Writing Thoughts of the Day

So I think the best way to deal with the brain gremlins that tell you you’re no good because no one comments on your fic... is just to write more. Probably. Hopefully... (I so admire those people who just ‘write for themselves’ without these gremlins. Unless those people are, in fact, entirely mythical. That’s possible too.)

So my coldwestallen hasn’t done great (based on comments - it’s done ok with hits etc), but I enjoyed writing it so much, so I’m still going to attempt the prequel. But I also have a couple of other things I need/want to write first (or soon). Including the final chapter of Mending Wall (note to self: never take breaks in WIPs - I have to reread the whole thing now - but at least that will be like reading a whole new story since I’ve forgotten a lot of it :D ) and the post-Oculus coldwave/coldatomwave that was meant to be for the last day of coldwave week but then there was Christmas and life got way too busy. And an ADHD Barry that I’m trying to make olivarry because it’s for a friend who loves them. And I’m doing some beta reading for a friend today too.

Hmm, maybe it’s ‘write in a cafe’ time!

Repeats mantra “I write for myself” in my head ad infinitum...

Fandom Snowflake Challenge, Day 11

In your own space, talk about your creative process(es) — anything from the initial inspiration to how you feel after something’s done. Do you struggle with motivation or is it a smooth process? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to pull out when a fanwork isn’t cooperating? What is your level of planning to pantsing/winging it?

Great day to do this one! (I got about six ideas this morning and my brain won’t focus on the one I actually want to write…) I have two writing modes. One is “I have an idea and I must get it out before it kills me” mode, in which I can’t do anything until I’ve finished the damn story and it flows really fast. Being new-ish to a fandom tends to put me in this mode. The other is “pulling teeth” mode, which is how I’m currently writing most things - fighting them, and struggling through until they somehow (mostly) work.

I don’t have a consistent planning process. For some fics, I just put stuff onto the page till things stick. For others, especially longer ones, I do more planning and drafting. Mending Wall has involved lots of moving scenes around, for which Scrivener has been fantastic. If you write longer fics and you haven’t tried Scrivener, I recommend it. You can do miraculous things like shifting scenes around, putting them side-by-side on screen, duplicating scenes so that you can attempt a rewrite without losing the earlier form… It’s really great.

I do some planning in my Notebook of Doom too, since analogue writing sometimes gets the ideas flowing a bit better, for me - especially at the early stages. I’ve been listening to the podcast How Story Works over the past few months, and I’ve really got into the idea of setting goals for characters for every scene, and this works best as a quick snapshot on paper, for me.

I know that writing advice generally says just to get stuff down, and then to do all the work in rewriting phases, but that doesn’t usually lead to anything good, for me. I edit as I go (although I do also go back to rewrite and edit). Which makes me a slow writer, but it just leads to better writing, for me. Most of what I do involves playing with words until they work. I’m a poet masquerading as a prose writer. Which is also why I write little short things better than longer fics…

I’ve read a lot of advice that says to leave a story for some weeks between writing and editing. I wish I had that much patience! But there’s something to be said for giving things some space, so you can move from ‘writer mode’ to ‘reader mode’ and better see what might not work for readers. At this point I make lots and LOTS of comments. Scrivener is good for highlights and comments, but Google Docs is too. (I try to make comments from the beginning, too, since I don’t want to forget the random thoughts I’ve been having while drafting - they come in really useful for rewriting.) I’ve been trying out this tool called Pro Writing Aid on someone’s recommendation, and I don’t think I’ll end up paying for it, but it’s very handy for finding things I do all the time - like repeating words and phrases. (Oh god, my repeating phrases…) This is the stage where I try to fix all of that. And also try to ADD EMOTION. So that I can preempt 's thette 's comments to this effect.

Then we get to the beta reading stage, for which I usually transfer the fic into GDocs, if it’s not already there. I don’t usually need grammar etc help, but beta readers are so wonderful for highlighting sticky things in phrasing or the story that aren’t working (or are). Then some more redrafting based on beta’s comments, and it’s done! And if only it was this smooth and easy every time…
Notebook of Doom is doom-y. There are a lot of lists and categories. About EVERYTHING - from writing, to which days I need to do laundry. Even if I regularly forget to use it...