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After years of being a lurker, and that was before I registered on the site, I'm finally taking a more active role. I'll be posting the first chapter of a new story later today. (Yes, if I say that here, then I've got a deadline I have to meet.)
That said, I want to get a discussion going on the writing process itself. I've noticed that the appropriate section of the forums is rather dead. Goes back over 2 years on the first page of threads. So, I'm posting here.
While none of you have (knowingly) read my work, I thought I'd share a bit of my process and see what others do differently or similarly. I've always been of the opinion that you can learn from what goes on behind the scenes of other writers' work. It's hard to be objective about your own work. In my own experience, I've found it really helpful to get glimpses into others' processes. So, I shamelessly ask for others to post about theirs.
Here's a bit about my process:
Software: Scrivener, for the most part (Best story/novel writing software out there, in my opinion). Google Drive for when I'm away from my Mac. Software I've used in the past include: Word, Pages, Mellel, Ulysses, VooDooPad, Storymill, WordPerfect, Dramatica Pro, just to name a few.
My story ideas are usually character based. Sometimes they're situational, but it's mostly about the character. I've always believed that without compelling characters you get Tom Clancy style fiction. All plot, no substance (No offense intended to any TC fans). I like to write buddy stories, with a pair of characters that we follow. Hero and sidekick. When I was in my early teens I was a huge fan of Clive Cussler and loved the witty banter between Pitt and Giordano in those books. It gave them a wonderful humorous thread along the main storyline. When appropriate, I like to do something similar. I mostly write speculative fiction. Genre stuff. SF, Fantasy, etc..
I don't use any specific plotting method. Sometimes I know my main plot from the get go. Sometimes, it's ad hoc as I go along. On a few occasions I've known where the story was going to end, and "backplotted" from there to the beginning.
What I post later today is my first real attempt at serial fiction. I'll be interested in any critical feedback. I'm treating episodes as chapters. As I said in my last blog post, I'm not a literary minded writer. I try to write fun stories that people enjoy reading.
I'm looking forward to reading what you (yes, I do mean you) have to say.
Comments
Excellent question. I belong
Excellent question.
I belong to several writers' groups and there are many schools of thought as to the most effective way of writing. I know some who have a complete skeleton of their book planned out, with chapter numbers and a brief outline of each chapter before they start writing. They even have the ending worked out and spend fifty percent of their time on research and planning. They will have a list of characters, with descriptive notes as to appearance and personality, and even tone of voice.
I don't.
I tried that, and it didn't work. Someone told me that if you don't have a complete outline, then you're not a proper author.
Bollocks!
I get an idea, or even two ideas and that starts my imagination off as to how I could develop it. For example, I completed the 50,000 words of the NANOWRIMO contest within 15 days, but am now fiddling about at the 60,000 mark working a good ending. It started with an idea about genetic engineering. I did a little research into the history of genetic engineering and the desire to eradicate nasty genetic traits, such as disease and anti-social elements. Not unsurprisingly I found the term - EUGENICS. Back in the 1930s it was a big movement, picked up on by, you guessed it, the Nazis in Germany.
I got my idea... it started with a murder in NEW YORK, where they really held a conference in 1933. The plot moved to the present and the great niece (26) of one man involved at the time and the grandson (76) of the victim.... key in some modern-day Nazis and a mysterious foundation providing 'health & Beauty' treatments' around the world, and we have our global conspiracy. The grandson, disappears, and then turns up dead(?), but a mysterious young woman appears, claiming to be the long-lost daughter of the 'dead' man. No prizes for guessing who this might be.
I always like a hero/heroine with whom I can identify, and I hope others here might do likewise. Like you, I enjoy Cussler's work, and the Pitt partnership is fun. In this book, the Great niece and the long-lost daughter form a relationship, so go through the excitement together.
I seriously don't know who is going to be on the next page, or where my characters are going to take me. I sit down and try to write whenever real life lets me, which is hard, as I have managed to accrue a great many activities and responsibilities that make writing difficult. I do most of my writing in the evenings, often up to one in the morning. Discipline is a tough one, as I can go weeks without having the time, opportunity or desire to sit down and write.
Money is now a bit of a motive, as I have ceased doing other jobs, unless absolutely necessary. I have now come to rely on my income from books, so I need to try to get a new one out regularly.
I still have many faults. I tend to run-on sentences in my enthusiasm to tell the tale. I type quickly and miss silly typos, and I can get too enthusiastic with exclamation marks!!!! I am still way short of perfection, but am willing to learn and improve. There are many purists who can be hypercritical, and there are a few people who genuinely don't like what I write and will say so. I don't expect to please all the people all the time. Let's face it, I started writing for me, to deal with my inner turmoil, as I found it a release to express things as the written word. Someone who I allow to read it told me to post it. The next step was to try to sell them, and here I am, three years later and with almost 19,000 books sold. If those who don't like my work don't buy them, there are enough who like them and do.
My one piece of advice (one that I have learned the hard way) is get a good editor to go through your work and get it as good as you can. To do otherwise is to invite criticism, and justifiably in my opinion. People will not read (let alone buy) badly produced work with bad formatting, poor grammar, typos, inconsistencies in timelines or continuity and spelling mistakes.
I know I will not read a piece of work if it is in a lump of text with no paragraphing or not set out to be easily read, so I don't expect others to. Even if one uses a generic spellchecker & grammar check, that would be better than nothing. Some seem to do nothing.
Oh, as to writing - I use MS Word, as it is the easiest to dump up to the eBook sites, such as Kindle, Kobo and Smashwords.
Nice to chat.
Tanya
There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes!
Yay!!!
I'm just happy that someone took my post seriously.
Oh I've heard the same thing about Outlining. I've also heard similar things said about Corkboarding. Meh. :)
I'm of the opinion that there is no Proper or Correct way to write fiction. It comes down to finding a physical method that enables your creative process to flow. There's no right or wrong way to do that. I know someone who has to do all her first drafts by hand on legal pads before she starts on the computer.
Me? I start by getting the main plot down in what I call a skeleton draft. Please note, I'm not talking serialized fiction, I'm referring more to a traditional short story/novella/novel formats. I like to have a general idea of where my story goes, but I don't necessarily need to have a complete draft. I know a couple of writers that start with their outline, and keep adding to their outline until each bullet point in their outline becomes a scene and the project is done. For me that is is like completely crazy pants whacko time.
Well, after the Skeleton draft, I go in and start adding subplots and such. I stole this method from Michael Stackpole. This is new for me. In the past, I've done the whole Robert-E-Howard-channel-my-character type of thing where I just let the story go where it wants. Jungian, I know. Seems more organic to me. Now, if I could plot outlines like that... I think I'd have the best of both worlds. :)
I really like the idea behind corkboarding, especially going all out with it with pushpins and string and stuff. It's just too much work for me to be honest. I feel like I'd be using the corkboarding as an excuse to not get words on the page. (Hint: I have way way too many of those.)
Editing is just so important. I agree with you wholeheartedly. People will judge your work by spelling errors, etc.. Self-editing is really a discipline. One every writer needs to learn in my opinion. Having someone to edit your work is wonderful. No question. But I firmly believe being able to edit your own work is as important as getting the words on the page in the first place. I always try to put some distance between drafts. A few days, or a couple of weeks. I like to take enough time that I can pick that piece back up with some perspective. I do what I call an edit draft between major drafts. I print out the manuscript, curl up in a comfy chair or the bed with a pen and line edit. Since I got my Nexus 7, I'm thinking that I can do my notes on the tablet (using Evernote or Google Drive), while I keep the line edits on the paper copy. Doing my line edits on a paper copy really helps me get that perspective shift I need to edit my work instead of tweaking it. I want to be away from my Mac during those edits.
I can't blame you for using Word. I'm just in love with Scrivener. My notes, research, chapters/scenes all in one document and I can export the actual work to any kind of format.
I can't tell you how envious of you I am. You're making a living by writing. You go, girl! :)
I too use word
But then again I don't know any better. The reason I started writing was that I couldn't find many stories I liked and decided to write my own. My first story was an absolute mess. I tried to edit it six or seven years after the fact and gave up, it's still a mess. The most satisfaction I got writing a story was with Assassin. I loved researching facts I could use in the story.
I get my inspiration from Authors such as Lee Child, Zoe Sharp, Lisa Gardner, Daniel Silva, Vince Flynn, and others. I love writing serious novels, hence Assassin, but when I need to clear my head stories such as Lashes comes along. Unfortunately I don't write enough and have several stories unfinished, Twisted and the sequel to Assassin are twisting in the wind.
One day I'll find a writers club in my area and maybe join. The only problem is I let real life get in the way, Arecee
How To Get Where You're Going - Also an interesting discovery
Having never written anything before I found BCTS, it has been an interesting learning process. I have to agree with several of the commentators that poor grammar, poor spelling, and poor structure are huge detractors. There is one writer here (maybe more) who gets away with it because of the well defined characters and deep emotional writing.
Being rather unimaginative, I have found it difficult to create wide ranging plots concerning many different characters and locations. So, what happened? Eight novels have sprung from that first effort; all of them intertwined. That one novel gave birth to the succeeding stories. I created a time line where I have placed all the major events of each story as the stories were written. This has enabled me to avoid major time inconsistencies I also lets me cross reference situations that may appear in a new story from a different perspective. That time line is now 25 pages and 4300 words long. The same things happened for the SRU series of stories I'm still working on. That was originally supposed to be one story about an upleasant made who wants to be a woman. He gets his wish, but not the way he expected. The Cynthia Chronicles emerged from that story. Once again, I created a time line. It's not as complicated as the other one. In each case, though, the time line becomes the outline for future tales; more so in the California Saga series of novels. I usually have an objective for each story; however, that is subject to change.
I just discovered that if I question the spelling of a word in this comment, I can highlight it, right click, and it will do a spell check. Wow! it's taken me only 20 years to figure that out.
Portia
Wordpainting
Hi, and welcome, Saily!
Like you, I was an avid lurker and then got the far-fetched notion of writing something myself, to share.
While I'm not as experienced a writer as most, here, I got my initial spark for my story while talking with some friends about a kind of reverse cross-dressing situation. Someone who hid the fact that they've changed by dressing like their original gender. The idea for a story framework grew, and I began wondering how someone in that situation would go about hiding things from their friends or family. And so on, and so forth.
Like you, I use a liberal amount of "backplotting", where I know (more or less vaguely) where I want to take the story. But, since I write mostly character driven and dialogue-heavy (sometimes dialogue-burdened), the story itself can take convoluted paths I didn't originally intend, because I wanted to fit in a certain scene. I'm definitely experiencing how some elements takes on a life of their own, almost writing itself. Mostly, I know what I want to accomplish in a given scene, and how it connects with the next couple of goals in the story. The fun part is stringing the pearls together (and the audience along :P)!
Unlike the brief stories I've written before (and not posted here), I did a LOT of world-building and groundwork before writing the first chapter. I already had a ton of assorted scenes and exchanges between characters, but I felt I needed to have a solid place to base the story before actually committing it to paper (so to speak). While it was a very time-consuming process, I highly recommend it for anyone thinking about Fantasy writing. It saves you a bunch of pain later!
On the practical side, I mostly just use Word for writing the story, with another couple of Word files for a story encyclopaedia filled with descriptions of places and people, and such things. Then I have an endless supply of Notepad files with jotted down ideas, random dialogue, scenes, names, or anything else I suddenly thought of. Oh, and one Notepad for each chapter. I guess I organise my writing like I do my travelling. Lots and lots of individual bags and purses!
Sometimes I go out of my way and draw family trees in Publisher, or recruit friends to help me paint maps in Campaign Cartographer.
I'm looking forward to seeing what stories you'll share with us!
EDIT: On editing, funny enough, I tend to write a chapter in bits and pieces, going through it every so often to see if things are headed the way I want it to. I pick up most of the grammatical issues and typos while doing that. Once the chapter is done, I do it again. Because typos. Aaaand as I copy-paste the story into the BigCloset editor for posting, I need to make some edits anyway to keep format, so I read through the entire thing one more time just to be sure. You'd be surprised how often you catch a thing or two that slipped your notice the first times!
Hum a few bars...
Welcome.
I use Libre office and notepad, write pretty much what I feel like (though that is mostly fiction, fantasy and sci fi I reserve the right to branch out).
My stories are mostly psychological and character driven in nature, from the character's own points of view. I find it easiest, though I understand some find it hard to do.
There is only at best the general outline of a plot in my writing; it's all spur of the moment ad hoc, with the characters themselves driving it. I flesh them out, breathe life into them, and watch them work. I do not go over, polish, or buff out the rough points on my writing; I can't stand to. Aside from spelling errors, what you see here is what is on my hard drive.
If I second guessed it's quality it'd never get posted.
Hope this helps; any other questions?
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If you appreciate my tales, please consider supporting me on Patreon so that I may continue:
https://www.patreon.com/Nagrij
Kill it with Fire
Tools - I use Google Drive to write, yWriter to get an overall view, and RoughDraft to do final polishing. I try Gimp for mapping, better sticking with Paint.
Creative Driver - I like building a world, imagining scenes and people in those worlds, then trying to tie them together. I do need the conflict, the transformation mechanism, and the end before I will truly engage in the world.
Tendencies - In general, the protagonist's transformation does not drive the conflict upon which my story is based. Instead the transformation is my technique to take a normal person, someone I feel I can be and thus channel, and make them extraordinary. It turns them into a worthy candidate to live the adventure of the story, while asking some additional questions that can often serve as glue or drivers between scenes. There is also something, maybe, titillating about the idea, I do know that I am better able to visualize an exact female character, while my guy characters tend to exist more as outlines. My tendency, possibly stereotypically, is also to make males duller visually, less bright.
Writing Process - I don't particularly enjoy writing, what I enjoy is manufacturing stories and scenes in my head. However, those scenes can almost take over my mind, particularly at night when I am trying to sleep. Writing them down is the one way of purging a scene from my mind, publishing a story to a website is the one way of stopping a story from continuing to grow. Unfortunately, my written vocabulary does not come close to matching the synapses firing in my mind when visually an interaction or setting, which means it takes me days and days to write it down. I also jump between stories and scenes constantly, never knowing which work will be done until it seems like I should just force my way to the end of something - even then I often switch.
A result of this is I often visualize my writing style as combing the words. I constantly am going over stuff, removing things, adding better logical progressions, rewriting the same section again and again. Brushing what is there to a gloss, though maybe also damaging it, while untangling that yet to come.
Editing - Though I see the value of getting assistance and it helped the times I did so, I just hate asking for it. Just seems like a waste of anybody else's time to spend editing something I wrote with no intention of seeking monetary return. With this in mind I've tried to develop some techniques to help me do a better job for myself. First off, after having a semi-publish worthy draft of a story, I like to break it down into sections/chapters/scenes/whatever of around 2000 words. This is a nice size for an evening's (2-4 hours) edit. I reread, it's usually weeks/days/months since I wrote it, and tweak based on flow and paragraph lengths (don't like two consecutive paragraphs of narration taking up similar blocks of space) while ensuring it matches what is to come. I then go through a check list of words, checking/changing every usage. Next I do a spell check, in RoughDraft before overwriting the Google Driver version and doing its spell check. Finally it goes into yWriter, where I can combine it into an entire story or chunk to be published.