I've noticed that when I write... I have a specific plot or anything. I don't plan out the story or the characters... its all ordered in my mind and played that way. I can write everything into a story just be what is inside my mind. I've even tried writing it all down and ordering that way but I just feel like I can't do it that way. Is that bad when it comes to writing? I just wonder... I think it might be autism-related because my mind stores information that I am thinking of. If I even go back to look at notes I have written, I have a hard time putting them into my story. I have to keep it all inside of my head or I lose what I have in mind. I guess this is one of things I want to work on in order to become a better writer but it seems that I always tell people, 'you are better of just reading the story. It helps me so I don't have to explain it." When I explain what its about, I either have a hard time explaining it or I end up spoiling the whole story by telling them everything that happens. It's rather complicated... my mind. I just can't seem to do anything about it. I just wonder how everyone else is able to plan all of these things out and all that. It's one of the most difficult things I've had to do. I guess you guys couldn't really so much though... I mean, it's hard knowing what goes on in the mind of an autistic person so I don't really blame you for that. ^^ But yeah... there is so much I need to improve on. I've always read topics here and how people make it so easy that they can come up with plot ideas, character development... and me? I either just tell someone what I have in mind and usually end up blurting the whole story.
Everyone writes differently. The goal is to find what process works best for you and run with it. If at some point you discover it's not working for you anymore, you can then reevaluate your method. Comparing your own methods to another writers methods, or progress on a WIP, etc. is not the way to judge your own progress or methods. The other writer isn't you and nothing they do is going to be the same. So, it's not 'bad' unless it's not working. If it's not working for you it could be a problem, but even then it wouldn't make the method 'bad'. It would make it ineffective for YOU. Others may find that it's the best for them. And we're all improving, all the time. None of us is the absolute best we're ever going to be. Some are at a higher level, some lower. Some can spell easily, some can't. Some can use punctuation easily, some can't. We're ALL learning from each other (ideally). That's the point Making people read the story instead of explaining it to them is only a problem if they refuse to read it, heh.
Hi Kimi-chan! Okay breathe. Don't worry so much, everyone has their different ways of writing and organising their stories. I personally couldn't keep it all in my head; I'd forget 90% of it, lol. So naturally my desk is packed with folders and notebooks. I order everything! And I love it, I love opening a folder and knowing all the information about the story is stored in a methodical way. We're very different, but our systems work for us and that's the important thing. If you have a hard time writing stuff down then don't, simple. If it's safe in your head then let it stay there I do the same thing, you're not alone.
there is no rule saying that you need to have a written outline or plan of what you are about to write. there are lots of writers who don't plan but write out of their imagination and produce excellent stories. If the way you're doing it works for you that's what matters. (ps. I never explain to anyone what my stories are about either, because like you I feel I can't tell it with a brief summary. Although before I submitted it I tried to write a kind of back cover text to summarize it without giving the entire story away and it was a good challenge, even harder than writing the actual story ) When people ask me what my story is about I just smile and say they'll get to know when it gets published!
Okay... good. I'm glad I'm not feeling bad here but there are times when it doesn't really work because my mind always works as a blackhole... I end up losing things and I can never remember what was actually about. It drives me insane. At times it work but only if I focus hard... and for me, that's hard to do...
Same here. Eight years working on something that spans something like twelve billion years, and I have not once, ever, actually finished any section, or even written in order. Although the core cast was planned, most of the people I create to fill in roles are unplanned, and usually just a sense of me wanting to try my hand and making someone less of an "overpowered godmod", aka a hero-type. it's not that I don't feel that I can write it in the order I've written it out so much as it is that I physically cannot keep on one section for too long before I start getting ideas for a different one at the same time that I start to run dry on the current one and start coasting, aka actually having to think really hard about what happens next because I've lost momentum. Too true. I think I do this primarily because to me, the story is already written. Alternately, it's because I'm annoyed at the lack of progress and need to write something out for fear my train of thought will stop and not start again. (And Project One Man War Saga is something of a life-support system for me. Without it I'd just be a disgruntled 18 year old short and skinny dude with nowhere societally productive to direct all that extensive hate.) I do try to keep my 'NEED TO WRITE RIGHT NOW' blurts as vague as possible so I don't wreck everything, but I've noticed that I cannot write a synopsis anywhere close to the length of the ones on the backs of books. Even if I only pick a single section of Project OMW it's still impossible. On the other hand, when there is something I seriously do not want to blurt out, I'm good at hiding it. Heck, there are a ton of hidden meanings, plot twists and mysteries in the Saga, and I've actually had to start explaining some of the hidden meanings (like naming conventions and technical names for pieces of equipment, which always mean something or refer to this or that almost as a rule.) The other thing I notice when I write is that I don't actually get anything done. I signed up for NaNoWriMo but never got any actual story work done, all of it is in outlines, character biographies and assorted technical documents- and all of these things scream for expansion, which snowballs the issue. (If past performance has anything to say, it's that I could easily churn out a 50,000 word story in five days. I wrote the 16 pages I have of Project Modern Zombies in three days- in the middle of school- and I wrote out the registered Weapon of Mass Destruction known as the Standard Ship Building Guide Revision 1 (SSBP-1) which acts to translate anyone's technology and terms into a standard set of generic ones, and more importantly, is a technical guide on how to design aerospace vessels according to Project OMW's standards and terminology. The SSBP-1, which I wrote almost five years ago, is a NINETY-SOME-ODD page long hideous monster that has largely in pieces. I found a few pages a year or so ago and almost died at how often and far I got derailed during key sections, and I do remember the whole thing having maybe eight pages of relevant information. On a better note, the SSBP-2, the current version, is only about 20-ish pages, and mostly on-topic now. Working on Version 3, but it's hard to give up info in places.)
I typically do the exact same process. I usually have a general idea in my head that I think about for a day or two then set out to write and fill in the details as I go. There is nothing saying you can't go back and change things later.
"I think it might be autism-related because my mind stores information that I am thinking of." No worries; this is how minds generally work. Judge the effectiveness of your method by the strength of your results. If your stories are clear, coherent and captivating, your method is working.
If thats the case maybe writing down significant things of certain ideas that would either remind you at a later time or spark interest for something new and similar. I know I do this too. Sometimes I have a vivid dream that leaves me speechless when I wake up and all I do is try to write down the dream as best as I can remember and come back to it later with a fresh mind hoping to improve it.
I find that a little contradicting. You don't have to write it down to every word in the planning stage, maybe jotting down a sentence or two of each idea that you get for your story would be enough? it all comes down how well your method is working for you. if you're happy the way things are and don't wanna change anything, keep doing what you do. if it doesn't, change something about how you work.
Honesly, I wish I could just WRITE. Instead I plan and plot and makes notes until I can't even get thing on paper (Well, on computer) anymore. I do far more "thinking about writing", than I do actual writing. If it's working for you, just write! Clean it up in the edit.
I never have any problem remembering my storylines, so I don't write them down. Instead I write down the nitty-gritty details I know will be easy to forget, such as the name of a school a character went to, or their exact age. Sometimes I also write down things to get a better overview, such as character biographies, or the chapter names in a book. What works for you...
Yeah, I find it helpful to write down the less-used details. Although it doesn't matter how many times I do it I keep forgetting what I wrote down- and where it is. I've changed one major character's age at least six times so far, which has pushed events occurring before the main story back extremely far. (And I keep adding new concepts, so I had to change it AGAIN in order to make it fit. Also had to change the estimated age of the Earth. ;3) Yeah. I signed up for NaNoWriMo but haven't written anything until just last night. In fact, outlines, blueprints and concepts outnumber actual written plot content for my series. XD And the less I write, the less I have set in stone, and the worse I fiddle with things. That in turn snowballs and I get continuity errors galore. Especially bad is the fact I explained away some rather glaring birthdate-to-current-day and current-day-age holes with time compression fields. Took me the better part of an hour to work out how best to choose what the rate was, and I ended up basing it around the main storyline, 1993 to 2014. Well, that gave one butt-ugly number to the order of something like 196 million, with a gaggle of random numbers. Really ugly conversion rates, and I keep loosing the sheet. (And with the recent age change, I think I may have the alter the rate! >.<) Protip: Don't ever try to write a story spanning from twelve billion B.C. into the future. You're going to plan plots out and drive the whole thing into the ground if you're not careful! (or at least focus on one section at a time. Tee hee, I jump all over the place.)
I also have this similar problem, except my memory doesn't store it store it as well as yours seems to. I can't, for the life of me, write down notes. They don't work and when I look at them I feel like I wrote down stupid things. What do your writing notes and outlines look like? I feel it would help my structuring better if I could do this.
