Ganked from loweko.

[shirenomad]

Ask me one question - any one - about my writing, then post this in your LJ so I can satisfy my curiosity about yours, not that you haven't already...

Those who have never written a creative word in their life may feel free to skip the second step, though I think this meme works best as a way for authors to exchange tips.

Comments

Since you mentioned writing tips...

[bugen.livejournal.com]

Seeing as I haven't done much creative writing since... well, my freshman year of high school or so (though I'm still meaning to get back into it in general), do you have any general tips?

A bit more specifically (though general advice is welcome), do you have any specific way that you go brainstorming, or good tips about it? (I was hoping to get to programming and the actual writing of that thing I mentioned on the SoA board by spring break, but I'm still wrestling a bit with the main story.)

Re: Since you mentioned writing tips...

[shirenomad]

I never brainstorm the initial event that starts the plot. Those are always things that just come to me (frequently from an underdeveloped point of the previous fic or RP session). Once I have the concept, though, developing the details generally consists of asking myself:

1) What characters will become involved, given the event?
2) How will each character react to this first event?
3) Given that, where can the characters end up at the end, realistically? Where do I want them to end up?

For each character in Question 1, I pick one answer to Question 2 and a few possible answers to Question 3. Then I start coming up with a list of events that I think naturally follow from each other, continually asking Question 2 for each character given the next event, while trying to aim everyone toward one of the answers to Question 3. Sometimes it turns out a character can't hit ANY of the final destinations I originally had in mind, but I try to work with it; better the answers to Question 2 be realistic.

Once I have the flow of events in mind, I start writing whatever scene inspires me at the moment. I don't have to take them in order, because I've already got my flowchart and I know, roughly, what happened before. (I never lock all the events in stone, but they rarely get so far from my original plan that a later scene needs to be rewritten.)

Writing a particular scene, for me, tends to be flow of consciousness, especially for dialogue. Okay, Teep just said that. How's CMZ most likely to respond? (This gets easier the longer I write, as I get more into the heads of the characters.) Again, although I'm aiming the scene toward a particular destination, I do it as subtly as possible; better they stay completely in character, and if it takes them ten pages to get where I need them to go, so be it. (Though more likely, I need to think whether the flow to the next scene is as natural as I thought it was.)

[wattsu.livejournal.com]

What happened to TOEMS? I suppose I could Google it, but I can't think of any other questions.

[shirenomad]

It's still at http://toems.united.net.kg/, but I haven't updated it since I left for Japan in August 2002. I suppose it was already dying, judging by the decreasing frequency of updates -- I just wasn't willing to put the time into maintaining it anymore. If I ever do reopen it, it'll probably have a complete redesign and location move. But don't count on it.

[violentmike.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered, why do you tend to stick to writing your original characters in with characters from official canon? Why not just do everything original?

[shirenomad]

I've thought about that myself sometimes. I suppose the simple answer is that I got started that way. I can't exactly write Tor without Mina along for the ride... and as long as she's there I might as well include all the other characters I looted. And frankly, Board Prime has always been about ridiculously complicated crossovers, even though we've developed a more serious side to it. There's certainly nothing wrong with your approach -- in fact, I applaud you for it -- but I started early when plagiarizing from game universes was still in vogue, and it's a little late to back out now without scrapping everything and starting over.

There's probably one other reason, though: I have a bit of trouble coming up with new characters on my own. And I find it far more fascinating to theorize about characters that already exist but haven't been deeply developed. What are their real motivations? What was their earlier life like? What would they do in a situation like X? Sometimes the answers surprise me.

With that said, I have made a couple stories with completely original characters; they just don't apply to the Boards. Maybe I'll put one up someday... then again, maybe I won't.

[thunderphoenix.livejournal.com]

What exactly gets you motivated to start writing?

Is this an attempt to guilt-trip me? :P

[shirenomad]

Sometimes inspiration just hits; I'll think of something that would work really well for a scene, and off I go. The other times, I just have to sit down with intent to write and focus on that blank screen until I force those first few words out. Frequently once I get started I can keep writing for hours, but it's starting that's the hard part.

Re: Topic.

[thunderphoenix.livejournal.com]

Whatever gave you that idea? :P

Re: Topic.

[thunderphoenix.livejournal.com]

(Oh, and feel free to go ahead and ask me a question on the topic. I'm a bit too chicken to post this in my LJ.)