Thursday, August 22, 2013

Writing Process

Having missed the first day of class, I can't say this for sure, but I assume that many of the students taking this class signed up in part because they write themselves. I'd be interested to know how you all go about the writing process thus far, and maybe see if it changes by the end of the semester.

For my own work, I generally start with a character I want to explore. Later on, I tack on a world for them to exist in (usually speculative in some way), and try to spin a plot from there. I recently began using the world as a plot point in itself, and its "character" proves just as interesting as any other person in the story. It also helped me figure out whodunnit in my mystery. What about you guys?

4 comments:

  1. I don’t really write too much. I’m more of a numbers person. For me I have to have a starting point. Some sort of direction and then I can take off. I also noticed that when I write I form the story in my head and picture where it is going to go and how it is going to end. I write to get to the end and not really focusing on the part I’m writing on. I find it strange that I do that or maybe that is what happens with a novice writer.

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  2. That is a good question. I usually have an idea for a story, and then find myself stuck trying to write it from start to finish. The stories that I have had success with have all started with a writing prompt or just an idea for a scene. So I’d have to say I usually start with a scene. I usually have an image in my head and I just start describing it and what is going on and then I start building characters and hopefully a plot finds its way in there somewhere! I usually have to revise and rearrange quite a few times because most of my writing ends up being stream of consciousness. Sometimes I don’t even know how a story is going to end while I’m writing it. I’m kind of all over the place I guess I’d say!

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  3. Sorry you missed the first day of class! We had a great time :) As far as my writing process is concerned I've got a pretty standard procedure. Mainly, it includes drinking coffee, drinking coffee, and well, sometimes drinking a little bit more!

    But seriously, I do drink a lot of coffee.

    Other than that I like to really just free write in order to get things started. For me it's all about getting words out on the page, and then coming back later and taking out all the useless information. The first-draft, second-draft approach is awesome :)

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  4. The writing process can be difficult for me. I usually have an idea and supporting thoughts but wish I could just jump to the end when everything has been written down and is coherent. Unfortunately, that is not how life works so, for me, the writing process begins with a concept, a setting, characters, and finally an idea of where I want to take my story.

    I see writing as architecture. An architect will first build a room and go from there. Likewise, I first build on the idea of a story and everything just follows. The first story I wrote was when I was a pre-teen and the idea came from a friend. The concept I had in mind was identity from a girls perspective. As I began to free write, characters began to develop, as well as the setting, conflicts, etc.

    The writing process for academics is very different. I usually make an outline and go from there. I don't have a lot of free space to write creatively since academic writing follows a more rigid scheme.

    I personally prefer to free write about random ideas that pop into my mind.

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