That's what I'm missing, how could I forget such an important step?
12 days later
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
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:
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.
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.
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...).
My cursive just looks like loops and squiggles. I can make out words in yours LOL but it is a mess LOL
The simplest way to explain my writing process would be something like this:
I create a detailed story in my mind: as if I'd be watching a movie or TV series from MC's perspective.
Then I do my best to write down what "I saw", with some changes or additions here and there.
My gay romance, slice-of-life story is an example, if somebody is willing to give it try:
59 episodes published so far
Do you ever find you have stories in your head that never seem to work when you try to put them to paper?
I have 3 short stories cycling through my head at the moment but I'm not sure they will work right if I try to put them in words (plus I have 2 other projects I am currently writing)
Does squealing at cute parts crying when somethiing important happens in the book and its sad, or sobbing into my own pillow when I am emotionally durressed at my own deadlines, I created for myself count? No...
Okay.
I mainly write on my phone, but that’s only due to how my current PC is old and starting to show that age with slowing down and stuff. I am able to write with my phone, but I would probably be to do more with a PC or laptop, but they cost money.
I started out with fanfictions and do still write them every so often to help with my writing and with my creativity or with just some fun writing activity to do. I don’t write chapter-based fanfics that much anymore and mostly oneshots as anything can happen in them and they can be episodic in nature and considering I want to focus on my own stories they are easier to do as well.
I listen to music to help me draw my characters or picture scenes that I want to happen in the future of my stories though they’re mostly just ideas. I write notes down a lot as well, so I don’t lose track of any ideas. I have a lot of ideas, so it took me a while to focus on just one, but some of my other ideas have some of my favourite character designs or personality-wise characters that I’ve created that I can’t wait to get to writing it, but I like to focus on one thing or else I’ll be overwhelmed.
Here’s my novel if anyone wants to check it out. Don’t feel like you have to. It’s a supernatural/mystery with elements of crime in it.
I love your thumbnail!!
I actually want to try doing some drawings based off my story. I love drawing but I get overwhelmed between how I see it in my mind and the ability for my hands to make it reality.
@TheLemmaLlama @11keys
I shall join the ranks of my chaotic writing brethren in the writing lands devoid of outlines and plans.
Probably the best example of my writing would come from the first story in my series of shorts 'Letters from the Sleepless'. So here goes a breakdown of my chaos:
1) I start with an idea - not even an important scene I want, it could be just a line of dialogue I want to build a story around. For this particular short, the idea was a desire to contextualize a fear of going to sleep and waking up as someone else
2) After letting it unconsciously ferment in my mind, I sit down and write. Normally I need to do this in one sitting or else it just doesn't work (for longer stuff I can break down the sittings into chapters to make it manageable)
3) Editing and proofreading occur during the writing process, which yes means a lot of on-the-fly rewrites - imagine putting together a large puzzle with only having a hazy memory of what the final image should be. When I get up and close the file it is a 'finished project' in my mind.
4) Last is to bother someone to act as a second pair of eyes, which tends to annoy them since I usually just do a complete rewrite to handle any editorial remarks - going back to the puzzle allegory it'd be like if someone mentioned they thought a piece should be a couple spaces over and my response is 'okeydokey guess we're redoing this puzzle!' (This particular story went through 3 iterations; I'm working on improving this aspect of the process - i swear)
I do want to clarify the last point that it's not an issue of being able to take criticism, it's more a mental thing where since I view the works as finished products unto of themselves, I find it easier to make something 'new' than fix the issues. Like if I made a cake and people complained the cake was too sweet. If my story was the cake, it would be infinitely easier to make a new cake than remove sugar from the already baked dough.
Somehow this process has also gotten me through my research career so far ...
An apt metaphor! I guess for me, I consider the 'hazy memory of what the final image should be' an outline so I wouldn't say I'm in the writing lands devoid of outlines, but it's also not really a plan since getting an idea of the overall image isn't Step 1, and also I keep realizing throughout the process that I misremembered the image; 'was it a tower? ...no it was a castle actually. Yeah, it's definitely better as a castle' 
I also tend to iterate arcs of my story (which is probably about the same length as a short story if that's what you write as opposed to serials) many times XD My reason's different from yours though; I don't write things in one sitting and consider it 'finished' once I get up and close the file - my reason for iterating is more like 'oh, I was building a tower, but wait I actually want it to be a castle so I have to redo the foundations of this thing and maybe salvage a few little pieces if I'm lucky'
Consequently; I almost never ask for a second pair of eyes because by the time they've read it and gotten back to me with feedback, I would've already spotted things to change and overhauled a bunch of stuff, rendering their feedback obsolete, which would probably annoy them and be super awkward :'D
I don't think going through a bunch of iterations is something you need to improve on though! People who edit instead of rewrite the whole thing from scratch make far more than 3 edits, so the overall amount of rewriting you do comparatively probably ends up being about the same
Entirely spontaneous weather or not I have the time, trying to put things down coherently, building pictures then working to tie in the other ideas.
No, I haven't experienced that yet, not in that sense, I believe. 
I did need to delete some scenes, adjust some characters, or rewrite the whole chapter from a different angle, but I don't think that's what you had in mind.
Usually I 'encounter' two issues: lack of self-confidence and never-ending doubts regarding quality research/info to back-up what's happening in my story (i,e, make the story as believable as I can).
Whoa, seems like you have a lot on your plate, good luck! 
Many aspects in the story can usually be changed somewhat or approached from a different angle but still fit your vision (e.g. character personality adjusted, some scenes adjusted/added/removed, etc.). Give it a try, when you can, and see what works for you (trial and error is the best teacher). If you're invested in the story, you'll find the solution sooner or later as you try the different approaches.
Yeah sometimes I will take a small concept from a failed idea and plant it in another story, but I usually have so many potential story ideas that I'm never lacking on things to write.
But the next time I hit a failed story, I'll take your suggestions and see if it can be salvaged. 
1 month later
closed Aug 16, '22