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Meme: 30 Days of Fanfic
Oct. 3rd, 2015 12:01 pm19 – When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
Saving ideas for further use is not my preferred method, though I have done it. Usually this comes as a product of not having a clear handle on the idea at the time of generation. I have a WIPs folder filled with ideas that I started writing and then couldn't continue, for whatever reason. On very rare occasions, I've saved a single sentence or exchange for further use, though I can think of only one time where a saved sentence found a home.
I don't really sit down and start writing, either. Again, I have done, but it's not my usual approach. When I get an idea, I like to talk it out with someone. Htbthomas has been that someone a lot over the last few years, which has no doubt left her very confused about what I've written and what I haven't. Recently, the kid has become my captive audience. The spouse earned his right to be the spouse by being that person on my first epic, and he still gets pressed into service more often than he'd like.
Before I can start a story, I need to know its shape. Every story has a shape, which is a nicely vague and semi-mystical comment on the major theme(s) of the story, not a list of plot beats or an outline. I've never understood how story outlines are supposed to work. I'll talk through a potential story with anyone who's willing to listen, then think through it while I'm falling asleep, then start writing (not necessarily in that order and definitely not hitting each step only once).
Once I've found both the correct shape and the right place to start the story (both of which are essential), I'll start writing. The trick then is to not lose the shape. I can't even say how many times I've lamented at htbthomas about words not happening because "I'm telling the story wrong." Provided I don't get too side-tracked by parts of the story that don't belong, too badly interrupted by life or other projects, or too frustrated with a shape that won't hold, the story might even get finished.
Saving ideas for further use is not my preferred method, though I have done it. Usually this comes as a product of not having a clear handle on the idea at the time of generation. I have a WIPs folder filled with ideas that I started writing and then couldn't continue, for whatever reason. On very rare occasions, I've saved a single sentence or exchange for further use, though I can think of only one time where a saved sentence found a home.
I don't really sit down and start writing, either. Again, I have done, but it's not my usual approach. When I get an idea, I like to talk it out with someone. Htbthomas has been that someone a lot over the last few years, which has no doubt left her very confused about what I've written and what I haven't. Recently, the kid has become my captive audience. The spouse earned his right to be the spouse by being that person on my first epic, and he still gets pressed into service more often than he'd like.
Before I can start a story, I need to know its shape. Every story has a shape, which is a nicely vague and semi-mystical comment on the major theme(s) of the story, not a list of plot beats or an outline. I've never understood how story outlines are supposed to work. I'll talk through a potential story with anyone who's willing to listen, then think through it while I'm falling asleep, then start writing (not necessarily in that order and definitely not hitting each step only once).
Once I've found both the correct shape and the right place to start the story (both of which are essential), I'll start writing. The trick then is to not lose the shape. I can't even say how many times I've lamented at htbthomas about words not happening because "I'm telling the story wrong." Provided I don't get too side-tracked by parts of the story that don't belong, too badly interrupted by life or other projects, or too frustrated with a shape that won't hold, the story might even get finished.
