Writing Methods

[Barrett]

Use this thread to discuss your individual methods/routines/etc. for bringing a piece to life.


For me, the good ideas will come out of nowhere. Nothing good ever comes from me actively trying to come up with an idea. Sure, I'll probably come up with one or two cool scenes, but I won't have a full fledged story. I can't tell you where my story ideas come from. They hit me when I'm not expecting it. Now, that's not to say that all of these random ideas wind up as finished stories, but they do stay with me a lot longer.

Usually when I get one of these out of the blue ideas, within a couple of hours I'll just have to write some of it down. So I jot some notes down, and by doing that some new ideas will come to me, or I'll work out some kinks or inconsistencies that have already arisen.

TV is my favorite medium, so most ideas come to me as an idea for a TV series and my planning will reflect that. I often break up my ideas into parts, episodes, arcs, etc. depending on which stage of planning I'm at and how many ideas I have. However, while TV is my favorite medium consumption-wise, prose is by far my favorite to write. Once I have a lot of ideas down and I think I have a solid notion about what I want to do, then I have to look at it all and decide how I want to tell that story: through prose, or through scripted episodes. (Very rarely do I have an idea that makes me think, Oh! That'd be a great movie! I think that's just because I have a hard-on for good cliffhangers, and TV allows for more of those.)

If my answer is prose, then I start by handwriting the story. I find writing on the computer to be incredibly distracting whenever I'm first starting out. Unless it's a short story, though, I don't typically write the entire thing by hand, simply because I hate the transferring phase from paper to computer. So at some point, I do switch over and start writing via the computer.

If my answer is to do a TV series, then I tend to do more planning. With a prose piece, I'm a little more comfortable with finding my way and learning new things about the story/characters as I go. With a TV series, I like to kind of plan out the number of episodes I want to do and what I want to accomplish in each one. Pilots are exciting, but I tend to have stories with slower builds to them. I know that the good stuff won't be coming for another few episodes down the line, so I have to work hard to really make that pilot as interesting as I can. Also, I don't really do much handwriting for this option. I might map out my planning/ideas/whatnot on paper, but I pretty much just head to Celtx and start writing.

Unfortunately, a lot of my writing attempts don't make it past the second or third paragraph up there. In which case, I have notes sitting around for a story I haven't started, yet it still eats at my brain quite often.


So now it is your turn. GO!

[Jester]

I enjoy research. Like reallly enjoy it. I've actually considered a career as a researcher. It doesn't distract me a lot sometimes but I enjoy it nevertheless. Accuracy is something I aim for in my scripts.

Also, a golden rule when it comes to writing and internet forums--- I never NEVER announce anything until I'm well into it. The Long Coats Trilogy I didn't announce until I was almost done with the third script.

I always plan though. I seriously can't begin work without a sense of where I'm going. Planning is necessary for me.

[Dale]

i tend to be more of a wing it and see what happens kind of guy. i generally come up with the idea out of nowhere, write down the basic outline of the idea, which is never more than a sentence really, and start from there. i hate planning out beat for beat the story before i even start writing because it does restrict me to where i go later, and if some idea hits me and i want to go off in another direction, i feel restricted and locked into whatever i've got to come later. and to go off in that new direction, means more planning, complete restructuring etc.

i write very linearly as well, so i always start with the opening scene and just go from there. if bits and pieces later on come into my head i'll write them down, but i tend to to just go with the flow from he opening scene onwards. i like to think of it as "discovery writing". like i'm discovering the story and the characters personalties as i go. and i know i've done a good job, if towards the end, i do find myself writing out little beats for the finale, because it's like all the puzzle pieces falling into place. thankfully that's happened more often than not.

i will say though, writing this way does tend to take a lot of re-writing, because once you've "discovered" the characters and are more comfortable with their personalties, discrepancies do pop up between how they were portrayed at the start of the piece, compared to how they may be in the middle. also you might try something that may come to nothing in the end. you'd be amazed at how many plot threads and sub plots i took out of fragments and have saved in numerous files on my computer.

and i do regret not planning my novel out more. i had a rough idea of the story, the basic cast of characters. and that's essentially evolved into 3 different books. and it's 6 months later, about 200,000 words deep, and i'm still only working on chapter 4. because i didn't plan it out, and it's taken a while to piece it together. and now i'm having to go right back to the beginning to streamline everything and make the story work the way i want it to.

[Writer Formerly Known as MLP]

I essentially do what Daz does. I'm lazy as all get out, so I don't outline a damn thing. I'll just pop open the laptop or the notebook and pen(depends how I'm feeling), and start going with the script or story. I'll have the basic premise in mind, and go forward from there.

[Kurai]

I do a scene-by-scene and then just start writing. I plan to extent, but not so much, I mainly just write and see what happens. Especially when it's a new series, I usually only have an concept and no idea where it's going and that is something that develops as the series progresses...

[TStape]

I just put one word after the other. I'll spend most of the day going about regular habits. Then I spend a good couple hours and write until I reach the end of a good flow. Usually that is when I write word after word and when I slow down and become aware of my surroundings again. It's a bit of an isolating event. I usually put on music, typically instrumental like Buckethead or some orchestral stuff. Unless its something that could be put to a soundtrack. Wrote a YA novella to all 80s New Wave and current indie pop.

Planning out doesn't work for me all too well. If its a large project, I'll make character trees and small character development circles but other than that its one word after the other. If writer's block comes up, I just tell myself to stop being a lazy cunt and continue on with my writing. I can't fix until its built, ya know.