oh god I hope the html works: Tell me about your writing!

[coyotesuspect]

A while ago, I read this article about Agatha Christie's writing style. It's an interesting article, worth the read, and the meat of it is that Agatha Christie was a messy, disorganized writer. But what really struck me about it was that 1) my method of writing is just like Agatha Christie's and 2) the writer of the article is completely and utterly befuddled by this.

An excerpt:

 

What, then, could be more shocking than to discover that the dame was no lady? Agatha didn't sit at a pristine desk neatly typing her novels, Chapter 1 followed by Chapter 2, and so on, before donning gloves and descending at 6 p.m. for a sherry

Her less-than-refined writerly day began with finding her notebook, which surely she'd left right there. Then, having found a notebook (not the one she'd used yesterday), and staring in stunned amazement at the illegible chicken scratchings therein, she would finally settle down to jab at elusive characters and oil creaky plots. Most astonishing, Curran discovers that for all her assured skewering of human character in a finished novel, sometimes when Christie started her books, even she didn't know who the murderer was.

This is exactly how I write. I hobble stories together. I have multiple notebooks, and a single notebook can contain no less than: notes for three different classes, to do lists, contact info, lists of things I like, doodles, and bits and pieces of innumerable fics. I often lose- and then find- these notebooks. And they'll go in and out of rotation. A notebook I wrote in for three weeks will be put to the side for two months before I eventually rediscover it and start writing in it again.

A single fic itself can be scattered across several notebooks, on several pieces of loose sheaf paper, on napkins, and on word documents on my computer. If I'm short paper but have a pen, I'll even write something on my hand before I can move it somewhere more permanent. And I've even drawn scenes before to help figure out how they work. I've gotten a little better at centralizing what I'm writing into one notebook and/or word document. But my immediate impulse is always to scatter everything.

Even now that I'm beginning to keep the physical location for my fics more...in order, I still have no fucking clue what's going on in a fic. With rare exception, I cannot write the beginning first and the ending last. I write the ending first, or I write a scene in the middle first. Or maybe I write the opening scene first, and then skip 3000 words to write two lines of untagged dialogue and then skip another 1000 words to write out the skeleton of another scene. (Character x does this. Then character y does this. X reacts by doing this.)

Even when I know the end scene, I rarely know how to get there. I wrote a casefic recently where the ghost in question was a hoax. I was 3/4ths through writing the story before I'd figured that out, and then adjusted the rest of the story accordingly. cherie_morte , when she read the story, knew the ghost was a hoax as soon as it was brought up. I never outline either; outlining a fic is the surest way to kill my desire to write it. Half the fun of writing is the adventure, is not knowing what's going to happen along the way.

Writing a story- hell, even writing an essay- is like doing a jigsaw puzzle for me. I have all the pieces, but it takes me awhile to figure out how the all fit together. And then boom- it all works. Once I have all the scenes down, I have to figure out the bridges that hold them together. Finishing a fic isn't a satisfying moment of Ah, well, that was the last scene. Excellent. It's an epiphany, a Holy shit. I. I think I'm done? And generally, the last scene I write is one that falls somewhere in the middle.

But not everyone writes like this. To some people, like the author of the article, it is, apparently, completely alien. So my question to you, f'list, is, how do you write? Do you write scene by scene?  Do you outline? Do you use some kind of wonderful organizational system? Do you rely too much on inspiration, or do you just sit down and hammer your way through something? What works for you? I'm curious.

---

This post brought to by a conversation with cherie_morte and scorpiod1 . We were also discussing who tops: John or Uriel, so just be glad I didn't make a post about that.

Girlchesters thank you for your time.

Comments

[cacklesthewitch.livejournal.com]

I am a very unorganized writer as well! I have bits and pieces of fic on my computer and in notebooks (which I have to hide so people don't read them... and then I forget where I put them and either go nuts looking for them, or simply foget and discover them weeks or months later, which is part of the reason I never finish any fics!). I recently started outlining fics - and haven't finished any of them yet. So maybe there's something to just writing and seeing where it takes you.

We were also discussing who tops: John or Uriel, so just be glad I didn't make a post about that.

Thank you for that. Sincerely.

[coyotesuspect.livejournal.com]

Your icon is perfect. :D

And yes! A kindred spirit. I knew I couldn't be the only one; I was really taken aback by how shocked the writer of the article was.

You are welcome! :D

[familiardevil.livejournal.com]

I remember you talking about that article! (also, HI GIRLCHESTERS)

John tops.

[coyotesuspect.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna be honest here, I was hoping for a little more insight into your writing process.

Always and forever.

[familiardevil.livejournal.com]

I know, but I...don't write much? Because I hate it and it ruins my day? And even when I do write, it's short stuff, and I do it beginning to end. Though, I did once write this story for a friend that was kinda long for me, and I did that beginning to end, too.

Though I have plenty of word docs and index cards in my desk with random scribblings *g*

I can't believe this even needs to be questioned.

[coyotesuspect.livejournal.com]

You should write more. JUST PUTTING IT OUT THERE.

Shortish stuff I write from beginning to end- like Hogwarts Kitten Nightmare was written straight through. But anything longer than a couple k turns into Frankenstein.

*wants your word docs and index cards*

Me neither. :/

[scorpiod1.livejournal.com]

Generally, for short fics (i.e. every fic I wrote before my big bang), I write like you write. I rarely put stuff on napkins or notebooks (though I do have notebooks around with me nearly at all times for when a random bit of inspiration hits me) but the word docs on which I write are all scattered. When I finish a fic, I literally open up another document to piece all the parts together. Whenever I get a random idea/line of dialoug/description or a chunk of a scene, I write down and then finish it off later.

I never start with the beginning, though I do frequently know how a story ends, even if I don't write that first but the ending is usually the first thing that forms in my head; I must know how something ends, so I can build up to it. I usually start with the first scene I have in mind (like, the first scene of my femmeslash exchange fic took place late in the story, towards the end, but not the very end. And I wrote the ending 4th. The beginning was the roughest) and build around it. I do the same with dialoug, too. I often write the dialoug of a scene first and build around it/fill it in later because I'm not sure what else is going on yet.

I've been deviating from this pattern for my big bang; because I want the emotional continuity, for starters. I started outlining for this, because I had no clue what was going to happen, or rather, I did but not sure how to get there and how to make it feel earned. Like, how to make it feel like I was building up to that ending all along, how to layer foreshadowing throughout the story and build up a running theme. If I wrote out of order and all the scenes I had in mind first, I probably forget to go back and adjust the story accordingly, or I'd worry I wouldn't do a good job of it, that they'll be so much to adjust I'll feel overwhelmed and half-ass it. With a shorter fic, I can adjust easily, but this is 32k and counting, so it'll be much rougher for me.

I'm worried, with a story this long, I'll forget to go back to the scene, or forget where it is and not notice until later. Or lose it within the body of the text. So I'm forcing myself to go in order so each scene can build from the one that came before.

But I still get random ideas and floating dialouge; right now, I have a conversation between Damon and Elena that doesn't happen until later and is mostly disjointed dialoug. I'm not sure what else to write for it, but those lines of dialoug came to me first and I wrote them down immediately. I also have random floating lines too, and a whole scene from the middle. I got sex scenes from different points of the fic started that I haven't finished yet because I've yet to get to that point, but I had the idea for them and started writing it before it fell out of my head. I once went to bed and as I was falling asleep, I got ideas for a bunch of dailoug and descriptions and events later in the fic and I wrote them all down in a notebook and later copied them unto the document, but I haven't written the scene yet. That's just the way my brain works.

P.S. This response was written out of order ;)

And I still say Uriel tops.

[familiardevil.livejournal.com]

I wish I would :/ But it just makes me feel depressed and angry with myself. I'll stick to writing you drabbles at spectacularland. My confidence with writing it just really shot, I think *shrugs*

I just looked into my desk and wow, I storyboard'd my Dean/Ruby fic on index cards. Huh. I forgot I did that.

I also have a page of Rupeen/Anna *raptortilt*

[unavoidedcrisis.livejournal.com]

Whew, what a question.

Um. I guess I'd have to say John topping from the bottom is the only way I see that working. Uriel might not notice though. John just lets him think he's got the power. John's pretty indulgent, but he's also way too paranoid/neurotic/John-like to relinquish any real control.







Wait, what? Okay. I'm working on a story right now, see, and I sat down, opened a word document and started writing. I had no idea what I was going to write or anything, and it just kind of took off. I've written it all in linear fashion. Haven't jotted anything on paper or even on a sticky note for later. This is something I do not do often.

I usually have piles of scrap paper all around my main writing area (ie: my bed and the floor next to my bed). I like to write lots of places though. Sometimes I got to the tea shop, or I'll charge up my battery and go to the park. A change of scene usually gets me out of a rut. When times get very tough, I lock myself in the bathroom and build a fort in the tub.

I usually write from beginning to end. I only write an out of order scene if I have thought of some really awesome wording that I am afraid I'll forget. If it's just an idea, I usually just add it to the 'idea bank'. The idea bank used to be called the timeline or the outline, but they started to get very messy and out of hand and usually confused me more than they helped (because I kept thinking of them as outlines and got flustered when everything from the outline didn't fit into the story). The idea bank is just 'ideas' though, so I can take or leave without feeling guilty. I generally type it up in a .txt file and stick it the folder I've made for whatever the story is. My 'Writing' folder on my computer is one of three things in my life that is organized. I also have a real life idea bank which is an wooden box that wine came in a long time ago. I decorated it with pictures of dinosaurs in outer space.

Does that make any sense?

[zempasuchil.livejournal.com]

(BUTTING IN, but how much do I want your icon to be a painting?? or to paint it! dfsljkfds *stares forever*)

[familiardevil.livejournal.com]

Actually, nevermind, I'm not going to sully this post.

[zempasuchil.livejournal.com]

I write in order, mostly - the beginning is the beginning - but most of my fic isn't plotty so order doesn't come up much. so I shuffle bits around a lot. Outlining kills things for me, which is frustrating, because I've only managed to write one longer plottier fic and it drove me nuts. I guess I lose interest in writing a fic as soon as I know how it's going to turn out. Is that weird? (If that is wrong I don't want to be right, seriously, it is so boring writing something I've already figured out.)

I'm not as all over as writing on scraps that get scattered and lost (though my sosc notes have some great Narnia bits in them XD), but I have a little notebook I carry with me for notes of all sorts, and another for more journally-poetic stuff, and a diary by my bed that has crazy diary stuff in it as well as six pages of Sam and Dean as well as like 20 pages of translated poetry. On my computer I have wordpad which allows me to kind of organize my bits and pieces of stuff I will probably never, ever do more with but had all the best intentions for. Final versions of fics make their way into word docs. That is pretty much it.

[zempasuchil.livejournal.com]

lol, by wordpad I mean onenote. Idk, brain is garbled.

[coyotesuspect.livejournal.com]

You know that emoticon we decided meant your soul was being broken?

My face is doing that right now.

[familiardevil.livejournal.com]

You didn't have to see it.
Guess how much pity I have right now? Zero.

[coyotesuspect.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. Just sully my mind. That's fine.

[lavendergaia]

I have realized that if I outline before I start writing, I get nothing fucking done because it feels to me like I've already told my story. I also write better out of order and without telling anyone what's happening. I feel like I give away all the good parts about writing if I write it to people rather than write it and share, if that makes any sense at all.

Note that I have almost nothing for the entire months of June and July and at this point in my life may never write again, so it might not even matter anymore.

[coyotesuspect.livejournal.com]

About the same amount of pity I have for you, then. YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN WHAT YOU WERE GETTING INTO.

Also, bbl. Dishes.

[familiardevil.livejournal.com]

You wanted me to read it. You told me about it for a reason.

[familiardevil.livejournal.com]

I'm a virgin in that fandom and you know it!

[alwaysenduphere.livejournal.com]

My screenwriting class taught me two terms for writers, and now that I'm trying to remember them I'm at a loss. I think they were 'tree' or 'forest' anyway it's a metaphor, obv. A forest writer is one who makes outlines, sets up an entire story, the big picture, before commiting it to the page. whereas the tree just...starts with some seeds, puts down a few roots, and then just goes from there. There was a quiz in the textbook and I was undeniably a tree. I start with a sentence, maybe two, and I go. When I make an outline, it doesn't get followed so I don't even bother. Then again, that's probably why most of what I write doesn't reach upwards of 2K.

Usually I don't know I'm at a story's end until I'm struggling for more words, re-reading what I've written, and find a line that makes for a perfect ending, then I go about re-arranging and possibly adding to make that line the finish.

Also John Winchester always tops. DNW bottom!John. Thinking about it freaks me out.

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

I write non-chronologically. Usually I start with the opening, then write the climax, then I jump around adding bits to various scenes. It feels more like listening to the narrator dictate it to me then creating it myself. Sometimes I'll toss prompts out into the vast echoing cave that is my mind. Hey, did it happen like this? Or maybe like that? A snippet of dialog here, a fight scene there. I love finding out what came before. No, seriously, Muse, WHY are you guys so pissed at each other?

I find it extremely difficult to write long-hand. I carry a notebook around with me, in case an idea occurs on the train or something, but I MUCH prefer it on the computer. My writing notebook is almost illegible, with arrows and cross-outs and interjections everywhere.

The only stories I write out from beginning to end are the ones short enough that I've written the entire thing out ahead of time in my brain before I managed to get to my computer to write them out.

Oh, and frequently when I THINK I'm done with a fic, I start quilting it together and find out that, no, there's still big pieces missing that I need to go back for.

John and Uriel both top, and their hate!sex is legend.

[cherie-morte.livejournal.com]

JOHN GETS RAPED.

That's all.

[coyotesuspect.livejournal.com]

INCORRECT.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR WRITING PROCESS.

[cherie-morte.livejournal.com]

You know about my writing processss.