I've seen mentions of a few different ways of going about telling a story. I seem to have the strangest way of doing it (probably because of my untreated A.D.D., LOL) and I'm curious as to how everyone else goes about it. Perhaps by asking, I will find hints to help me when I'm struggling.
My stories almost always start out with a vivid dream, or a scene that plays out suddenly and vividly in my mind. (It has to be vivid because of the nature of my A.D.D. If I'm interrupted mid-thought, and it's not really vivid, I will forget it completely. I've lost a number of fantastic ideas like that. If I can't do something immediately, or write it down, it's lost forever. No Joke)
I work off of that initialy vivid picture, and sort of create the story in my mind to explain what has happened in the scene. Then I write the other scenes that come vividly to mind. Where I run into trouble is filling in the places between.
The main story I'm working on right now is about halfway to two-thirds of the way done, and I already have the outline for a second book almost completely done.
Does anyone really write from beginning to end, or do very many people write like I do?
Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :
I'm a bit of a beginning to end bloke. The process is very linear for me except when I have two possible tracks that the story could proceed along then I tned to write out one entirely and go back and write the other. Seems like a waste of time but it isn't the path I choose usually incorporates a lot of the other anyway.
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :
Every single story I've ever written, including my novel, I wrote in the exact order it's meant to be read. I can't do it any other way. I have to know the beginning and the end. Don't need to know anything in between for short ficiton, and I only need a coule of landmarks along the way for long fiction. The fun for me is finding out how the characters get from here to there.
Even with a Y-shaped story, I'll write alternating back and forth between POV characters in the order I want the chapters to appear.
Posted by TMan1969 (Member # 3552) on :
I start out with an idea, then carry it through to the end of the story. Afterwards I will leave it sit awhile and come back to it - to readjust,edit or re-write portions.
Posted by Leigh (Member # 2901) on :
I usually do the same kind of thing MommaMuse, but it doesn't involve any kind of "condition" like A.D.D. I have an idea, cease all activities I may be doing at home, even writing on another story, and begin writing the scene away. I have never finished a piece of writing in just under a year and a half of writing, I begin too many new stories all from my overactive imagination. I doubt if I continue the way I write I will ever send out a copy to a publisher, let alone finish a story. Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :
I started with an idea, then asked myself lots of questions: how did she get into this situation? Who is around her?
I began pulling in magical elements I wanted to incorporate into the story, trying to figure ways to fit them in. I spent a lot of time worldbuilding, writing the creation mythos of the place, figuring out the social system, etc.
And all along, I began writing, starting with the vivid scenes in my mind. I pulled in some friends and we turned it into a play-by-email role-playing game. I knew where we wanted to end up and continually moved the story that direction. After two years, we had a rough draft written. Now I'm going back and distilling it into a novel format.
However, I'm still making adjustments, trying to get things just right. As I work on new scenes, I spend several days thinking about them as I write.
I find I stay on track better if I progress in a linear fashion, that is, focus on the scenes in chronological order. I get enthralled with each scene as I work on it, and because I also look forward to the ones coming up, I'm always wanting to press onward.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Well, I usually---but not invariably---start at the beginning, write my way to the end, then stop. If I use an outline---a sometimes thing---it's still usually written in that order. I can't motivate myself by writing the interesting and juicy scenes first, then filling things in between them. That's only worked out a couple of times for me, though I usually liked the results when I did finish them. More often I get the good bits down, then never get around to linking them up.
Posted by arriki (Member # 3079) on :
As for me, I always start out with a whole story in mind, but invariably as I go along writing the first draft, it changes on me as I see better ways or better storylines to use. The opening is usually the last thing written for real. I mean, I open, but usually by the time I've finished and know the whole story, the original opening doesn't fit anymore.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I should also have said (and I think I have, elsewhere around here in another, similar thread), that when I'm writing in my head, I do go back and forth as I'm putting the jigsaw puzzle of my story together. When I sit down and write on the typewriter (or, lately, word processor and computer), that's when it's start-at-the-beginning.
Posted by goatboy (Member # 2062) on :
Lately my process has changed somewhat. I now start with a character and a situation. I write maybe 1000 to 2000 words, enough to tell me who my character is and what he wants, which tells me the ending. Then I do a quick scene and transition diagram so I know how I need to get from A to B, and start writing from scratch. I may or may not use that inital 1 to 2k, it depends on how things looked when I did the scene diagram.
After the rough draft is on paper, I go back and look for loose ends and add any plants that need to be made to keep from springing things on unsuspecting readers. That is also the point to work on drawing connections between things in the imagery.
I have yet to be able to do all of the prelim in my head like some writers can. But, I haven't found the process too restrictive and it seems to grow easier each time.
Posted by franc li (Member # 3850) on :
My writing "job" has evolved quite a bit over the last couple of months. For one thing, I've begun to prefer longhand (writing on paper with a pen) for the initial draft. I've also been doing short, consistent sessions in the morning. I try to "sleep on it", thinking about a motivational transition I need to make at night, then in the morning I come back to it. I've been really pleased with some of the results.
Posted by tchernabyelo (Member # 2651) on :
Only with short pieces - and particularly with LH flash challenges - do I start at the beginning and work to the end. When flashing, I tend not to know where the story's going, so I just start typing and see what happens.
With more planned pieces, however, while I usually will do the opening scene, I mostly know the particular crux points or key events in the story (but not necssarily the ending itself). I tend to write these and then work the story around them. Sometimes it fits as expected; sometimes dialogue or action take it off in directions I hadn't expected.
I recently wrote a 12k story in a day (for a side LH challenge). I wrote the opening first, then a couple of key character interactions in the middle, then parts of the ending, then filled in the linking scenes and fleshed out the ending, then ran through a very quick polish for consistency. It was a compressed timescale but it was pretty much the same way I work left to my own devices.
Posted by JBSkaggs (Member # 2265) on :
I know all you guys are concealing the well known but secret truth. All of us writers have a magic doorway that allows us to go to a special world and live out these stories. Our books are just diaries.
JB Skaggs
[This message has been edited by JBSkaggs (edited November 28, 2006).]
Posted by autumnmuse (Member # 2136) on :
To me, it sounds like your creative process takes place more on the page than in your head to begin with. I too often take inspiration from strong dreams or other lightning flash moments, but I usually scribble notes on scratch sheets about that vivid scene, then come up with some framework and plot around that mostly in my head, maybe a few things jotted down, before I begin to write.
Once I'm at the stage where I'm writing the manuscript, I do it chronologically, no matter where in the story the idea first came from. From what you wrote in your post, I'm guessing you just end up doing the brainstorming in tandem with the writing. Nothing wrong with it, though as you say, the connective tissue can be more difficult that way.
If you are sure you are using the best method for you, don't worry about how many other writers work the same way. If you are looking for a change, or want to experiment in case there is a way that clicks even better for you, try doing most of the plotting in note form or in your head before writing once or twice and see if it works. If it does, great. If not, you've learned something about your writing style.
Posted by Josh (Member # 4394) on :
I spend a couple weeks fleshing out the ideas. More weeks fleshing out the world and characters, system of magic, etc. Some more time structuring a very rough plot outline. Then I set my teeth into the actual writing and don't let go until it's done. I give myself a chance to do the first, very rough draft, then I go back for a once-through edit to fill in obvious problems and gaps before setting it aside for a while and giving my mind a break.
Posted by MommaMuse (Member # 3622) on :
Autumnmuse has it pretty close. I do tend to work it out as I'm writing, but I always have a basic idea as to where I'm going. When I'm having trouble, I go back and start reading what I have. Usually something catches my attention and I can go from there. Otherwise, I have to just step away from it or I'll get too frustrated.
I am looking for other methods because I would like to see if something else works better and faster than what I already do. I can't really work things out in my head because of the nature of being A.D.D. It's very much like the commercial about adult A.D.D. It's like someone has a remote control for my brain, and is flicking through the channels at random. Focusing on one idea at a time is rarely attainable for me.
Posted by Jenn (Member # 7798) on :
I'm not telling. Oh, all right: I knock my head on the desk until it hurts, then I close the drawers on my hand until my fingers are about to fall off, then I cleverly dislodge one or two vertebrae with a rubber mallet and pop them back again... Of course, that's only what I do before the rejection letter. After that I go grrr, and go at it all the harder, because who said art should be easy?
Posted by dee_boncci (Member # 2733) on :
So far, what I tend to do is start off with a loose goal in mind and work it out on the fly as I go (similar to what others have stated).
I read an analogy that seems to apply to what I experience as I go along. It's like driving at night in a strange place. You know a little about where you've been, a bit of the road right in front of you is illuminated, and you have some vague suspicions about what's ahead beyond the reach of the lights.
I work from beginning to end. If partway through something that could/should have happened earlier comes to mind, I make a note and save it for the first big revision. Ideas further ahead in time I just keep in mind and write towards them, but hold off on committing them to paper until I get there.
Someday I'd like to try skipping through and doing all the critical parts first in the order they come to mind, then filling in the gaps later. I'd also like to try drafting the climax first then work strictly backwards in time. But those are projects for another day. For now, I'm a plodder.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I gave up worrying about each rejection. Now I just look at the length of my career and the total of all the rejections I've gotten, and get depressed...
Posted by wetwilly (Member # 1818) on :
One time I fell asleep while I was writing another story, and dreamed the main situation of a new story. The new story ended up being one of my two or three favorite short stories I've ever written.
That's only ever happened to me the one time, though. Usually, I'll spend some time ( a few days, a few weeks, a few years, however long it takes) rolling the story around in my head until I feel ready to write it. Once I begin writing it, though, I pretty much write linearly from beginning to end, at least in the first draft. Then I go in a rewrite, add scenes here, takes scenes out there, and re-order. That part is not linear for me at all. Getting the initial story down on paper, though, is pretty linear for me.
I doubt if I continue the way I write I will ever send out a copy to a publisher, let alone finish a story. 