How do you write?

[Dan Whitehead]

Obviously, you learned when you were younger. But when writing a story, how do you approach it? Are you a studious note taker, with books full of ideas and situations waiting to be used? Or are you a spur of the moment, got to get it all down before I forget sort of a writer? Do you have a celebratory cigarette and have your ankles smashed by your number one fan? Or do you file it away and never show it to anyone?

I seem to always start from what I think is a cool idea, which I then chew over in my mind for however long it takes to extrapolate a beginning, a middle and an end from the idea. I usually come up with several scenes, images or lines I know I want to use during this period as well. I never write anything down until I'm ready to start, and then I just let the whole thing come out in one sitting, so as not to lose the flow. The story gets mangled and changed as I write it down, and realise certain things no longer work, or something better occurs to me. Sometimes this changes the whole story, sometimes it's just a subtle tweak.

I then print it out and go and do something else for a few hours. Later on, I sit down and read the story back through, making pencil notes on bits that don't stand up to scrutiny and moving things around. I then make the changes, print it out again and get my wife to read it, to make sure the story actually makes sense to someone who has no idea what it's about. I have a tendency to rush my endings, so it's always useful to see if in my rush, I've left things too vague.

A few corrections and edits later, and it's done. Until I come back to it in twenty years time and put all the mistakes back in and call it a "director's cut" :D

So. What do you do?

[Charlie Brigden]

Usually, I brainstorm ideas. Sometimes, I'll come up with stuff on the bus (like I did the other day) and store it in the back of my mind. Then I'll do some preparation and then get to work, depending on my mood. For some things, I'll just get down and do it spontaneously. My werewolf story was done pretty much on the spur of the moment over two hours on a lazy weekday. It all depends, really. What I'm writing now, however, is taking a lot of preparation and research before I even attempt to write.

Also, music. I HAVE to have music.

[Dan Whitehead]

Yeah, I've got a ton of half-formed ideas that are shit at the moment, but then suddenly I'll think of something that clicks with one of them and I've got to write it down. But I can't have music - I'm a bit of a sponge, and I just know that ideas from the music will filter into the story, by osmosis. This is why my unpublished zombie story featured the undead wearing blue suede shoes for no logical reason. Never again.

[Coyote]

Pick any of the cliches.
That's how I do it.
I'm not kidding...sometimes, the story writes itself, sometimes I research; sometimes I lay down copious notes, sometimes the characters simply tell me what's going on. Sometimes it's mapped out, other times I have no clue where I'm going (and sometimes I have only an ending and need to invent the beginning). Sometimes inspiration hits out of the blue, sometimes I'm given an improv challenge (such as "Write a better sequel to Jaws than any of the movies.")

"Writing's easy. Just stare at the page until blood forms on your forehead." -quoted from memory from ...Harlan Ellison?

[Greg Hansen]

I tend to take a lot of notes, write outlines and time lines (depending on how long the story is). Hell I've even mapped out some places that a few stories take place in.

But, I rarely write a story start to finish without jumping from story to story. I'll be working on one story when an idea in it will spur or remind me of circumstances in another story. So, I tend to hop around a bit. Bad habit, I know. It makes actually finishing a tale difficult.

[Dan Whitehead]

Old Man Coyote:
sometimes I'm given an improv challenge (such as "Write a better sequel to Jaws than any of the movies.")I could see that becoming a brilliant CHUD pastime if it could be worked into the CHUD Stories framework. Keep it mean and lean - one week from assignment to deadline - and you've got yourself a challenge to sort the Hemingways from the boys...

[Burke]

I write good.

[Rath/Brendan]

I try to set aside time each day to write. It's ususally after five o'clock.

Most of the time when I get an idea, I'll write it in longhand so I don't forget it then usually transfer it to typeface.

I too, am a big abandoner, I have tons of unfinished screenplays or novels or stories that were shut down because I got stuck or thought they sucked or that I was a crappy writer. I think I need to stop that.

Maps are another big thing for me. When I'm creating like a fantasy universe, I like to know where everything is so I draw these elaborate maps that I never use.

[Michael Rabattino]

I want to be a writer so bad, but I just can't....focus. I can't come up with anything.

I know I have a power of words within me, I just don't know how to force it to come out.

[Greg Hansen]

Metamucil works wonders.

[Coyote]

The one thing I can't do is set aside time for writing.

[Richard Dickson]

You know how they say you're supposed to just write and when you're done, then you go back and revise it?

I can't do that. I mean sure, when I'm done, I'll go back and tweak things and change things around, but if I write something and it strikes me as "wrong," I'll agonize over it and change it before I go on.

Sometimes I have an idea as to where I want to go, sometimes I just start and see where things take me. Both are fun, and have their own rewards.

[Dan Whitehead]

Verbal Runs:
I want to be a writer so bad, but I just can't....focus. I can't come up with anything.

I know I have a power of words within me, I just don't know how to force it to come out.Best thing to do is just try it. Sit down and write something. You don't have to show it to anyone, so borrow the idea from somewhere else just to get the ball rolling and see if what you write stands up on it's own. And if you read it back and it's terrible - don't be discouraged. Read your favourite authors and pick apart how they tell a story, the tricks they use to get from A to B. But the only way to find out is to just get in there and try it.

You've finished high school - you'll never have this much free time again :D

[Coyote]

Another idea...don't write about anything. Stream of consciousness. Don't be afraid that it may be silly, not make sense, or have random bits of dialogue in it. You're practicing.
If you have a parent who keeps trying to throw you at a shrink, though, keep it well hidden.

My own personal technique on this is MUSHing. MUSHes are online text-based games that focus on Role Play over combat (unlike most MUDs and things like Evercrack). As such, they force you to develop your writing skills.

[DJEvil]

Burke
S-Mart Shopper
Member # 1770

Member Rated:
posted 06-27-2002 03:04 PM
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I write good.Heh. You misspelled "rite."

[Michael Rabattino]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

Just got "On Writing" by Stephen King so hey, maybe that will help.... wink

[Dan Whitehead]

As long as you realise that not every book needs to be about a troubled writer returning to face unspoken evil in the small Maine town where he spent idyllic summers as a child...

[Greg Hansen]

I do recommend A Writer's Time by Kenneth Atchity.

It's more than you think.

[Capt. Eucalyptus]

I usually get a flash of and idea, ruminate over it for a bit, and start writing. Sub 1500 words I usually just vomit it onto the page at this point and clean it up afterwards. If I feel it's a longun I will get the kernel down on the page and then make character notes and place notes as I feel appropriate. I love to compose on computer because it's easier to edit on the fly. If I handwrite it I usually cant recognize my own writing ha;fway down the page. Typing forces me to think it out as I go.

[Unbreathless]

My Idea's are peiced together from thing's i've seen, read, lived. It all goes into my head, mixes around, and ideas surface. Some come close to what orriginally went in, others are my own thoughts made print.

I've done the whole stream of consiousness thing on paper, that just scared me. One thing I learned somewhere was write down a few words, like top soil, truck, suitcase... and then connect them yourself to make ideas. "A topsoil-truck driver with a suitcase doesn't really make sense. I saw him, and thought, what would the driver of a sod truck need a suitcase for?"

and build a story from that.

Some ideas are stupid, others can twist into interesting stories.

[WrappedinPlastic loves life]

I see or dream a strange scene then I work around that. Today while watching The Third Man I got really interested in the shadows that were used in the movie. Then I got a flash of a men bent over, his shadow on the wall, then a large spike emerges out of his skin. I then pieced some other things around it, and BOOM! I started a new story. It'll just come to ya. Don't try to hard to find something, or the writers block will stay blocked. Watch movies. So what if you take a idea that has already been used once or twice. It's not like your stealing the entire story...it's just an element.

[tonythetard]

when i come up with an idea, it'll sit in my head for a few days (longer for a good idea) and when i get the time to write it all down, i end up stopping about where the second act should begin. when i get back to the story, i'll read over it to see where i left off, and i'll end up re-writing the whole thing... changing dialouge, adding scenes, removing scenes... not to mention i'm a horrible speller.. my grammar's not that great either.... but i have some ideas that just have to be put down on paper, and i usually end up shredding them, leaving me with the master copy in my head...

[Sean Bateman]

I got the Stephen King route. I believe the key to MOST great stories, lies within the characters. I almost always start creating the characters, then I let the story come from that.

[WickerMan]

Dan Whitehead vs Candid Gamera:
This is why my unpublished zombie story featured the undead wearing blue suede shoes for no logical reason. Never again.OK well i dont know about anyone else but this is a story i want to read. Zombies in blue suede shoes, Dan the Man i gotta read this. :D

As for writing i tend to come up with ideas at the most inconvenient times, so if im nowhere near a computer or pen and paper i'll fone my missus and get her to jot them down.
As for the writing itself, i always know the end scene, even roughly, then i work on the opener and then i go in from there.
It might all change round later on but thats how i start, and i can never just write it all down in one sitting, woah that would kill me :D
And i also have to edit it as i go along, not a full-on second draft edit but enough so im happy with a scene and can move on.

[MADMAN]

Pretty much every story I've ever written has been told to someone first. Usually my g/f and it drives her up the wall sometimes. I think out loud until I have a workable plot and then rework it in my head.

Of late I have gotten into legal pads, one or more for each story. Keeps everything organised as I too am a great beginner and lackluster finisher. Outlining has become and indispensible tool for me, helping to keep me to task.

Most of my ideas begin with the end, if you get my meaning. Once you know where your going you can set about figuring out how to get there.

I like to longhand my first rough draft, then go back and transcribe it, gives me an extra draft in there to tighten things up. I also am one who will agonize over a scene. I tend to reread what I have written and edit in the process, but I have gotten better about finishing. Three shorts and two feature length so far.

Occassionally I will do the 3x5 card thing, depending on how acquainted with the characters and story I am. If they've been floating around in my head for a while, I find I just end up writing the whole scene and it's better to just hit the pad.

[Darkened Mind]

I usually get an idea and write it down. Then I go through it all in my head, the scenes and how it will start and end. Then, I start writing. I find it hard to finish them off though. Sometimes, I just start writing something and get into it.