Writing Meme
Jan. 28th, 2008 05:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eliyesIdeas. Where the hell do they come from? Can you make them show up?
*helpless laughter* They come from EVERYWHERE and making them show up is NOT a problem. I get between 2-7 new ideas on an average day. I literally dream up stories, although usually those ones I have to scramble to jot down or else lose forever. Sometimes an idea will come to me when I'm about to fall asleep, fully formed, and I'll get up and write it out. (Actually, those tend to be my best stories.) So no, I have no conscious control over getting ideas, but I always have WAY more than I can possibly write.
Wild horse-bunnies. When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
Yes, I do. Like the story appeared fully formed in my brain and I have to write it RIGHT FRIKKIN' NOW. Like I said above, they tend to be my best.
Writer's block. Have you been scourged?
Yes, I have. It's like there's a dam in my brain, and while new ideas keep piling up, I can't get any of them OUT.
Clean up duty. Do you like editing?
I love it. No, seriously. I have difficulty not pointing out spelling errors and whatnot to authors of fics I read. And I've edited for some newspapers, which is intensely frustrating when reporters have no grasp of grammar at all.
The ending. Is it hard for you to find the ending?
It can be. I deliberately started writing more short stories because while longer stories came more naturally to me, I often jumped to something new (in an attempt to not lose it) and didn't go back, or forgot what I was going to write next. And I ramble by nature, as anyone who has spoken with me can tell you.
The title. Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
Reviewing my journal will show you numerous instances of me posting a story and begging readers for help figuring out a title. However, sometimes the title is the first thing that comes to me. It varies.
Plot. If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand.
*makes a so-so gesture* If I have the entire story in my head, then I have the plot, but my days of writing down outlines to keep it all straight in my head are over, sheerly because it never really worked for me. Sometimes I just start writing a scene and go from there.
POV. How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
The story decides, not me. I've sat down to write from one perspective and gotten someone completely different. I guess my subconscious knows what it's doing better than my conscious brain? *shrug* Sometimes I try something different to flex my writing muscles, or just because that seems to be what works.
Challenge. Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
It depends on the challenge. If it's not something I'm interested in writing then I'm not inspired, obviously, but usually I get a few ideas, yes. Picking one and fleshing it out, now that's the tricky part.
Sex. Do you like writing sex?
Writing sex is difficult for me, actually, but generally kind of rewarding. I don't do it very often, because I have read more bad sex scenes than is probably healthy (from Harlequins to fanfic, and beyond) and I really try hard not to write bad sex scenes. In order to write good ones, it has to be something that I, personally, find hot -- and I have to put into it everything that I'm imagining that makes it hot. The first sex scene I ever actually wrote out took me three days, with a lot of staring into space with my hands poised over the keyboard, trying to find the right turn of phrase. My beta readers told me it was good, but it was part of one of those epic stories I haven't finished, so they're the only ones to have seen it.
*helpless laughter* They come from EVERYWHERE and making them show up is NOT a problem. I get between 2-7 new ideas on an average day. I literally dream up stories, although usually those ones I have to scramble to jot down or else lose forever. Sometimes an idea will come to me when I'm about to fall asleep, fully formed, and I'll get up and write it out. (Actually, those tend to be my best stories.) So no, I have no conscious control over getting ideas, but I always have WAY more than I can possibly write.
Wild horse-bunnies. When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
Yes, I do. Like the story appeared fully formed in my brain and I have to write it RIGHT FRIKKIN' NOW. Like I said above, they tend to be my best.
Writer's block. Have you been scourged?
Yes, I have. It's like there's a dam in my brain, and while new ideas keep piling up, I can't get any of them OUT.
Clean up duty. Do you like editing?
I love it. No, seriously. I have difficulty not pointing out spelling errors and whatnot to authors of fics I read. And I've edited for some newspapers, which is intensely frustrating when reporters have no grasp of grammar at all.
The ending. Is it hard for you to find the ending?
It can be. I deliberately started writing more short stories because while longer stories came more naturally to me, I often jumped to something new (in an attempt to not lose it) and didn't go back, or forgot what I was going to write next. And I ramble by nature, as anyone who has spoken with me can tell you.
The title. Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
Reviewing my journal will show you numerous instances of me posting a story and begging readers for help figuring out a title. However, sometimes the title is the first thing that comes to me. It varies.
Plot. If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand.
*makes a so-so gesture* If I have the entire story in my head, then I have the plot, but my days of writing down outlines to keep it all straight in my head are over, sheerly because it never really worked for me. Sometimes I just start writing a scene and go from there.
POV. How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
The story decides, not me. I've sat down to write from one perspective and gotten someone completely different. I guess my subconscious knows what it's doing better than my conscious brain? *shrug* Sometimes I try something different to flex my writing muscles, or just because that seems to be what works.
Challenge. Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
It depends on the challenge. If it's not something I'm interested in writing then I'm not inspired, obviously, but usually I get a few ideas, yes. Picking one and fleshing it out, now that's the tricky part.
Sex. Do you like writing sex?
Writing sex is difficult for me, actually, but generally kind of rewarding. I don't do it very often, because I have read more bad sex scenes than is probably healthy (from Harlequins to fanfic, and beyond) and I really try hard not to write bad sex scenes. In order to write good ones, it has to be something that I, personally, find hot -- and I have to put into it everything that I'm imagining that makes it hot. The first sex scene I ever actually wrote out took me three days, with a lot of staring into space with my hands poised over the keyboard, trying to find the right turn of phrase. My beta readers told me it was good, but it was part of one of those epic stories I haven't finished, so they're the only ones to have seen it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-28 05:32 pm (UTC)*loves the many times the conversation train got so derailed, it ended up in San Jose*
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-29 02:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-29 03:34 am (UTC)*petpets elibeens*
Your outraged, 'I toss my paper down in wtf-ery' icon never ceases to make me giggle.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-29 03:42 am (UTC)*prrtprrts*
I know! XD It's actually even better in context, but I love it for itself, as well. ;3