Jun 2022
12 / 41
Jun 2022
Aug 2022
U.F.O
Jun '22
TheLemmaLlama

HAHAHA :rofl: I never turn off my phone but I do turn off my laptop sometimes and it takes so long to start, I have a password, I have to open the browser and find the document I'm writing in. There's just so much work. I open my phone with touch or face ID and then just click on the google docs app and then I'm there, ready to write! :grinning:

Haha I do think I write faster on the computer keyboard but I make more typos. And... I also don't write as fast as when I'm posting on the forums since I have to think more about what I want to write so the speed doesn't really matter in my case.

TheLemmaLlama
Jun '22

Ah, that explains it; I never turn off my laptop :stuck_out_tongue:

My average writing speed throughout a 'session' also isn't fast because of the thinking, but once I do have a thought formulated, it's frustrating if it takes too long to type it out :'D Also probably why I hated doing schoolwork when we had to write things down on paper XD

LackofCoffee
Jun '22
U.F.O

Yeah I find my rough draft is very centered around the main characters and main plot line. I add a lot of my descriptions, side characters and world building during the proper first draft, otherwise it feels like my main characters are just standing around waiting for me to come back.

LackofCoffee
Jun '22
smokesalty

You sound far more organised than me. I usually have a few scenes that are very clear in my head and a general idea on how to get there. The spaces in between grow as I wander around and find them. Some of my favourite moments have come by accident.

U.F.O
Jun '22
TheLemmaLlama

:wink: The day I get a laptop that doesn't shut itself down as soon as it's not charging, I too, will never turn it off hehe.

I see. :grin: Oof, yes I hated that too! At least we moved away from writing on paper in high school and uni except from when writing exams which was stressful when you knew the answers but couldn't write them fast enough.

U.F.O
Jun '22
LackofCoffee

Ohh, sounds good! I should keep this to when I come to the proper first draft.

Hehe :sweat_01: they don't have it easy living in the rough draft.

LackofCoffee
Jun '22
SoaringMoon

Very good advice, once I write FINAL on a file then I am done with it and ready to move on.

And I completely agree about deadlines. I once challenged myself to write a chapter a week and told my best-friend to punch me in the arm if I failed. It really worked.

SoaringMoon
Jun '22

Do the same, but with half a chapter and every day.

I mean the average writer without a physical disability should be able to compose about 600 words an hour on the very low end.

If you did that for 8 hours a day 5 days a week you'd have 2 rough draft novels a month.

BOMB
Jun '22

My process usually goes like this

  1. Inspiration from something leads to a concept or idea forming in my head.

  2. I write the first chapter and in that chapter I try to justify, flesh out, and humanize my concept or idea. This chapter is typically an introduction or a short intro that the reader can use to set expectations for the rest of the book.

  3. I write the next 3 chapters. If I can't get past these 3 chapters, chances are my concept is too weak, I don't like my characters, or my inspiration has faded too quickly to go on.

  4. If I can get to about chapter 4 or 5, by then I've probably written enough to analyze my own story and construct more of the stories skeleton. I can start to really plot out and plan events for later chapters, and even dig into characters.

Basically

1.Think of Idea

2.Write opening set up.

3 Test idea for a few chapters.

  1. If I like the direction, I plot out the rest of the book and finish.

And sure there are more complicated things I do between those steps, but in essence, that's what I do. Some people might think it's odd not to plan everything out from the start, but I feel like if I did that I'd never stop planning. I'd get stuck in planning. And if I allow myself to play and see where things go for a few chapters at the beginning, it can actually lead to more interesting concepts than what I might have planned for before I was in the midst of creating. Still, I know it's not for everyone.

Moesakuara
Jun '22

I’ve written both prose and comics, and my overall method is to vomit up everything in various outlines and rough drafts, get feedback, rewrite with that feedback, keep writing, scrap the story, start from the ground up and rinse and repeat…. Sounds chaotic and time consuming (it is) but, I got one of my most complete and cohesive stories from this method. I think the key is finding the right person to edit your work. Someone who is a better writer and who will give you honest, constructive feedback.

Kuma
Jun '22

My process

1. I start by stretching in the morning.
2. I take a hearty breakfast.
3. BLOOD SACRIFICES FOR THE NARRATIVE ELDER GODS.

Well, no. Not precisely.

Now seriously.

  1. I have an idea.
  2. I ponder said idea for a while. (I colloquially say I'm "chewing it")
  3. I research anything I think I'll need to develop the idea.
  4. I explore different alternatives from the same initial thought.
  5. I see which elements of each idea call to me the most and see if I can fit them together (I personally call this, in my mind, Hegelian Narrative Development, just because I'm a pretencious asshat deep inside who likes being wordy.)
  6. Once the idea is set and I have enough research material I begin building around it from the outside to the inside.
  7. I go from Macro to Micro in the world-building, reaching the furthest point away from the story and working my way towards the center.
  8. Once the world is built I expand my character ideas using elements of the world around them, intertwining them to it, modifying my original ideas if needed.
  9. With everything in place I can work on the plot, having a lot of breathing room with a developed world and characters.
  10. I write multiple outlines about the story in broad strokes and then I split each "act" apart and then I split them apart again. I used a method called the "5 Columns" which I learned during Film Screenwriting School.
  11. Once I feel like the plot is set I do a couple more passes writing it as a single chunk of story and later I split everything into scenes, making a list of scenes.
  12. I proceed to make drafts of the actual story and revise them multiple times until I'm satisfied with the story.
  13. Profit?
TheLemmaLlama
Jun '22
BOMB

I guess I'm a bit like you in that I don't have everything planned out from the start, but instead of starting with the first few chapters, I start with random 'important/climactic' scenes :stuck_out_tongue: This might feel weird for someone without a plan, writing scenes without knowing when they take place in the story, but it works for me :smiley:

If I try to work from the beginning without a plan, I get stuck because I don't know where I'm going (even if I do still like my concept/characters) XD

LackofCoffee
Jun '22
Kuma

That's what I'm missing, how could I forget such an important step?

12 days later
deesparta208
Jul '22

I love to hand write on my iPad using GoodNotes. I can be anywhere and jot down ideas and do a rough draft. I use the ocr in GoodNotes to turn my printing to text. I copy the text and post in msword. All this on my iPad and saved in Dropbox.

Then I format and correct the words that weren’t converted right. Then I run it through Grammarly and then have it edited by my wife. Then make last minute changes and save to post.

I usually have a list of ideas for chapters that I use as a basic outline

LackofCoffee
Jul '22

My handwriting is so bad when I write fast that I doubt it could convert any of it:grin:

RobertBMarks
Jul '22

So, I put my fingers on my keyboard, and words come out. Sometimes those words are even in English!

Taking tongue out of cheek for a moment, if I had to describe the quirks of my process, they would be:

  1. Outlining. Pretty much every longer work I've ever created started with an outline, and the stories and characters come to life at this stage. If you read Re:Apotheosis, the process Kaguyama describes in chapter 3 is basically what I do. There's a bit of a nudge here and there, but otherwise my process of telling a story doesn't feel quite so much as making something up as discovering it.

  2. I use WordPerfect, and I always compose double-spaced in Courier 12 point font. I'm old enough that I've been using WordPerfect since there was an actual competition for the office space between WordPerfect and Word, so to a degree it's a legacy application. That said, it does something no other word processor I've used does, outside of Notepad - using it feels like using a typewriter (so, to start a chapter, I hit the keys to centre the line, type the title, hit return, and the cursor is back on the left and I can just start typing). It's great - all I have to concentrate on is the words, and nothing else. As for the font thing, I can't really explain it. If I try composing in any other font, like Times New Roman or single spaced, it screws me up.

  3. I very often will write the prologue and/or first chapter, and then the epilogue, and then I'll go back and write the other chapters in order. Not sure why I do it - it's like my brain needs an end point to work towards.

And here's Re:Apotheosis - if you read it, please do comment! There are a lot of twists and turns coming, and I'd kind of love to see how people are reacting and what they think will happen (and it will be interesting to see if they get it right...).