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SirGollyGumDrop
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#1
Old 10-02-2012, 03:56 AM

Do the words just come to you?
Do you bother with pre-writing? What are your methods?
Is there a process?

My process differs, depending on the purpose of the writing.

For schoolwork, especially short-answer and the typical essay test, I almost always follow the basic five paragraph structure. When it's required, I'll toss in some embellishments to lengthen the thing. Clear and simple thesis, followed by clear and simple points - that's all I bothered worrying about.

Up until now, I've been able to pull things out of my back pocket the hour or so before I need to start writing. But it doesn't seem that will fly anymore. Honestly, I still need to develop an effective prewriting strategy. I've been sitting in front of the computer for nearly two hours now, and only managed half a page on my darn prompt. What I want to say will probably require five or so pages... but I cannot figure out how to structure any of this darn thing.

Other than those darn essays, the only other writing I ever need to do for class is of the technical sort. I absolutely rock technical writing. Lab reports are indeed my specialty. If only I could just pretend essays and prose didn't exist.


As for short stories, which I haven't written as of late, I tend to quickly write everything that initially comes to mind. After letting it sit for a week, I come back and rewrite absolutely everything until the very premise of the story so sickens me that the entire thing has to be tossed into the abyss of my bottom desk drawer... only to be revived again when no other ideas came to mind.

Then there's the bulk of my writing, which comes in the form of roleplays. That was probably my favorite activity on mene... but I'm rarely ever on anymore, so my roleplaying is limited to occasional Sunday night tabletops and in-class pen-and-paper. Here, my sentence structure really begins to lose coherence and I tend to ramble. It's a sort of testing ground for new styles... and so, like any testing facility, it's full of shame, regret, and failure. It probably smells terrible as well.

So, how do you do it? Be warned, I may steal your method for a test run.

Tachigami
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#2
Old 10-02-2012, 04:07 AM

SirGollyGumDrop:

There you are, you! I was stalking in case you didn't know. I also got your message and wanted to say: Stop exaggerating my writing ability! I know I have ability, it's a talent, though many are much better than I am and basically, it's a simple thing.

Anyway, on to a nice little reply! Most of the time I write on a vague idea. Might I say, very, very vague idea. A few words form in my head and I let them sit there, like a seed I plant, and I watch it grow, and examine it as it does so, and add to it myself as it becomes something I can't just pull out of thin air. Every now and again it's a very, very detailed dream I've taken a liking to, and decide to write a few sentences.

And much like my blog posts, it's a title, or a few words that make a title, that just won't leave me alone. I think on it for ages and it develops on its own, and I write it down to see if I can add more body to it. Most of the time I can and it becomes a short story, or one of my many unfinished products.

There are days I'm in a powerful writing mood. I sit down with a blank document and take whatever I'm feeling at the time and start typing. However, in these situations, there isn't a method. I don't stop to look up facts. I don't pause to consider what someone else in the storyline looks like, nor the character, or even his or her name. I just write what I feel at the time. Whatever name I want right then and there, I give them. Whatever tragic or pleasing background I want them to have, I let them have. I don't pause to decide on their hair color or style, or eye color, or nationality, or even height. I just write it, the first number that comes into my head, and if it's drastically tall or short, I rearrange the story to fit their height and the reason behind it, sometimes even making supernatural creatures out of the characters without initially intending to do so.

When I have more than one person around, we'll get in a circle. Starting randomly, we'll add three words in and I'll type it down. The only rule is it has to make sense and not sound disjointed or too... weird. That's if you want to involve family or friends in while you don't have much inspiration on your own.

Whew! That took a while to write on a Kindle!
Anyway, I don't mind if you 'steal' my techniques. Some tend to be universally-used anyway!

Last edited by Tachigami; 10-02-2012 at 04:12 AM..

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#3
Old 10-02-2012, 04:39 AM

@Tachigami

Way to contradict yourself right there - claim I exaggerated then proceed to use an extended simile in the following paragraph.

I must say, I am very jealous. You make it sound so natural and effortless. Meanwhile, I'm in front of a blank page, banging my head on the nearest hard surface with the belief that that will somehow make words come out... or cause enough brain damage to justify being excused from any assignments. Perhaps getting back into roleplaying would be good for me - forcing myself to once again keep from over thinking or simply becoming overwhelmed.

As for groups, I once tried to write a story with a similar method. Though, each member of the party wrote one to two sentences and the rest of the group had no say until their respective turns. By the end of the night, it was just a huge back and forth writing war between the party members that wished to see poor Gregory Bean suffer and those who wanted him to find solace despite having already lost his family, home, friends, and health. Then a very good friend decided to get revenge for Greg by punching me. Good times (and that, I say with sincerity).

Anyway, thanks for sharing. While it'll probably never be so natural for me, it's always interesting to see how others go about things. If only writing followed the same principles as math. I feel invincible in the field of mathematics.

Tachigami
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#4
Old 10-02-2012, 04:47 AM

I didn't contradict myself. I don't have a massive knowledge on how to write but I do know enough to share what I do to get my mind working. I tend to look at... things. Sometimes a date or a number sticks to my mind and I have to write something around it.

As to the group thing, we don't necessarily write anything. Well, I do, but I only write what's told to me by the people. Verbal writing actually gives a chance to discuss why one person did something immediately rather than waiting.

Oh, and if you need an example of how to take a very, very simple idea, or item you think about, and turn it into a storyline, or something greater, I have one! Feel free to ignore the following, though, if you don't want to read it:

I was thinking last night about... oh, random things. The word 'crystal' came into mind. Suddenly something happened. I was looking at a window at the time and was thinking about how it's a 'portal' to the other side, the other side of the wall, separating inside from out. Then 'crystal portal' entered my head, and a situation: What if a regular-joe type person is confronted by a body double of himself one night and is told he's the secondary successor to an entire world? That he's the second half of a godly being's soul sent to this human world in the guise of a human to be safe until he was needed? How would he react? Would he believe this person? And how did this other person get to this world? Simple: The crystal portal, which is an artifact in Japan separating worlds, which is beginning to malfunction due to the instability of the second world.

Now, do you see that? Most of that I made up just now, save the 'crystal portal' bit, which was actually my thinking last night and putting the words together. You have to give a deeper meaning to what you think about and it'll turn the thing extraordinary, and make a story, slowly, but surely.

I mean, we all have our abilities. I happen to excel in language arts and writing, while mathematics is absolutely debilitating to me.

---------- Post added 10-01-2012 at 11:55 PM ----------

Wait! I forgot to say I'm glad you liked my short story! Admittedly it isn't the best since I ended it prematurely and didn't put quite enough logic and detail into it, but it was a shot. So I'm glad you found reading it to be a pleasure.

Last edited by Tachigami; 10-02-2012 at 04:49 AM..

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#5
Old 10-03-2012, 02:26 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tachigami View Post
I was thinking last night about... oh, random things. The word 'crystal' came into mind. Suddenly something happened. I was looking at a window at the time and was thinking about how it's a 'portal' to the other side, the other side of the wall, separating inside from out. Then 'crystal portal' entered my head, and a situation: What if a regular-joe type person is confronted by a body double of himself one night and is told he's the secondary successor to an entire world? That he's the second half of a godly being's soul sent to this human world in the guise of a human to be safe until he was needed? How would he react? Would he believe this person? And how did this other person get to this world? Simple: The crystal portal, which is an artifact in Japan separating worlds, which is beginning to malfunction due to the instability of the second world.
I regard the ability to follow imaginative leaps like that a form of genius, really.

I mean, 1+2=3 every time, so I can always rest assured that 2+1=3 just as well. There's no thought to how any other factors could affect the outcome and process.

Nevertheless, I put my entire brain into it and utilized that method to pump out a five page paper in just under two hours.

Went something like this:

Puritan Literature: Religion -> Sin -> Adam and Eve -> Sin=Uncertainty=Passion

Then I proceeded to back it up with examples of Puritan narratives, sermons, ect.

Though, now that I have the method of developing the central idea down, it's become more obvious that I'm really forcing everything to bend too far to stretch full circle. Personally, I cannot stand it when written works feel so... incomplete. But, how?

And about that story, I personally didn't get the sense of premature completion. As a reader, the ending felt rather intended to leave questions hanging, because it honestly forced me to wonder for a good period after... then again sometime later. Perhaps it was just that pro-style. Whenever anything sounds good, I tend to assume everything was done with purpose and logic.

Could that be another writing strategy? Or a tip to live by?

Tachigami
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#6
Old 10-03-2012, 03:10 AM

Well, it just makes sense. It's a logic scenario that can be proven with various websites or books. Although sometimes logic tends to fly right above my head.
It shouldn't, though, be dreadfully pushed to be longer than it originally needs to be. I've read too many novels like that and it gets quite frustrating after a while. Sometimes to me, it's good to just end it where it should be ended. While elongating some words, adding similes, forfeiting contractions to add a couple words here and there throughout. I never seem to know when to end things, though. It's a bad habit of mine that I'm slowly getting over. Practice makes it easier, though.

Well, I suppose you're right. I did read a short story recently ... I can't remember its name, but it was about some additive in plastic bags bringing them to life (might I add now that it's the stupidest story I ever read), and it ended... with some multi-armed octopus-like creature described to be as massive as a plane bursting from the recycling plant. It ended. Like that. It was horrible. I use it as an example to never, ever, EVER let a short story end on such an illogical note. Ever. I mean, I'm all for fantasy and horror and a bit of a 'logic-voided' situation, but when it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, I hate it and I hate the writer and I won't give them another chance. So, I guess I'll accept my short story as a good one in comparison. I don't have much logic in the situations I described. Not the darkness, nor how the god-like character appearing at the end can see every moment of the main character's situation, nor how he can manipulate the environments to suit the character's fears.

But it's good enough! It's a good writing tip and strategy. Everyone has their own. And believe me, possibilities tend to be endless, as long as it doesn't blatantly make no sense. Oh, but if you want to see one of my newest first-person stories, it's in my blog. I haven't added a post in a while, but I'm working on a new one. That, and I haven't written in first-person in a very long time and am trying to get back into it.

SirGollyGumDrop
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#7
Old 11-05-2012, 02:38 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tachigami View Post
[...] I can't remember its name, but it was about some additive in plastic bags bringing them to life (might I add now that it's the stupidest story I ever read), and it ended... with some multi-armed octopus-like creature described to be as massive as a plane bursting from the recycling plant. It ended.
That sounds like something I would write. At one point or another, I always go, "AW, screw this -bleep-" and just force quit short stories. Though, I like to be more dramatic about it. I think the last story I wrote began with a child hiding in his closet, had a very minor story arc, and quickly ended with the kid accidentally hanging himself in his closet... just because I was sick of him.

That aside, your writing method was golden. I was one of the few kids in the class to actually get and "A." The teacher even made a comment that I'd made enough formatting mistakes to rightfully earn a "C," but that the cohesive argument and flow of the entire thing was enough to bump me up two letter grades.


Anyway, first-person, that's always risky. Not necessarily for you, but for me. My characters have the habit of complaining too much, or not quite enough. They either sound too fragile or inhuman. Learning to write in different persons shall be my new challenge for the month~ But first, I'm off to read your story as an example.

Tachigami
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#8
Old 11-15-2012, 02:03 AM

Whoa, I was gone a long time... I didn't like doing that. Anyway, moving on!

Never do I force-quit by finishing it in a sloppy, horrifying manner. I mean, really, if I had time to write well up to that point, I have the patience to set it aside and let inspiration come to me later on, when I've had time to ease out of whatever put me off, then finish it when I can. Even if it doesn't really have a chance to be a good story in general. A crap, rushed ending is worse than never finishing it at all.

You know, sometimes it's the content, not how it's presented, that earns you the high marks. Not that I'm saying to let grammar and style fly out the window like a cannonball of carelessness, but when you don't have much time... I've let my own falter sometimes just to get a point across.


Well, you don't know how long I've ignored first-person style in actual story-writing. No, no. You know, you just have to shine in your abilities and skills and acknowledge, if sometimes hate, your flaws and disabilities. That's how you make your character more human. Look to other characters for help in certain things. Give them a friend, roommate, or partner in some way that can take up where they fail. I love doing that, but I don't do it every time.

Oh, and I hope you liked what you read! I just added a new entry, for when you come back. I hope you do. ..... ... .. . . ... . ...... ..

Superstition
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#9
Old 11-16-2012, 11:52 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by SirGollyGumDrop View Post
Do the words just come to you?
Do you bother with pre-writing? What are your methods?
Is there a process?
I am still learning how to write a profitable story (aka readable by those other than myself), but I do have some methods that work for me.

Many times a story will begin with a song. I am always listening to music as it is my first love and many times the title, a lyric, or just the arrangement will inspire a story all on its own! I can write up to two pages just by playing this song over and over again.

Other times it will come in the middle of the night and I will be writing for hours until it finally stops making sense from my sleep-deprived brain. The next morning I will read it and grab some bit from the story that will be perfect and run with it!

Most of the time, I can't just sit down and force it. When I do this, it is rarely very good. To be fair, the only times I have ever done this were for school and I wasn't very good back then anyway I am working on sitting down everyday and writitng something just to develop my discipline and because I feel more comfortable if I can organize my story a little and not have to depend solely on my inspiration.

I hope this helps you

SirGollyGumDrop
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#10
Old 11-27-2012, 04:30 AM

Tachigami-

As if I can ever be one to complain about the length of an absence.

I don't know if I could leave anything hanging, unless I thoroughly expected to come back to it. Otherwise, the story topic just stays open in my mind and I really don't get any peace. Honestly, it's the same case with all of my current roleplays. I don't want to quit, so the characters are still alive, but it's so hard to jump back in when I've really forgotten all of their motivations, or, in some cases, further developed the character in my own head to stray from their initial state. Following some sort of trend, tough characters always soften and soft characters tend to lean toward becoming almost evil.

And, to make matters worse, as of late I really have become somewhat sloppy in presentation. With such deadlines, style and content become inversely proportional.

By the way, I've read through the first entry of "The First of September". To sum up my thoughts, everything insofar is wonderful. Though, the style most stands out, as per usual.

Superstition-

I've always admired those able to take one piece of art and use it to inspire even more art. Though, I'm not always creative enough to actually do anything of the nature - perhaps on one or two happy occasions. I think I've taken children's rhymes and expanded on them, or a single couplet from a poem repeated throughout a story, but I'm not nearly creative enough to do it with regularity.

Though, now that you mention it, I may just shave off chatting time on the bus to write quick, musically inspired blurts for the sake of improvement. It'd be nice to be able to work with words as naturally as I do subjects I naturally excel in.

Anyway, I wish you luck in your endeavors in exchange for a good wish for me~

xuvrette
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#11
Old 11-30-2012, 01:31 PM

I joined NaNo this year. During the month of October, I went to the websites and search through a LOT of helpful links. Some of them advices on inspiring, arranging, plotting... and so on. to the part of publishing. There are a lot of methods that suit different types of person.

1. Identify writer problem/character/personality
I have a problem in writing stories that NEVER ends, the motivation or interest just DIE in the midway. I created more than ten stories, and only two force quits, WHICH I do not enjoy. I do not like force quit, the ending is sloppy. Besides, ending makes me kinda sad...
Problem:
1. Never end
2. No motivation
3. lose of interest
4. felt the story is shallow...in terms of hidden morals and such...
I also find out that I enjoy during the process:
1. Create character/world/setting
2. Detail all details.
3. Planning plot.
4. Researching.
5. Like certain scenes...
Conclusion, I am a planner type. So if I can't get to the end as soon as possible, my motivation and fire would die down.

2. Methods
There are various methods. The first theory phrase that suit me is:
Start at the end.
Think of the ending first, that would be my goal to work towards it. So to maintain my motivation to the end.

Generally, there are two types of writer. Planner and Discoverer.
Planner is my type. We used methods to write down summary of each archs.
Basic Three - Start, Climax, Ending
Seven Point of Story - Start, Twist, Solve, Mid, Twist, Solve, End.
Snowflake - start small to big.

I am planning to do a random generated story I devise(someone else could have thought of the same...), I would start collecting down the traits, gender, happenings, random things... label them with numbers, then use dice/random number generator to generate the numbers when I want the random event to happen. Say, I want an argument, the topic base on... roll number, 63, 'diamond'. If not enough, get another keyword by random number... and so on. Kind of similar to Tachigami's way of inspiring, but mine would be more to relative to the story, instead of a wild item that don't fit. (obviously, I am a planner type.)

I personally thinks the more things you develop love in it, like themes, characters, settings... then the longer the motivation would last. That is for my problem.

I am not sure about testing story style...

Conclusion. After looking at all these methods and sites... I found out that.
Either Planner or Discoverer, they need something to start with. Can be your favourite character, can be some hidden moral message you want to send, can be a memory from your dream(my favourite.), can be a world you envision, can even be a completely random generated story.
I find that I would need 2 things at the very end.
something that I LOVE/ENJOY and a GOAL/END/AIM.

Tachigami
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#12
Old 12-02-2012, 08:31 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by SirGollyGumDrop View Post
Tachigami-

As if I can ever be one to complain about the length of an absence.

I don't know if I could leave anything hanging, unless I thoroughly expected to come back to it. Otherwise, the story topic just stays open in my mind and I really don't get any peace. Honestly, it's the same case with all of my current roleplays. I don't want to quit, so the characters are still alive, but it's so hard to jump back in when I've really forgotten all of their motivations, or, in some cases, further developed the character in my own head to stray from their initial state. Following some sort of trend, tough characters always soften and soft characters tend to lean toward becoming almost evil.

And, to make matters worse, as of late I really have become somewhat sloppy in presentation. With such deadlines, style and content become inversely proportional.

By the way, I've read through the first entry of "The First of September". To sum up my thoughts, everything insofar is wonderful. Though, the style most stands out, as per usual.
Well, regardless. Maybe it'll get to a point where neither of us will be neglecting the site for more than a week, eh?

I know if I ever scrapped every story I've ever tried to write, I'd have nothing at all, and especially nothing to go on. I keep them in various folders and, when the will strikes, I add, edit, and do as necessary until I can't think of anything else anymore. As in RPs, I always go back and read if I can't recall motivation. It tends to present itself within a couple posts. Mainly because I vividly recall every character I Roleplay with. It's odd that way.

Well, considering deadlines, it's either get it done, or don't. There are times when you just can't balance one thing with the other. I always hated when I had to add fluff or let quality suffer for the sake of making a certain deadline.

I'm delighted you like it! It's still a little odd for me to write in first person, but I'm quickly getting the hang of it. Now I've even upped the challenge by writing in present-time first person point of view. Here's a bit of it, actually:
Lifting my arms take a bit of willpower, considering they feel like they've been weighted down with a wet towel. But I do, and rub the groggy pain out of my face, shaking off the initial cover of confusion.

The two slender forms in front of me happen to be legs. That's obvious now. They're attached to a relatively well-built man, covered from neck to foot in a suit that reminds me of a funeral home. Quite appropriate, in my opinion. He doesn't look terribly old, but I can see a few lines in his square-jawed face. No doubt his buzzed hair would have a few sprigs of gray poking out here and there. "That's better, 'innit, Calvin?" He asks with a bright grin, offering a hand. Thoroughly confused, I accept, quite unprepared for the jolt of being wrenched up so quickly. I stumble a bit as my knees almost give out under me, though I'm steadied by the stranger.

"What... happen...?" I could use better English, seeing as it's my first language. But after recovering from... a dream, I guess you could call it, you're not entirely within grasp of forming coherent sentences.

"I'm pretty sure you know what happened." The stranger laughs, as though I've told a joke he hasn't heard before. Staring for a moment, I shake my head.

From time to time I find myself drifting back into past-tense style, but that's how you learn.

Superstition
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#13
Old 12-04-2012, 03:50 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by SirGollyGumDrop View Post

Superstition-

I've always admired those able to take one piece of art and use it to inspire even more art. Though, I'm not always creative enough to actually do anything of the nature - perhaps on one or two happy occasions. I think I've taken children's rhymes and expanded on them, or a single couplet from a poem repeated throughout a story, but I'm not nearly creative enough to do it with regularity.

Though, now that you mention it, I may just shave off chatting time on the bus to write quick, musically inspired blurts for the sake of improvement. It'd be nice to be able to work with words as naturally as I do subjects I naturally excel in.

Anyway, I wish you luck in your endeavors in exchange for a good wish for me~
Thank you and good luck to you!

Quote:
Originally Posted by xuvrette View Post
Conclusion, I am a planner type. So if I can't get to the end as soon as possible, my motivation and fire would die down.
I am the same way. Thank you for sharing the methods you found! I will definately put them to use :)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tachigami View Post
From time to time I find myself drifting back into past-tense style, but that's how you learn.
You are brave! That clip you wrote is really good! :)

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#14
Old 12-04-2012, 04:01 AM

Thank you, Superstition! I'm working my way through the first chapter, which is usually the hardest for me to complete. The rest tends to come from inspiration in the setting I'm in at the time (for example, that clip came from an orange I had on the table at the time). It's also a good strategy to become more unpredictable, which is good in a story.

 


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