Novel What's Your Writing Process?

You hit the nail right on the head! YES. THIS.

Everyone is different, but if it were me, I'd just open up a new document and write the story. All of the research you've done so far and the character development you've done in your head are all with you now. Write and see what happens. While writing, if you reach a point in the story where you need to find something out in order to move the plot forward, either make a note, or do more research then. You might not know what particular points you need to research until you've written a chunk of your story and something happens (plot-wise), and you realize you need to know whether the action you'd like the character to perform is feasible.

One thing that might help is to only write in the morning -- set aside 2 hours or whatever works in your schedule to do nothing but write. Then at night, set aside 2 hours (or again, whatever time segment works) just for research -- whether that means online searching or reading books about the time period, etc. (Or reverse the two -- whichever seems more natural and workable to you.)

We've had many threads on this forum about the importance of research for plot, setting, etc., as well as about the importance of knowing and developing your characters. Of course they're all important, but you also don't want to get so bogged down in them that you can't write the story, which is, after all, the whole reason you're doing the research and creating the characters. So go ahead and just write!

 

I agree with Liz. Once you develop the character and know the basic plot lines, just write for awhile and get your basic structure down. Let the ideas flow. If you feel like your plot is not working you may want to check out Campbell's monomyth structure. If character development isn't working as well as you like, try using some archetypes. I wish you luck.

 

When you discover something new, ask yourself, how would this help advance my plot and develop the message in my novel? If it doesn't and you fancy it just because it's a cool idea, or if it does but no better than what you already have, then stick with what you have!

Another thing - just write. Do all your research. Finish. Start writing and don't stop til you have your entire first draft. Trust me, SO MUCH change on your first rewrite - heck, things are still changing even during the writing of your first draft - that it's not worth rewriting or changing anything until you have a complete first draft. Focus on the end and fight the urge to go back and pick at old sores. I only ever edit the latest 5-10 pages at any one time before I write on. You writing will probably also improve by the end of your draft which means it's likely you'll have to rewrite a heck of a lot anyway at the end - so don't waste your time rewriting now!

 

I agree with the "research as needed then move on" approach. I can't write more of the story until I know what I have is correct and that what I have planned with thus work. At the same time, I know exactly how it feels to get so caught up in research that the writing starts growing mold. So you definitely have to decide when you have enough research to continue writing - if you find yourself caught up in extraneous learning, make a note and go back during your 'free time'.

 

This is excellent advice. I went to a cafe this afternoon, albeit I did have my laptop, and punched out approx 2,000 words. It was drivel, but it was great as I got to see what works and what doesn't work!

 

Ridiculous or Intriguing Organizational Concept

I just finished what could be considered the first chapter if a story I came up with. The story will be following a made up major political upheaval in the real world. The way I'm picturing it though would not be an exactly linear story telling method with a narrator. Instead each part would be made up of different media from the events. For example, the first chapter kind of takes place in the beginning/middle of the upheaval and is an interview with a major figure involved. Of course I would make sure to backtrack and make sure its not confusing. A later chapter I envision would actually just be a list of tweets about major events.

So really it would have no narrator, except maybe the occasional diary entry. What do you think, too difficult, confusing, or just plain ridiculous? Is it original, cool, intriguing?

 

Have you read anything by John Dos Passos, such as the USA trilogy? He used unusual techniques drawn from the media of his time. It sounds like your approach is similar, but you're incorporating up-to-date internet media techniques as well.

I think it's a good idea. Check out Dos Passos!

 

That idea is about as ridiculous as believing the world is round!

But literally doing this kind of thing may draw laughs and scorn since it is a strange idea. But I say go for it, it may just be amazing.

 

I must be backwards. Mind you, this all depends what type of story I'm trying to write (novel, short story, comic series) but for the most part, I take the big idea and an overarching view of what is going to be happening, then add in the characters. The story changes depending on who I make the characters to be, and is often veering in different directions from the first thought through.

 

Method

So I've been reading up on outlining techniques and the different ways authors write, whether through extensive planning before writing the first word or starting with a whispered prayer and just winging it the whole way.

I've been outlining my next work, the first time I've ever outlined, and I must say I'm finding it really helpful in brainstorming and editing hiccups out before I've dedicated half a novel to an idea that doesn't work. I guess I was just wondering what everyone else does.

Do you write by the seat of your pants in bursts of inspiration?

Do you outline every chapter, every scene, every paragraph, within an inch of its life?

Do you jot down some notes and character and then start?

Do you fill out character sheets and plot progression worksheets to get your story moving?

And, perhaps most importantly, do you feel that any method is more conducive to creativity? Do you think working any one way is superior to the other?

 

I say a whispered prayer and jump out of the literary airplane hoping that i suddenly grow wings. lol I have written outlines before but i never feel like they help me that much. I know that this is probably horrible advice and any moderator would probly be well within their rights to ban me (that is not a challenge, i love you guys lol) but to me outlines make me feel like I locked in and that takes the joy of discovering my characters out of it for me. That's just my opinion.

 

I don't outline. I generally have a pretty good idea where I'm going when I start writing. Sure, I take wrong turns, but that's perfectly okay with me. Nothing more instructive than taking wrong turns. It teaches me about my characters, my world, my story generally, and about myself and my own creative process. Even though the wrong turns get taken out in editing, they are anything but a waste of time. I enjoy them, and sometimes they even wind up as parts of other stories ...

 

I think it is strongly advisable to have at least a rudimentary outline so you know where you are trying to go. If you just start writing interesting scenes one after another, you can find yourself with a lot of words that don't add up to an interesting plot. I don't think it is necessary to plan all the details. Your imagination will come up with a lot of good stuff while writing.

The same goes for characters. You need to know who the important characters are, and what their principal motivations and problems are, but if you later discover one needs to be a left-handed redhead that's easy to fix and doesn't have to be detailed on a character sheet beforehand.

 

When I get an idea, I write down everything that comes to mind about that idea - various events and characters pop into my head and I write them down so I don't forget it. When I get an idea I don't jump into writing immediately. I kind of let it kick around awhile as I work on my priority projects. During that time it's just chilling in the back of my mind and more ideas for events and characters are brought to the surface and I write those down too. By the time I'm finished my priority projects and am ready to start something new, there's usually enough information about the idea in question for me to sit down and write. I don't generally sit down and outline. I just organize the information I've come up with (which is usually a whole lot). I'll put the events in chronological order, making notes of the gaps, but I won't bust my brain to fill them in. I'll write what I have come up with and the holes end up filling themselves in.

In other words: my method is just going where my thoughts take me. I don't sit down and have brainstorming sessions because I don't get the best results when I do that. I work with the thoughts that come to me. I trust my mind enough to fill in the gaps and holes when it's made sense of the plot and characters.

 

I just sit down, write, and see what happens. I never outline, I don't do written character sheets (I'll sometimes review lists of questions about characters and answer them in my head, but I don't actually write them out.), and I don't write notes. If I think of a scene, I just go ahead and write the scene and then I'll add it in when I've caught up to it in the story.

I can't say that I necessarily recommend this method, though. It works for me, but I'm sure it won't work for everybody. It also depends on what you write. If I were to write something like a murder mystery, I would probably do an outline, just to make sure I don't forget any of the basic elements that would be necessary for a mystery plot.

I write lit fic (or what I hope is lit fic ;-). My stories are very character based. I know my characters well, so they tell me what's happening. All I know is what general problem or overall event they're going to deal with in the story. They're the ones that tell me how they deal with it. This method won't work for every story or every genre. I can't even say with certainty it's worked for mine!

 

Depends on my project. Short stories I plunge in on an idea - and can actually finish them in a couple of days. No notes , nothing
jus pure writing.

Several stories I wrote , I made minor notes to keep track of the characters and dates that I might use.

Character sheets I find time consuming with little pay off , I discover more
about my character once I write him into a problem, requiring him to react.
As for the flow of the story - I always brainstorm a list of happenings and sort
them out giving me a loose outline - unless it's a short story I always have a
vague outline. Sometimes I have an ending , a major goal, sometimes I don't.
Sometimes it's just little goals.

I notice that once I get started and it starts to flow , a lot of things just work
themselves out.

Biggest holdup I've noticed on my writing, though , is when I don't have a clear handle
on what or why or how my character is doing. If he's vague or boring or
pointless the whole project falls apart.

 

I tend to write by the seat of my pants meself - I get an idea for a scene or something that would be fun to write and set about writing that or the build up to it. As I write I tend to make notes on characters and events though, just to keep little details easily accessible to keep the setting consistent.

 

I've tried a little bit of everything over a period of time. For me, the best method is:

-Write out a general idea
-Create characters to fill the idea
-Mentally mesh the idea
-Becomes more in-depth with my characters (I'm a huge fan of character bio sheets)
-Outline chapters

Then I start writing. Any ideas I get are written down as soon as I'm able to write them down and I later try to work out how they would fall into the story, if they can fall in at all. Sometimes it involves going back and changing details, and I try to do that as soon as possible and get it out of the way so that I don't have inconsistencies to deal with later.

 

I advise a detailed outline.

Work out the direction, characters, twists...everything beforehand so that the writing is an exercise in laying it out with style.

 

I've just started writing my first novel and I'm planning it all out before hand. I started with the idea of the character I wanted to write about and then started jotting down notes on the plot and sub-plots of the narrative.

After I had some detailed notes on plot points I did an outline of all the chapters; chapter goals, the characters set-back etc.

I'm now about to do exactly the same with all my scenes. I've found plugging plot holes and adding additional sub-plots a lot easier when it's all written down in-front of me on index cards and I can just re-arrange it all quickly.

Once I've done all the scenes I'll probably start of the first draft =).

 

I get an idea, and then I go with it. Over the next few days the idea will still be bouncing around my head, and I'll come up with something else, and I'll add that to the story, until I either have a short story done, or an essay, or a poem. Usually how it happens.

I always tell myself that I'm going to get up early and write, but it never happens. I write best in the late afternoon or evenings.

 

It depends on my mood and how much the idea stands on its own. Sometimes I'll let it go and see what happens. Other times I'll take the idea and attempt to formulate an ending within the concept, and then write towards the ending. I don't have an exact process, at least, when dealing with a first draft. My revision process is more exact.

I keep a journal, one for regular events to keep in the practice of forming cohesive thoughts, and then I have an ideas journal, where entries may consist of auto-matic/free associations, what if scenarios, things I'm passionate about, things I dislike, in an attempt to generate ideas. Sometimes I'll write opening sentences, and see which one strikes me the most and has the potential to be expanded upon and sometimes I'll make it half-way through a story, before realizing it's going no where and trashing it.

 

Honestly?

I don't plan at all. Many times I write the ending first, then the middle etc. Sometimes it's choppy and I just write whatever comes to my mind.

What I can tell you for sure is that I rewrite and reread whenever I feel like it. Sometimes when i'm done writing a few paragraphs (because I was just so on to something) then I take a breather and reread and edit as I go along. Othertimes I only have two sentences in mind, and reread them over and over until the idea finally continues and I write again.

There is no "process" as to how to create a piece of prose. Some of my best work has been at a part time job where I saw the simplest thing (a leaf fall from a tree) and somehow I wrote a philosophical short story about a how a pregnant wife lost her husband in a plane crash.

It's not about how you write, it's about how you think. It's all about your creative thinking and once that gets into gear, everything else will just come as it pleases. Let it.

 

Great question ACCERBYSS!

Here is how my process usually goes:

Prewriting: Find an old story I love, figure out the plot elements I like, and create a plot for my own story.
Writing: Write a rough first draft, trying to get the emotional impact across that I intend.
Revising: I go over my work with a critical eye, I listen to the work read to me, I read it out loud as I edit. Then I do that three more times.

That is just my process, and all others here are great. Take what you like, leave what you don't, mate.

Cheers,

Caleb

 

I can never force anything, I have to be in the perfect mind set of what I am writing to write.