Writing process
Aug. 15th, 2011 12:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seraphtrevsThe Good - the baby's taking a nap early and I've got the opportunity to make a dent in my fic! Hooray.
The Bad - ...and I just realized that the last 800 words or so completely don't work, so I have to start that section over. Woe.
Anyway, while I'm working, I thought I'd throw this question out there for the writers on my flist - what does your writing process look like?
Generally, I'll think of an idea for a fic, and it will sit in my brain for a couple of months (yes, months - I am that slow). After I've thought about it enough for it to take shape, I start writing. For longer fics, I usually try to write a rough outline. I don't end up following exactly, but it's useful as a map of things I need to get to - it helps me estimate about how far apart those "destinations" should be, and how long it's going to take me to get to those points. (And God, "What We Are" has been especially challenging because it's completely altered from what I originally thought it was going to be. It turns out I've been holding the map upside down.)
I write sequentially. (I've tried writing scenes out of order, but it just ends up confusing me; no matter how well I think I've thought something out, it invariably changes as it goes along, and then I end up having to rewrite those scenes anyway, and it's just an enormous headache.) Every time I sit down to write, I save the file under a new name - so, for example, I'll start "What We Are Chapter 7.1", and then save it as 7.2 the next time, etc. That way, I can always change my mind and retrieve what I've discarded previously. I generally go through about six to eight "drafts" per chapter (although they're not really complete drafts since I usually don't get to the end of the chapter until the last two or three times I sit down with it). After it's completed, I send it off to one of my fabulous betas, make the necessary changes, and post.
So what's your style? I'm really interested to see how other people go about it. I've taken writing classes and read a ton of books on writing, but in the end, my writing process wasn't something I learned first and applied to what I did - it developed organically once I started to write. I imagine it's similar for a lot of people.
The Bad - ...and I just realized that the last 800 words or so completely don't work, so I have to start that section over. Woe.
Anyway, while I'm working, I thought I'd throw this question out there for the writers on my flist - what does your writing process look like?
Generally, I'll think of an idea for a fic, and it will sit in my brain for a couple of months (yes, months - I am that slow). After I've thought about it enough for it to take shape, I start writing. For longer fics, I usually try to write a rough outline. I don't end up following exactly, but it's useful as a map of things I need to get to - it helps me estimate about how far apart those "destinations" should be, and how long it's going to take me to get to those points. (And God, "What We Are" has been especially challenging because it's completely altered from what I originally thought it was going to be. It turns out I've been holding the map upside down.)
I write sequentially. (I've tried writing scenes out of order, but it just ends up confusing me; no matter how well I think I've thought something out, it invariably changes as it goes along, and then I end up having to rewrite those scenes anyway, and it's just an enormous headache.) Every time I sit down to write, I save the file under a new name - so, for example, I'll start "What We Are Chapter 7.1", and then save it as 7.2 the next time, etc. That way, I can always change my mind and retrieve what I've discarded previously. I generally go through about six to eight "drafts" per chapter (although they're not really complete drafts since I usually don't get to the end of the chapter until the last two or three times I sit down with it). After it's completed, I send it off to one of my fabulous betas, make the necessary changes, and post.
So what's your style? I'm really interested to see how other people go about it. I've taken writing classes and read a ton of books on writing, but in the end, my writing process wasn't something I learned first and applied to what I did - it developed organically once I started to write. I imagine it's similar for a lot of people.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-15 09:49 pm (UTC)I can't do the draft thing (which sounds very smart), because my biggest problem is a tendency to blather. Once I've cut something, I need to cut it irrevocably, lest it creep back in. It's hard enough for me to be ruthless about cutting. My only saving grace is that I can't remember it once it's cut (which just goes to show what blather it was), so keeping old drafts would be a nightmare. I mostly write sequentially, but sometimes I get a little bored during transitions, so I'll leave a few blank lines to remind myself that I need to come back to patch up something.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-17 04:13 am (UTC)Hee, I'm glad I'm not alone! Maybe that's why we mesh so well.
Once I've cut something, I need to cut it irrevocably, lest it creep back in. It's hard enough for me to be ruthless about cutting.
Ha, I have the same problem (as you probably know. :P) I find that the draft system is good for me because I spend such a long time trying to word something properly that even when I cut, there's always a sentence or turn of phrase that's still useful. Or something cool that happened with my last DS9 fic - I was able to incorporate something I loved but had to cut from one of my other fics, which I fortunately still had thanks to my handy drafting!
(PS - I love your icon. :D)