Novel What's Your Writing Process?

I don't plan until I need to. I haven't had anything published yet, mostly because the piece I'm working on now will be my first novel ever, and all of my shorter stories are too long for any of the magazines that I could submit to here.

My process goes something like this:

Step One: Write.
Step One-A: Continue writing, and occasionally write down some notes so I know what can come next because I'm forgetful.

At some point, this step is over because I've either finished, or I've realised I don't actually like the idea.

 

i don't have a planned-out 'process'... i just write... if what i write needs editing, i'll edit... if not, i don't... if that's a 'process' then you can say i have one...

 

I get an idea. I let it stew for a while (days to weeks). If it smells good after stewing, I start writing. I may plan out a scene or two in my head, or jot down an idea for a future scene, but otherwise I just write, editing and revising as I go along. During the whole process, I may go from running outside yelling "YES!!!" to kicking the wall yelling "DAMMIT!!!" but eventually I get through it.

 

I'm not a huge planner.

I prefer writing short stories these days, and very much off the cuff.

 

I plan A LOT too. Actually, for every story I write it seems I need more and more planning for it to make sense. Basically I follow Ixlorianas step1-4, then I just write from there. After I've finished a first draft I let it rest for as long as I can (usually not more than two weeks ) and then I re-read it. Rewriting and more rewriting during the following months, changing, adding and taking away stuff that came to my mind during the first draft stage. I keep my ideas on post its on the freezer or in one of my (many) notebooks. After having finished the rewriting I start editing. But the planning is crucial to me.

 

I can see the post-its now.

"Ask delivery guy to help open box, getting his prints on knife. Kill husband."

 

For my first manuscript, I wrote an outline, then wrote the manuscript and edited as I worked.

For my second, I wrote a 90 thousand word first draft, trashed it, and wrote the final draft.

For my third, I drive around for a while and think about what to write, then I write.

 

I like the planning process in theory, but I never do a great job. The ideas just pop out of my head first. However, I have about 60 pages done for two novels and am stuck with both. One is really bothering me because although I like what I've written, I've realized in retrospect that some of the conflicts are unrealistic. I wish I had planned it all out first, because the though of undoing some of the scenes which I really like to acommodate a better, more realistic set of circumstances unnerves me. I think I will try to write from scratch and take with me what I like. Lesson learned - planning seems to be the key. As someone said (maybe the original poster), with proper planning, the story writes itself. The feedback I usually get from my stories are that they are interesting and well written, but something doesn't make sense. If I plan better before investing the effort in writing something for weeks and weeks, it will probably make the whole thing a lot smoother and more realistic in my readers' eyes. I hope so. I will try that for my next few stories. Great topic, by the way. And I'm glad to see others are able to find places to publish. I haven't tried yet, but I think I will write a story for a particular magazine just to see what happens.

 

Hahaha, something like that!

 

This is all very interesting. I'm glad to know that we all have different styles and processes. Some plan, and some don't. Some do major revisions, and some don't. It's interesting really.

I have found planning is good because it's easier to fix a problem that occurs in a few paragraphs in a text file than it is to try to revamp a short story once a terrible draft is written. Plus, planning is a way of generating ideas for me. If I wait until I'm inspired to write, I end up waiting too long and don't produce as much material.

I'm glad to have some many responses. I hope there will be more. I love to learn.

Drew

 

First of all, congrats! If you have any work published your method is clearly working. Anthony Burgess would often write more than 3,000 words in a morning - A Clockwork Orange was only one of five novels he wrote that year. On the other hand, Orson Scott Card let his ideas mull for two years then wrote Ender's Game in two weeks.

For me, having a plan - any plan - is always better, and seeing a completed plot/story on paper is infinitely more helpful than having a headful of vague thoughts and voices babbling away at each other. But it is one thing (among many) I struggle with, following through on the initial concept. I'm guessing the writers who say they have no formula are the ones who have developed their craft to a point that the planning stage comes somewhat automatically.

 

I use freewriting as a technique but extensively revise my works until its up to publication quality. A la Virginia Woolf.

 

Care to Explain Your Process?

Okay, I've got a question for you lot. How do you write? How do you make characters? How do you make a poem?How do you go about shaping the clay that is an idea into a world? I feel the need, the powerful consuming need to probe the bowels of other writers' minds. And, I'd like to bring to the light the fact that I haven't a ruddy clue as to why I want to sift through others' heads. Fret not, my curiosity will be the death of me one day, mark my words.

I refuse to bother with explaining how I do all that, instead I'll discuss the way I come about my settings. In the case of White Wood, Michigan, I was inspired by a documentary detailing disappearances within the "Lake Michigan Triangle". Silly, isn't it?*

I meticulously researched that specific part of North America, pouring over books, websites, and, yes, even Wikipedia. The weather, the settlements, the environment, the history, the trees, the animals, the vernacular, the culture, the architecture I read about it all. I made notes and began utilizing them posthaste.*

Oh boy, I spent a week double-checking everything for accuracy. At one point I neglected eating for, I'd say, um, forty-eight hours, give or take.

Somewhere along the line I opted for a dark, stormy stretch of weather to better convey the eerie tone I was trying to illustrate, er, author.*I chose an empty location on the map and began jotting down town prototypes. I think I spent two days perfecting each before I settled.

Pick a topic and give us a little peek into your process, won't you?

 

This is what I do:

First, I close my eyes and imagine a scenario and a setting. Let's say...

1804, British Vessel, Cargo hold. I see two British officers descending the ladder/stair, one of them holding a candle. It's dark, feels damp and cold, and I can see water dripping. I ask myself, "Why are they there? What's going on?"

Then, I throw in something random. A stowaway! Maybe a child smuggled himself onboard? Okay, cool, he now stumbles out of his hiding spot that was the space between barrels and a rickety wine case. He's obviously beweildered and looks up at the officers, almost cowering.

I have mental conversations with them as if we're playing a D&D game.

Me: "Okay, British folks? Hold up, you need names, don't you? 'K, uh...guy with candle? You're Justin. Other dude? Um...Theodore. Boy? You're Colin. You are all in the cargo hold of the...HMS Westminister. It's a hold-over until I can think of a better name for that ship, 'k? Now...the ship's out in the Atlantic, it's raining, everyone's miserable, and there's been complains of food disappearance. You two have just found out that it was this boy. What do you do?"

Justin: "I feel compelled to help this strange kid."

Me: "Why? You don't even know him!"

Then Justin, who is the protagonist, would start giving me reasons why he feels this way.

Justin: "Because I've been in nearly the exact same situation this boy is in right now through character plotting that shall be revealed later."

Me: "Okay, so Theodore. Your thoughts?"

Theodore does the same.

Theodore: <sighs> "The captain won't like this one bit..."

Me: "Colin! Your thoughts?"

Colin: "W-would it be okay if...if maybe my dad knew this ship's captain? It could work!"

Theodore: "Oh, don't be so bloody stupid! That's the most-"

Me: "I will think on it!"

Of course, sometimes they argue about what role they should play in. For instance:

Justin: "Hold on, now! I want to be a doctor! You've always been fascinated with the medical technology of the 1800s, so this is your chance to be engrossed in it!"

Me: "Er..."

Justin: "Fine! Figure it out later. Now, I'd like to know why that boy's here."

To me, the first draft is just throwing everything on there, everyone on there. Research will come later with the revisions. Write with your heart first, then you write with your head, I have always heard.

 

To describe how I write means that I'd have to describe how my brain works, processes, and elaborates on ideas. Even I don't know fully how I go about my processes. Basically, though, I start with an idea. Could be a scene, a set of dialogue, or even a setting. Then I stretch the idea from there. What character(s) would fit best? Are there any templates I haven't used before, or should I use another one? From there I give him/her the cast to interact with. Same idea, do I have a character made already, or should I start from scratch? Next I move to plot, what I want the characters to accomplish, what I want them to learn or realize. But, most importantly, I always switch it up. Keeping to this is rare. It's a process of evolving a story from a single thought to a full-blown setting and plot. If I did this for every idea, I'd have the same idea with different names and settings. The approach has to be as specialized as the idea. A sci-fi book will be completely different, as will fantasy, because you now have to create an era, including previous history and advancements in technology, and that, in itself, can be daunting.

To research something is fine, but to pour over every small detail and fact isn't going to give you the amount of freedom needed to develop. I've been planning out a story for a few days now, and I know for sure that I won't use the name of my town for the setting (though most will be based on the people and places within) for both secrecy and to avoid inaccuracies. Fitzgerald could have written The Great Gatsby in any single setting, and he was familiar with the setting too, but instead he decided to create the two communities of West Egg and East Egg, sitting across from each other over a body of water (it's named after a real body, but I don't remember the name specifically). Why? He wanted to make the luxurious home of Gatsby and the communities and livelihood of both "Eggs" as he envisioned them, something that would be restricted had he used real locations, cutting off his room for creativity.

 

I don't think you want to venture to far into my head, probably bore you to death. A lot of ones, zeros, some gears, few transistors and even a couple vacuum tubes.

Generally I just pick a subject and write. For stories it's first coming up with a story line. Most often that will come about, as I fall asleep or as I wake. Once I have that I start writing with the main character and let the others come in as I need them. Same with any background research. I go get it as I need it. I document what I create as I go, so I have a reference.

For a poem, which I just started to learn how to do, I just pick a subject and write. Then play with the syllable count, pattern and words until I don't completely hate it.

Nothing special, just a matter of developing habits over the years that give me a good attitude and work ethic. From that base I do the work, recognize my mistakes and then make adjustments until it comes together.

 

I throw my hands up in the air and just start running with it.

Honestly, I get my ideas from dreams, sometimes from the vaguest idea, sometimes I just decide I want a specific thing. Then I hit the floor running.

I'm not real big on planning anything.

 

Hello, I like your name.


I've just started writing my first novel, but have been plotting and planning and scheming it since late spring- early summer last year. The seeds of the idea for the novel came from my obsession with indian philosophy and religion, which I've been engaged with now for a number of years, and will be for the rest of my life. My dad passed away from cancer at the start of summer and after his funeral I began to grapple (and still do) with a feeling of impending death, and how that feeling contrasts wildly with the philosophy I believe in on a rational level. So there was and is this conflict in me, an irrational fear and a rational understanding both fighting for mind-space. All this bubbled subconsciously in my mind, and then images started floating up; static scenes as if from a movie that didn't exist. There were two characters; a naga (naked) sage, and a boy introducing himself to him, followed by a conversation. The scene expanded forwards and backwards, and now I have a complete outline with which I've started writing the story. So, for what inspired me to write? Life experiences, and my love of philosophy, I suppose- two things which I'm exploring from lots of different angles in the book.

My process is very meticulous. First I have a large outline, which serves as the bones of the novel, completed. I then add all the muscle by elaborating on the basic events of the story, essentially forming chapter summaries. Then I take each chapter summary, and expand each into a more detailed paragraph. I then take the paragraph and split it up into bullet points, and brainstorm using the images and scenes I hold in my mind. I write down sensations, pieces of dialogue, movement, symbolism, colour, and a big array of words to choose from. Then I write a draft picking and choosing from the brainstorm, editing and re-editing each sentence until I am happy with it. Then I go on to the next bullet point, until I've done them all, and stitch them together- arranging and rearranging to find the best flow or pace. Then I edit the whole thing again, and that is the first draft of one chapter done. After I've completed all of the chapters (lol) I will then connect all of them together, and edit it as one whole piece.

 

For me it is usually a wider social issue, a plight of a refugee, a poor man, a young woman trying to make it in a man's world, things like that. Some injustice that's pi**ing me off. Then, the idea appears, a funky, fun, interesting character or a mystery or a conspiracy or something that absorbs me completely for a few days or months, that I think would make a great story. In that process, I often foresee the ending which helps me figure out how to get there. Then I look at what elements of interest I can throw in, which usually spawns a subplot or two, and other characters. And then (and this takes longest with epic stories) for a long time I work and re-work the outline as I research places, professions, histories, names, all kinds of stuff, until I am ready. And then, I change the plan another hundred times as I'm writing, and then I edit to death, and then I am finished with the story

 

That's a lot to ask, but...

Conception: For me, conception always comes first, and by conception I guess I mean premise. This comes in many forms: a title, a question, a theme, a central topic, whatever catches my fancy. For instance, I once saw a guy walk up to a tree, take a mysterious object from a fork, look at it and shrug, then put it back and walk away. I am seriously considering writing a story about that object.
Setting: If setting isn't included in premise, I take the most obvious. The thing in the tree, for instance, would be set in present times. A story about a prissy princess would be set in a semi-medieval fantasy world. A tale of intrigue and political corruption, spies and subterfuge, I might set in the future, for the sake of a wider range of technical gadgets. Or I might just choose one at random.
Characters: I choose characters to fit the setting. For instance, the political corruption story would probably involve at least two politicians, at least one woman, some rebels, and anyone else I could dream up. Characters have to fit the setting and they have to fit with each other. If it's utterly implausible that they would know each other, they're just a random mishmash, that's no good. Sometimes I choose just one character and then dream up her friends and family to make life difficult for her.
Plot: I have a hard time with plot. Plot that is coherent and believable is very difficult for me. It's woven into setting and character. Either one of those will change by the end of the book, but not without a fight. I do have a tendency toward the cliched, yes.
That's when I get fed up with planning and just write the ---- thing, and at some point I lose my plot, and it doesn't come out well at all, and I throw up my hands and stash it somewhere I can try to forget about it.

 

My process, typically, is making the story, characters, locations, visuals, dialogue and other bits and detail up as I write.

Letting the text and actions flow naturally as I am writing it, in other words.

I don't plan ahead of time what will happen when or in what way.

I don't know what a specific character will do or say or wear in the next chapter.

I don't know what will happen 20 pages further into the story, let alone how the story ends.

Whatever does happen, happens in "realtime" as I write.

At least that's what I'm doing with the current story I am writing.

A different kind of story might require advance planning on paper.

But this one does not. I'm making it up as I write...

 

I always write what I would want to read. I'm a fan of character-driven, unusual, cult novels and there are not a huge number out there. I want to read more of them so it makes me want to write them. Usually it's a story of connectivity and how people interact with each other, their environment or particular objects. Then I go through my mental arsenal of anecdotes and tid-bits of information, odd habits people have, interesting ways they go about their lives. For example, today on the bus I saw a man cradling a can of paint like it was a child. Those things stay with me so I try to work out how I could incorporate them into a narrative, I guess it's very much 'write what you know' though with a bit of a twist.

Then I form a very very basic plot, maybe 100 words. Then I think about a first line, it usually comes pretty quickly, and I start writing. Everything else flows from there.

 

I get a very vague idea, and mull it over now and again over time. Mainly deciding if I like the idea or it's just drivel. Within a month or two, I've either forgotten about going further or I'm all het up to get started. If the latter, I grab the keyboard and start writing. Eventually (sometimes a couple months, sometimes longer) I finish and discover I have my story. (Okay, so the last part's a lie, but I really don't do anything pre-write except deciding whether the idea has any merit at all. )

 

- i get an idea for a poem/song lyric/essay/story/children's pb/screenplay/whatever

- i sit/stand/lie down and start writing with whatever's handy at the moment...

that's it!... no 'process'... no 'formula'... no 'plan...

 

Whats is your writing process?

I've only recently started writing and am just sticking with short stories for now and I'm wondering what other people's process is Like, initial draft, reviewing it, final copy etc.

After I initially write the story I don't seem to be able to change it or improve it much, I know it is a good idea to get other people to read it but I don't have anyone I would really want reading it nor do I want to post it on here as then it is published. Anyone got any tips or advice ?