Re: The Process
Posted: February 13th, 2010, 11:23 am
Thank you everyone, for posting about your methods! I find it extremely helpful to read about other people’s processes. I am a huge fan of experimentation, so I like to see how other people make the magic come.
Some quick advice for Emily, if I may: try to not edit as you go. Some people can’t stand for there to be typos and glaringly obvious errors on the page, and that’s fine, but when I was editing during the first draft stage, I never finished anything either. I really admire Serzen for being able to do it Vonnecut-style (so very sad Vonnecut’s dead *moment of silence*), but I can’t ever seem to finish a book if I worry about editing during the first stage. I participated in NaNoWriMo a few years ago. It happens every November, and the goal is to write a 50,000 word manuscript in one month. That breaks down to about 1,500 words a day. When you have that kind of deadline, you really can’t edit as you go, not a major edit at least.
After that, I started finishing novels left, right, and center. Now when I write I focus on getting the first draft down. Because of my extensive preparation process though, the first draft reads closer to a second draft.
I have found that I am usually the odd one out when it comes to outlines and character sheets. Not because I fly by the seat of my pants; most people seem to do that. It’s almost as if “common wisdom” states that writers should outline and build characters, and do all sorts of things before they write the book. But no one really explains how to do these exercises correctly, the end result is you are so burnt out on your novel by the time you are done, you can’t write it. So you say to yourself, “Self, that was stupid. I guess character sheets and outlines don’t work for me.” So then you never use them in great detail again.
I am extremely OCD about how I write too, but in a different way than Serzen. I use character sheets and outline aplenty before I write. I have written books with and without doing that, and my first drafts are ten times better when I use a character sheet and outlines. But my character sheets aren’t full of information like their zodiac sign, favorite toothpaste, and breakfast routine, something to be filled out and never used again. Noah Lukeman wrote a brilliant book called, “The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Develop Plot”. He has three chapters devoted to characters. Not the just the nit-picky stuff of whether or not your character has good hygiene, but how the events in his life shaped him, and how you as the writer can use that in your story. Once I started looking at the character traits, not as a laundry list to fill out, but fodder for the plot, it immensely helped my characterization.
After I am done with my characters, and a little bit during (because done well, characters and plot are interwoven), I work on the plot. I mine my characters for situations, however small, I can use to test them. If I have a theme or story question in mind, I think about all the possible ways that this could turn out. I use a lot of free thinking brainstorming towards this end. I might come up with some really ridiculous ideas, but it’s helpful for me to consider all the different ways this plot could manifest itself. I have a brief outline of the sequence of events. Sometimes while writing I have a Eureka moment that changes the outline, in which case I revise the outline accordingly, but I still have a general direction to aim for while I am writing. This allows me to be creative, and write books that surprised me, but I have enough structure that the book gets finished.
Recently, I have been writing out short little scenes with my characters in them during the plotting process. The scenes aren’t necessarily in order, and they are never longer than 2-3 thousand words, but it helps me figure out how I want to write them, and the overall tone of the story. I keep having the problem that Serzen mentioned, where the front of the book didn’t sound like the back of the book, because I was still thrashing around on the keyboard figuring out how to write the characters. Writing a scene or two before starting the first draft, coupled with my character development process has remedied this problem, for the most part.
I always write to music, all kinds. It depends on the feel of the book I want. If I am writing something with a grungy tone, Soundgarden (yay! They’re getting back together), Garbage, and Nirvana goes into the playlist. If it’s something lighthearted, pop music dominates. If it’s something epic and sprawling, out comes Nightwish, Dragonforce, and Meat Loaf. I always have something to drink next to me, usually iced tea, but sometimes juice or water. I like to have snacks nearby too, usually Cheetos, chocolate, or fruit.
I used to write exclusively long hand, but I can’t write as fast as I think, so it’s too frustrating now. I take a notebook with me to work, and jot ideas and thoughts down, but they get typed up when I get home. I also like having two copies of everything, because I am deathly afraid of losing all my writing stuff. You know that question, if your house was on fire, what would you take with you, other than your family and pets? My item would be my flash drive.
Not to plug myself shamelessly, and I am far from an expert, but I am in the process of writing a blog series about how to go from an idea to a finished manuscript. It might help you, Emily, to check it out. The process I use might not work for you, but I find even if someone’s overall process doesn’t fit with how I do things, I can still take a tidbit here and there. Let me know if you have any questions; I know how frustrating just starting out can be.
Well, I believe I have rambled on enough. I hope everyone has a good day!
Some quick advice for Emily, if I may: try to not edit as you go. Some people can’t stand for there to be typos and glaringly obvious errors on the page, and that’s fine, but when I was editing during the first draft stage, I never finished anything either. I really admire Serzen for being able to do it Vonnecut-style (so very sad Vonnecut’s dead *moment of silence*), but I can’t ever seem to finish a book if I worry about editing during the first stage. I participated in NaNoWriMo a few years ago. It happens every November, and the goal is to write a 50,000 word manuscript in one month. That breaks down to about 1,500 words a day. When you have that kind of deadline, you really can’t edit as you go, not a major edit at least.
After that, I started finishing novels left, right, and center. Now when I write I focus on getting the first draft down. Because of my extensive preparation process though, the first draft reads closer to a second draft.
I have found that I am usually the odd one out when it comes to outlines and character sheets. Not because I fly by the seat of my pants; most people seem to do that. It’s almost as if “common wisdom” states that writers should outline and build characters, and do all sorts of things before they write the book. But no one really explains how to do these exercises correctly, the end result is you are so burnt out on your novel by the time you are done, you can’t write it. So you say to yourself, “Self, that was stupid. I guess character sheets and outlines don’t work for me.” So then you never use them in great detail again.
I am extremely OCD about how I write too, but in a different way than Serzen. I use character sheets and outline aplenty before I write. I have written books with and without doing that, and my first drafts are ten times better when I use a character sheet and outlines. But my character sheets aren’t full of information like their zodiac sign, favorite toothpaste, and breakfast routine, something to be filled out and never used again. Noah Lukeman wrote a brilliant book called, “The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Develop Plot”. He has three chapters devoted to characters. Not the just the nit-picky stuff of whether or not your character has good hygiene, but how the events in his life shaped him, and how you as the writer can use that in your story. Once I started looking at the character traits, not as a laundry list to fill out, but fodder for the plot, it immensely helped my characterization.
After I am done with my characters, and a little bit during (because done well, characters and plot are interwoven), I work on the plot. I mine my characters for situations, however small, I can use to test them. If I have a theme or story question in mind, I think about all the possible ways that this could turn out. I use a lot of free thinking brainstorming towards this end. I might come up with some really ridiculous ideas, but it’s helpful for me to consider all the different ways this plot could manifest itself. I have a brief outline of the sequence of events. Sometimes while writing I have a Eureka moment that changes the outline, in which case I revise the outline accordingly, but I still have a general direction to aim for while I am writing. This allows me to be creative, and write books that surprised me, but I have enough structure that the book gets finished.
Recently, I have been writing out short little scenes with my characters in them during the plotting process. The scenes aren’t necessarily in order, and they are never longer than 2-3 thousand words, but it helps me figure out how I want to write them, and the overall tone of the story. I keep having the problem that Serzen mentioned, where the front of the book didn’t sound like the back of the book, because I was still thrashing around on the keyboard figuring out how to write the characters. Writing a scene or two before starting the first draft, coupled with my character development process has remedied this problem, for the most part.
I always write to music, all kinds. It depends on the feel of the book I want. If I am writing something with a grungy tone, Soundgarden (yay! They’re getting back together), Garbage, and Nirvana goes into the playlist. If it’s something lighthearted, pop music dominates. If it’s something epic and sprawling, out comes Nightwish, Dragonforce, and Meat Loaf. I always have something to drink next to me, usually iced tea, but sometimes juice or water. I like to have snacks nearby too, usually Cheetos, chocolate, or fruit.
I used to write exclusively long hand, but I can’t write as fast as I think, so it’s too frustrating now. I take a notebook with me to work, and jot ideas and thoughts down, but they get typed up when I get home. I also like having two copies of everything, because I am deathly afraid of losing all my writing stuff. You know that question, if your house was on fire, what would you take with you, other than your family and pets? My item would be my flash drive.
Not to plug myself shamelessly, and I am far from an expert, but I am in the process of writing a blog series about how to go from an idea to a finished manuscript. It might help you, Emily, to check it out. The process I use might not work for you, but I find even if someone’s overall process doesn’t fit with how I do things, I can still take a tidbit here and there. Let me know if you have any questions; I know how frustrating just starting out can be.
Well, I believe I have rambled on enough. I hope everyone has a good day!