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Gene's writer question thingy
Aug. 27th, 2003 12:51 amDo ideas come in little tiny pinpricks and then get expanded, or do they start great big and scopy and then get refined?
My stories tend to arise out of ideas in my head, daydreams and the like, usually where I imagine certain characters being thrown together into a given situation and then I imagine the conversations that ensue... I imagine conversations in my head all of the time. But I think most of my ideas start with a situation or a setting of some sort first... as in, "what if these three characters had this happen to them". I guess anything I read about or watch or listen to might lead to conversations in my head that eventually lead to a complete story idea... but most of the time I don't pursue my ideas because even if I wrote every day I couldn't write everything I think of.
Basically like I think Gene said, both things happen. I might have big ideas to set up a story, but the actual story begins with characters interacting. And that leads to building the story in directions I didn't envision at first, because the characters are the story in the end.
Why do you choose to write in the tenses and viewpoints you do (present tense, or first person POV, or third person) and how do you choose particular styles for particular stories?
Past tense is easy and useful for most of what I do. I don't like to mess with tense that much. As for point of view, I've written first person and it wasn't as difficult as I had once imagined, but it's not reccomended for a begining writer of course. Like Gene said, third person subjective works most of the time. I try to stick to one character's point of view for a given scene, or just write a semi-omniscient point of view where I'm not in any particular character's head. But sometimes you need to know what a particular character is thinking because their viewpoint is what drives the story. So it all depends.
Do you have music that inspires your writing? (That you listen to while writing, or certain songs that remind you of certain characters.)
Music inspires me when it comes to ideas, and often is the initial inspiration for a story, but generally I don't listen to music at all when I write. I'm too busy thinking. ^_^
How do you brainstorm what comes next in a story?
Like I said, I'm always daydreaming about my stories, thinking about how the characters interact with each other, what they might say, how they will react to a given situation. Constantly, even when I'm not writing, I do this. I don't call it brainstorming. Daydreaming, I suppose.
What do you do when you hit a road block?
If the story isn't working then I move on to another one. I have lots of ideas to work on. ^_^ Sometimes I figure out much later what I want to do with the story. Sometimes I realize that what I had wasn't really a story at all. But if it *is* a story -- if there's a plot driving it -- then I will always figure out how to make it work. Maybe not the best way, but I'll come up with something.
How often do you end up deleting a whole bunch of already-written stuff, and how hard is it to let that stuff go?
It's a lot easier if I let the story sit for a while, and can look at it subjectively. But like Gene said, I delete stuff all the time and it's not hard to do compared to when I was younger.
What if you really, really want to include something but part of you is saying it's not right for that particular story?
Then don't include it. The more experienced you become at writing, the more you realize that these sort of things are going to get tossed out eventually, which makes it easier to avoid wriiting them in the first place. ^_^
I think I'm a more disciplined writer than I used to be. I don't mean that I'm disciplined about finishing my stories, of course! ^_^ I mean that it's easier to focus on the plot and know what should be a part of the story and what shouldn't. Being in a writer's group has helped hone those skills.
Do you take notes longhand, and if so, when?
I carry around a notepad but I don't write in it as often as I'd like. The job I've had for the last three plus years does not afford me any time to stop and jot down ideas, which is something I used to do with much greater frequency. But in general that's my method of operation, to write down ideas as the occur to me and then later expand on them.
Do you use challenges by other people to inspire you?
Sometimes. But I really don't have any trouble finding inspiration for things to write -- I have far too many stories in my head or partially written and I don't need to go looking for more to write. ^_^
Do you do anything in particular to get you into the right mindset to write a certain character or characters?
Generally speaking, reading stories and listening to music can put me in a mood to write. Specifically, I always read what I can about a character to help me imagine how the character will react in my current story. This may include reading/watching the material from which my fanfiction is based, or reading past stories, even my own, that include the character I'm currently using.
Which of your stories is your favorite and WHY? Least favorite?
Probably I have the most fun with my mega-crossover fanfiction story "Muyami Academy" even though it's full of problems and I wish I could rewrite it from the begining (but I never will). Of my Tai-Pan stories, I suppose "Tipping The Lady" because it's fun, it's first person which is unusual for me, and it kind of came to me out of left field, almost complete in my head before I started writing, including the main character who just appeared with the story.
Least favorite? Hard to say. Probably something I did a long time ago that I've completely forgotten by now. If we count published stuff then most likely the first Elfquest story I published for my own fanzine. ^_^
How do you choose titles for your stories?
Coming up with a good title is difficult and never works the same way twice. Brainstorm a lot. I borrow song titles a lot -- in fact I've written entire stories around song titles, after deciding it would make a good title for a story.
Sometimes I force Gene or my other friends to come up with the title for me. ^_^
Which of your titles do you like the most/least, and why?
Tough one.
Although we haven't managed to write the actual story, "The Villany You Teach Me" is a great title for a story that Jeff and I plotted. I like it when a title ties directly into the plot, but doesn't really give away anything important to the reader. And when it sounds cool. ^_^
I really like "Why Do The Heathens Rage?" which is a line from "Odfellows Local 151" by REM. "In The Country Of The Blind" is another one I like. "Cursed Be Ye Who Moves These Bones", another story I've never finished, with a title that Gene supplied for me. "Man of Golden Words" is the title for another incomplete story, but one I like.
Most of my fan fiction stories do not have titles nearly that good. I have a couple of stories that I'm working on that I still don't have good titles for... "Magical Girls In Oz" for example.
Do you write differently with a cowriter than you do alone? Is it easier or harder?
I write differently, and it's not harder per se, but it's easier to do everything myself. Sometimes you have trouble agreeing with another writer on which direction the story should go or exactly how to get there.
Do you write fanfic differently from original fic (if you write it at all)?
My writing approach is not different, but one thing I've found is that I have trouble writing new, original characters. I'm not that good at inventing interesting characters on the fly, it's hard work and over the years I haven't developed that skill as well as I should have. It's much easier to use characters that I'm very familiar with, and that's one reason fan fiction is easy and fun to write.
When a scene feels forced, what are the first few tricks you try to fix it?
Pretty much what Gene said... decide if I really need it, and then try to approach it from a different direction or another point of view. If I know what needs to be conveyed to the reader, and I know the characters that are in the scene, I can eventually figure out how it should go. Sometimes it's just a matter of waiting for the characters to work out for themselves what they want to say and do.
Are most of your fixes deletions or additions?
As Chuck and Gene said... most often you're altering stuff. There's a lot of deletion and addition involved, but if you're constantly chopping whole scenes or adding whole scenes then that tells you that you don't really know what you're trying to do. If you know what you're trying to do, then you might need to rewrite a scene but you know that the scene has to be there in some form, so it's mostly a matter of reworking it.
How long does it usually take you to write a story? How many revisions do you go through?
As my friends know, I'm cabable of writing a complete story pretty quickly, but most of the time I write part of it and don't go back to it possibly for years. ^_^ I'm not big on revisions... I know I need to do them, but I don't usually feel like doing them. I have to force myself to do them, and I generally don't revise more than once or twice because of this.
Even my fan fiction stories... I send them to the FFML, I get feedback, and I often don't ever act on the feedback, which is not good but I'm lazy what can I say?
Do you use beta readers?
For my fan fiction stories I've used prereaders for my largest stories, especially Muyami Academy. For other stuff I read at our writer's meetings which is even better feedback than a few prereaders.
My stories tend to arise out of ideas in my head, daydreams and the like, usually where I imagine certain characters being thrown together into a given situation and then I imagine the conversations that ensue... I imagine conversations in my head all of the time. But I think most of my ideas start with a situation or a setting of some sort first... as in, "what if these three characters had this happen to them". I guess anything I read about or watch or listen to might lead to conversations in my head that eventually lead to a complete story idea... but most of the time I don't pursue my ideas because even if I wrote every day I couldn't write everything I think of.
Basically like I think Gene said, both things happen. I might have big ideas to set up a story, but the actual story begins with characters interacting. And that leads to building the story in directions I didn't envision at first, because the characters are the story in the end.
Why do you choose to write in the tenses and viewpoints you do (present tense, or first person POV, or third person) and how do you choose particular styles for particular stories?
Past tense is easy and useful for most of what I do. I don't like to mess with tense that much. As for point of view, I've written first person and it wasn't as difficult as I had once imagined, but it's not reccomended for a begining writer of course. Like Gene said, third person subjective works most of the time. I try to stick to one character's point of view for a given scene, or just write a semi-omniscient point of view where I'm not in any particular character's head. But sometimes you need to know what a particular character is thinking because their viewpoint is what drives the story. So it all depends.
Do you have music that inspires your writing? (That you listen to while writing, or certain songs that remind you of certain characters.)
Music inspires me when it comes to ideas, and often is the initial inspiration for a story, but generally I don't listen to music at all when I write. I'm too busy thinking. ^_^
How do you brainstorm what comes next in a story?
Like I said, I'm always daydreaming about my stories, thinking about how the characters interact with each other, what they might say, how they will react to a given situation. Constantly, even when I'm not writing, I do this. I don't call it brainstorming. Daydreaming, I suppose.
What do you do when you hit a road block?
If the story isn't working then I move on to another one. I have lots of ideas to work on. ^_^ Sometimes I figure out much later what I want to do with the story. Sometimes I realize that what I had wasn't really a story at all. But if it *is* a story -- if there's a plot driving it -- then I will always figure out how to make it work. Maybe not the best way, but I'll come up with something.
How often do you end up deleting a whole bunch of already-written stuff, and how hard is it to let that stuff go?
It's a lot easier if I let the story sit for a while, and can look at it subjectively. But like Gene said, I delete stuff all the time and it's not hard to do compared to when I was younger.
What if you really, really want to include something but part of you is saying it's not right for that particular story?
Then don't include it. The more experienced you become at writing, the more you realize that these sort of things are going to get tossed out eventually, which makes it easier to avoid wriiting them in the first place. ^_^
I think I'm a more disciplined writer than I used to be. I don't mean that I'm disciplined about finishing my stories, of course! ^_^ I mean that it's easier to focus on the plot and know what should be a part of the story and what shouldn't. Being in a writer's group has helped hone those skills.
Do you take notes longhand, and if so, when?
I carry around a notepad but I don't write in it as often as I'd like. The job I've had for the last three plus years does not afford me any time to stop and jot down ideas, which is something I used to do with much greater frequency. But in general that's my method of operation, to write down ideas as the occur to me and then later expand on them.
Do you use challenges by other people to inspire you?
Sometimes. But I really don't have any trouble finding inspiration for things to write -- I have far too many stories in my head or partially written and I don't need to go looking for more to write. ^_^
Do you do anything in particular to get you into the right mindset to write a certain character or characters?
Generally speaking, reading stories and listening to music can put me in a mood to write. Specifically, I always read what I can about a character to help me imagine how the character will react in my current story. This may include reading/watching the material from which my fanfiction is based, or reading past stories, even my own, that include the character I'm currently using.
Which of your stories is your favorite and WHY? Least favorite?
Probably I have the most fun with my mega-crossover fanfiction story "Muyami Academy" even though it's full of problems and I wish I could rewrite it from the begining (but I never will). Of my Tai-Pan stories, I suppose "Tipping The Lady" because it's fun, it's first person which is unusual for me, and it kind of came to me out of left field, almost complete in my head before I started writing, including the main character who just appeared with the story.
Least favorite? Hard to say. Probably something I did a long time ago that I've completely forgotten by now. If we count published stuff then most likely the first Elfquest story I published for my own fanzine. ^_^
How do you choose titles for your stories?
Coming up with a good title is difficult and never works the same way twice. Brainstorm a lot. I borrow song titles a lot -- in fact I've written entire stories around song titles, after deciding it would make a good title for a story.
Sometimes I force Gene or my other friends to come up with the title for me. ^_^
Which of your titles do you like the most/least, and why?
Tough one.
Although we haven't managed to write the actual story, "The Villany You Teach Me" is a great title for a story that Jeff and I plotted. I like it when a title ties directly into the plot, but doesn't really give away anything important to the reader. And when it sounds cool. ^_^
I really like "Why Do The Heathens Rage?" which is a line from "Odfellows Local 151" by REM. "In The Country Of The Blind" is another one I like. "Cursed Be Ye Who Moves These Bones", another story I've never finished, with a title that Gene supplied for me. "Man of Golden Words" is the title for another incomplete story, but one I like.
Most of my fan fiction stories do not have titles nearly that good. I have a couple of stories that I'm working on that I still don't have good titles for... "Magical Girls In Oz" for example.
Do you write differently with a cowriter than you do alone? Is it easier or harder?
I write differently, and it's not harder per se, but it's easier to do everything myself. Sometimes you have trouble agreeing with another writer on which direction the story should go or exactly how to get there.
Do you write fanfic differently from original fic (if you write it at all)?
My writing approach is not different, but one thing I've found is that I have trouble writing new, original characters. I'm not that good at inventing interesting characters on the fly, it's hard work and over the years I haven't developed that skill as well as I should have. It's much easier to use characters that I'm very familiar with, and that's one reason fan fiction is easy and fun to write.
When a scene feels forced, what are the first few tricks you try to fix it?
Pretty much what Gene said... decide if I really need it, and then try to approach it from a different direction or another point of view. If I know what needs to be conveyed to the reader, and I know the characters that are in the scene, I can eventually figure out how it should go. Sometimes it's just a matter of waiting for the characters to work out for themselves what they want to say and do.
Are most of your fixes deletions or additions?
As Chuck and Gene said... most often you're altering stuff. There's a lot of deletion and addition involved, but if you're constantly chopping whole scenes or adding whole scenes then that tells you that you don't really know what you're trying to do. If you know what you're trying to do, then you might need to rewrite a scene but you know that the scene has to be there in some form, so it's mostly a matter of reworking it.
How long does it usually take you to write a story? How many revisions do you go through?
As my friends know, I'm cabable of writing a complete story pretty quickly, but most of the time I write part of it and don't go back to it possibly for years. ^_^ I'm not big on revisions... I know I need to do them, but I don't usually feel like doing them. I have to force myself to do them, and I generally don't revise more than once or twice because of this.
Even my fan fiction stories... I send them to the FFML, I get feedback, and I often don't ever act on the feedback, which is not good but I'm lazy what can I say?
Do you use beta readers?
For my fan fiction stories I've used prereaders for my largest stories, especially Muyami Academy. For other stuff I read at our writer's meetings which is even better feedback than a few prereaders.
