reviews to see what he would probably like, then tried to find pictures of interiors to picture what the restaurant looked like, even though I never once described it.

Idk about writing scenes that don't move the plot or characters forward. I feel like I've never written a scene that didn't move the plot or characters. A scene is always doing something. I guess that means there's probably a lot of pointless stuff in my fics that could be cut. What dictates what I do or don't include depends on pacing, usually. My pacing usually isn't that great because if I write on a deadline I rush at the end and if I don't write on a deadline I rarely finish, but I'm highly aware of pacing through out most of the fic except at the very end when I just need to write 20,000 words in 3 days and finish the sucker, so I feel like if things are dragging I cut them or stop writing them or don't write them in the first place.

Thanks again for your awesome post!

[sophie-french.livejournal.com]

I LOVE THIS POST. Thank you for telling us about your process. I'm sorry I flailed all over your comments; this is just so interesting to me.

Same here!!!

He Who Must Not Be Normal: God I've bookmarked this fic, I so wanted to read it and haven't yet!!! Definitely have to read it!

[icmezzo.livejournal.com]

1. Title/Summaries
I actually love writing and titles and summaries. I will spend about 2 hours on a typical summary if I sit down to write one. Otherwise, I often write them while I'm commuting because I have just enough attention to perfect the wording in a short summary while driving. I especially love writing summaries for comedies because you get to indulge the insanity up front. For example, The Ugly Duckling: D is all atwitter when he wakes up on his birthday with a few unexpected feathers. Suspecting foul play, he enlists H to help get rid of his unfortunate birden--er, burden. I love writing titles, too, though I'm realizing now that few of my HP titles are spectacular. I've done quite a few based on adaptations (Shoemaker) or poems (Kiss the Joy) and such, and those have been the source of my titles instead of having to be truly creative about it. I definitely use working titles...for several months my latest piece was called "Three Brothers Mashup."

2. Linear writing.
I am a linear writer. There was one time when I tried to write otherwise and it was a disaster. The rare exception is that sometimes I will write the very final scene when I'm about 3/4 of the way through because I can see the end in sight. I did that with "And So Death" because I was so bogged down in the angst that I had to remember where I was headed, needed to remember that it would be okay, and needed a break. But that was sort of a bookend and didn't fall within the main story so I'm not sure that even counts.

3. Outlining.
Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. It honestly depends on the genre, my mood, how "important" I consider the piece, and how technically difficult, among other things. When I do outline, I often include much more detail in the initial scenes and move to very high level plot points toward the end; this allows me to discover more and stay interested in the resolution. I outlined the everliving daylights out of And So Death because of the difficulty of the different POVs, timelines, the Three Brothers layer, and story bookends. (Writing that was actual torture, ngl.) Whereas with Ugly Duckling, I had a vague idea (feathers! puns! find a way to work in "The Raven"!) and just started writing and let it lead me wherever it wanted to go. It was a light comedy, for a low pressure fest, and I had time to go back if I dead ended. To be honest, though, I've never dead ended and had to reverse and try again to find the ending. I feel like it is going to happen one day, but so far, I've always been able to keep moving ahead despite a lack of a destination. I think I actually prefer writing without and outline and just seeing where I'll end up, but there's a definite risk there so it's not always appropriate.

4. Research.
I should do more of this. I mean, I definitely do some as I go and it can lead to very strange tangents, but I should research and develop backstory more than I do at this point. Sometimes I do more than others. Not being a shoe person by nature, I researched the heck out of shoe-making and shoe styles (esp classic men's styles) before writing Shoemaker.

5. Complex characters.
I need to improve here, as well. I think I need to write again without a fest deadline so I have time to indulge here. It has been awhile since I've written without a deadline. That said, without deadlines, I often won't actually write, so... sigh.

6. Monogamy. It doesn't matter if I have pieces that are complete opposites in genre or characters or whatever. I cannot write more than one piece at a time.

7. Endings.
I love writing endings. There's something about neatly wrapping up 30k with a perfectly poignant red bow that appeals to me. I often use some sort of gentle bookend, bringing back a theme or special moment from the very beginning or sometimes the climax section to give the story some balance. This worked particularly well in "Kiss the Joy," I think, as I brought back H's observation of Ron and Hermione at the very beginning and let him be in that place with nearly identical wording D in the very last lines. The approach brings everything full circle, and I love when it works well. I try to be clever about it and I'm sure some of them aren't very obvious, but they're there, in some way, in almost every single piece I write.

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

1. This summary while driving thing--is it in your head or on paper? LOL. Haha I remember that summary for TUD (what a horrible acronym that turned out to be, sorry!) and it was indeed hilarious. I need you to write summaries for me. You are like a title and summary queen.

3. Oh my origific outlines are like that! I thought it was just me being lazy, but you've actually made a point that I find true as well-- that it's better not to box yourself in for later chapters when you aren't sure what's all going on in the first few yet. I've never dead-ended, either. Don't jinx us! :D

5. Fest deadlines actually make me write better (and quicker). It took me 5 years to finish my first major fic and 3 months to finish A, haha. I work well under pressure, though. Maybe I'm an adrenaline junkie.

6. I am opposite! I love having lots of fics going.

7. Ohh! Gentle bookends, that's lovely. And I agree with you there; I always feel like the fic is unfinished if it doesn't come "full circle" at the end. I love endings in theory, but my do-me-veela ending is falling flat. Tips?

[anemonen.livejournal.com]

Wow, this was really fun to read. It's fascinating to see everyone's writing processes. It left me even more in awe of all you amazing writers out there. I would never have the patience to research and plan as much as you do (but hey, I guess that's why I don't write). I'm grateful that you do and that you share it with the rest of us :)

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

Great! I'm glad you liked it. I think it's fun to read everyone's style, too. We are grateful you read :D

[vaysh]

Awesome post. It's fascinating to read, as are the comments. :)

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm totally fascinated with everyone else's styles, too, actually.

[pierian.livejournal.com]

Yes, this post and thread! This is exactly what I've been itching for since I commented about being curious how one starts to put together a story with massive scale, such as Azoth. As I haven't written fic in a decade, I don't have too much to share on my writing process and approach, but I am with you on number 2. Actually number 1 and 2 because they both revolve around the same thing: the heart of the story. Only when I know what the heart is can I craft a through line that connects all the dots and plots. Come to think of it, I am with you on 5 for sure. We all are prone to wandering when writing, but that doesn't mean it needs to be shown to the public.

Do you write linearly once you have the ending in mind, or do you write out of order and then fill in the gaps to smooth out the story?

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

:D Thanks!

Haha, how awful is it that the answer to that question is, "Just wing it and hope for the best"?

The heart of the story, yes! Excellent way to put it. I like it when stories leave you feeling a certain way, and I think settling on a 'heart' for it does that, maybe. Things just feel like they ~fit~ and that's what makes me love stories the best.

I am typically a linear writer, yep. I don't ever skip scenes unless I realize later on that Scene A and B really need an A.5 scene in the middle to make sense. That's not super common, but it happens. More often, I'll write 80% of a scene, have no idea what a proper scene break would be, and decide to move onto the next scene. I usually come up with a way to end the previous scene a few paragraphs into the new one and go back to fill it in, then return to the new scene. Convoluted, yes. Like my sentences.

[vivaciousmuse.livejournal.com]

I don't write fanfiction anymore, so my response is specifically geared towards original fiction writing.

1. I'm motivated by glimpses. A scene, a setting, a character. I start to write it out and it usually takes off in whatever direction it needs to. I can almost always completely visualize the scene in m head before I put it down on paper, and the ones that stick with me for days or weeks before I write them are usually the ones who make it into the actual story.

2. I'm a pantser. I like to pretend I can organize my thoughts and make plans but I can't. My best ideas come when I just sit down and write and I let the characters and story flow. Any attempts at making an outline usually end up in failure.

3. I'm also really big into researching! I'll spend hours looking into the smallest details.

4. I completely agree with your point three. I also put a lot of time and effort into characterization. In my opinion, the best villains are the ones that walk the line between good and evil, who have understandable or questionable motivations. I love exploring flaws. My stories always tend to be character-driven rather than plot driven, because I can't get enough of my characters.

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

1. Interesting. I'm in awe of authors who can do this. Sometimes I've gotten a glimpse/scene in my head before that I desperately wanted to use, but they often end up getting cut. I'd say about 50% of the time I can figure out how to get the plot into the glimpse I want and it can stay, but the other half of the time, I end up feeling like it wasn't a good fit. Sometimes I'll save them for other stories or other chapters, though.

2. I think I'm middle of the road. I start with a high-level draft of what's going to happen with maybe just the beginning and end and a few ideas for the middle, and as I write, I'll start filling in the outline with dialogue snippets I want to use, character development that would be best introduced in a certain part of the story, how I'll save the say, etc as I go. I like that you can just wing it and everything turns out well. *is jelly*

4. I agree with you 100%! I love a villain that makes you think!

[evening12]

I made my way through Harry Big Bang that pimped your post so I decided that I might as well go pass my shyness and leave a comment.

I am rather surprised to see that there are some writing processes that are very similar no matter how many words authors write. I've never written more than 2k and yet what a lot of people have talked about I can recognize.

1. Titles: Titles and I are simply not friend. Along with summaries, titles are the last thing I do. I think I'm always scared of making my titles cliche or irrelevant (like maybe in my head it makes perfect sense but to everyone else it doesn't jive with the story).

2. Ending: I'm all the way with you about the ending. I can't start a story without knowing how it's going to end. I end gives me direction for the tone of my story and what to write. Like you, I write towards that scene. I'm participating in femmfest and I know the very last sentence of the story, and just knowing that told me what the opening scene will be.

3. Characters: *ponders* I don't know if I do that. My stories tend to be very internal and focused on that one character (like a character study I suppose) so I suppose that they get to be complex characters. As for anyone else...ummm sometimes. Sometimes there's just a mention of characters (like Regulus seeing Sirius and James goofing off near the lake).

4. Research: I research canon timeline all the time. I use canon events to give shape and meaning to certain scenes in my story so I need to know when what happens. As a side note, does anyone have any info about what goes on during a Wizengamot trial? Or perhaps even a fic that writes it very well? I need to write such a scene for my next story lol

5. I never write a scene if it doesn't move the plot or characterization forward. Because I write much shorter stories (in comparison to those who write like 5k), my stories automatically only contain the necessary scenes. If it's there it's because it serves a purpose.

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

Hi and welcome. :) I'm so glad you decided to share your writing style. I always find it so interesting to get into the heads of other writers, so I'm really looking forward to Harrybang, too. I've also noticed that a lot of writers have similar writing methods! So cool!

I think I may be one of the few people who has a title from the beginning, although I will definitely agree with you on summaries being really hard. I have one fic that I change the summary on, like, every year. I am just never happy with it!

On endings--yes! Exactly! Knowing where I want to end up often gives me the idea for the very first scene, too! *fist bump*

For characters, I think everyone has a different style there. I tend to like "casts of thousands" so fleshing each side character out is part of the fun for me, but I definitely see the appeal in fics that focus only/mainly on one or two characters. It can be very poignant to see a world only from a pairing's POV.

[winnett.livejournal.com]

Right now, my main thing is to just sit down and write. And if possible, do it every day. But lately I'm having a hard time maintaining that habit. Sometimes you are stuck and I think taking a break is okay, but I also think it makes it harder to get back into it.

I research a ton too. I have two original novels going (one has been picked up and will be published, another I'm still writing) and both are historical-esque fantasy and there's so much research to do. but I LOVE IT.

I write tons of scenes that don't move the plot forward.... I just cut them later, or maybe they move a character forward and have other useful tidbits. For me, every scene should do two of these three: Plot Development, Character Development, Scene Development. And at times, you won't have plot development (or maybe just tiny tendrils of it) and I think that's okay as long as something is moving forward.

And I love your take on characters. I really think good, engaging characters make a story. If you don't care about the characters, your plot/voice/writing style have to really work extra hard.

Great post!

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

Gosh I am behind on replying to comments. Sorry!

Sitting down and just writing is a strategy that a lot of people overlook as too obvious, I think, and in the end, they forget to do it at all. So it's great that you don't forget to do that! Sometimes I can agonize over something for three days in a row when I would've been better off just writing through the part I was unsure of and coming back to it later. Taking a break definitely does make it harder to get back into. On the other hand, I've found that taking a *significant* break (a few months) and coming back can sometimes give me a fresh perspective.

I'm so happy that you've got one picked up! Did you go through an agent or directly to a publisher or...?

I think writing fanfic is so much easier for me because I already have so many characters to choose from. I don't know why I can't develop original fiction ones as easily when don't have any problems fleshing out stock HP characters.

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

Hello!

Do you ever experiment with writing non-linear stories since you're a non-linear writer? Maybe that's your niche!