Hey writers. Let me poll your brains.

[cruiscin_lan]

Man. I've got writer's block like whoa right now. I can't write anything smutty, and I can't write anything even remotely humorous that doesn't turn to crack instantly. The only thing I can write right now is angst, and that is not working out with my heroes_exchange prompt.

So you know what I'm going to do instead of write? I'm going to do a poll. I love polls.

For anyone who has ever written before, this one's for you. We'll be playing it fast and loose with definitions, so don't stress it too much. I'm just wondering what you write, why, and how. Ticky box poll so you can check as many boxes as you need!

[Poll #1502315]

What
I think, for me, most of these poll questions would depend on the fandom I'm writing for. I haven't written much for Veronica Mars, but what I have written leans towards angst/romance. Glee lends itself more to cracky or funny fics. I've written so much for Heroes that it probably relies more on the characters or pairings (i.e. Mohinder/Elle tends to be fluffy and silly, whereas Sylar/Claire is really dark and angsty).

Why
As far as why I write what I write is concerned, lately much of my output has been generated by prompts. I would even say that I prefer working with prompts for one primary reason: I like to know that someone's going to read what I've come up with. Normally the length or genre is dictated by the prompt or challenge, so that's taken care of for me. When I choose prompts, it's often determined more by what seems feasible than anything else. I tend to stick close to canon when I can.

How
My writing process right now is kind of ridiculous. For some reason when I write a scene I always start by writing the dialogue first, and then I go back and fill in all the action and description. While it's really useful to do this a lot of the time, it's not the best way way to go about writing scenes that don't require a lot of dialogue, like a really smutty scene, or a scene driven only by one character. I very rarely do any outlining, unless it's a really, really long fic or I'm trying to make sure it fits a specific prompt; otherwise my stories develop pretty much organically. I don't write from beginning to end, though - I normally start with one or two scenes and then fill in scenes around them as I feel necessary.

Okay, flist. Tell me about how you do things.

Comments

[shadowlongknife.livejournal.com]

beta, what now?

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

You know, a fish.

Or someone who reads your story with a critical eye before you post it online, whichever.

[ever-obsessed.livejournal.com]

1) I LOVE OUTLINING. OUTLINING IS FUN. THERE SHOULD BE OUTLINING PARTIES, XD

2) I tend to write in universes. Like a lot of my STXI fic right now is all in the same universe - a bunch of gen, character-centric stuff to flesh out characters and do some world-building, and then there's the later multi-chaptered fics that take place in the same universe. I do it constantly, don't know why, and can't stop.

3) I love betas BUT THEY DO NOT LOVE ME. They have a habit of taking my stuff, promising good responses and then going poof on me and I'm always in need of a good beta who can catch me on some of my big flaws and has some idea of canon issues and also, hey, HELP ME NOT USE THE SAME WORD FIVE MILLION TIMES IN ONESHOTS. Gidget is my go-to beta because she fits all those awesome requirements but her life is cooler than mine so she's often busy. AND I AM HAPPY FOR HER BUT ALSO FILLED WITH WOE. Because I am THAT SCARY WRITER WHO JUMPS DOWN BETAS' THROAT FOR CRITIQUING HER MISSPELLINGS, I SWEAR, OKAY?

/has wounded heart issues regarding betas

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

I LOVE OUTLINING. OUTLINING IS FUN. THERE SHOULD BE OUTLINING PARTIES, XD
I would come to these parties, but I would get nothing done. I'd be the drunk girl wearing the lampshade declaring it "NO PANTS O'CLOCK" who'd then pass out in the bathroom. It's not that I hate outlining, it's that I love parties...

I tend to write in universes.
I think some of the stuff I've written could feasibly been set in the same universe (particularly all those alternate future Heroes fics) but I don't do it intentionally. Every story, as far as I know, is different.

Whoa. Your beta issues. You have shown me them. I feel very lucky in that I have not had any real issues with betas (and I hope I haven't been an issue as a beta, either... eek). I have a few friends I can rely on (depending on fandom/character/pairing preferences) and they've all been awesome.

[takhallus.livejournal.com]

It depends on the pairing but mostly I tend to write either drama with hardly any sex, or sex with hardly any plot XD

I prefer prompts, when I have no prompt I get stuck and start writing aimless crap.

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

It depends on the pairing but mostly I tend to write either drama with hardly any sex, or sex with hardly any plot XD
LOL.

I hate my aimless crap. If I don't have a prompt then I end up having a half-written draft just clogging up space on my hard drive. :(

[boombangbing.livejournal.com]

I feel like my answers pretty much sum up my writing process, ie: a complete mess. Generally I open up my word processor and just go with whatever comes to me. I'm basically doing that for heroes_exchange, which is probably why it's knocking on 2,000 words and has no ending in sight. At the moment I pretty much only work off prompts as well, because I don't know any of my new fandoms well enough to write for, and Heroes hasn't been giving me a lot to work with.

And I also don't use a beta except for when I have to for a challenge...

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

I'm basically doing that for heroes_exchange, which is probably why it's knocking on 2,000 words and has no ending in sight.

Right now I have two 7k fics written - one with no end and one with no middle. Fortunately neither of them are for the exchange, but honestly I don't know which is worse.

And I also don't use a beta except for when I have to for a challenge...

I don't always use a beta. If it's something I've written for a kink meme and I'm just reposting it to my own journal, most of the time I don't worry about it. But there are some things I need a beta for - mostly reigning in my own sanity when I've been staring at a word doc for too long.

[josiefier.livejournal.com]

I'm apparently a ship fic whore. I've actually been slammed in comments for writing almost only shipper fics for certain pairings/shows. It's not my fault! I start writing one thing and it just goes there.

Angst is really my thing, for some reason. I try crack and I fail. I'm having a huge porn block myself - and I hate it. I used to be able to write so-called "awesome" smut in my sleep - that was 4 years ago. The worst review my porn fics got then were "too many adjectives" - I'll take that comment over anything that could be said about my recent ones I'm too chickenshit to even post 'cause I know they suck and not in the way they're meant to.

I'd write more crossovers but I can never figure out how to end them :le sigh:

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

I've actually been slammed in comments for writing almost only shipper fics for certain pairings/shows.

Why the slamming? There's nothing wrong with sticking to what you're good at. I hereby declare those commenters JEALOUS.

I try crack and I fail.

It's worse when you try writing something serious, and all the comments you get are "This was a great crack fic." It's like... what the hell did I write?

And what makes one smut awesome and one smut... not so awesome? I guess I'd have to join weeping_cock to know for certain.

[candlewaxdreams.livejournal.com]

All of my VM fics have been written in one sitting. They're all also Logan/Veronica with not much angst, which is easier to write for me because I'm so familiar with those characters.

I've only written for two other fandoms besides that, and one of them is a WIP that I'm currently writing. I don't know how much interest there will be since it's small fandom and I have an OC, but I'm not posting any of it until it's finished.

For the WIP (which is an AU of a movie), I imagine all the scenes in my head as I'm writing. Since my source material is a movie, it's pretty easy for me to do. I normally write several scenes each night, and I'm now up to five chapters. This is my first WIP, and while I don't have an outline, I know everything that I want to happen. It's just a matter of fleshing out the scenes.

I'm actually having trouble writing my vm_santa fic because I'm so immersed in this WIP. It's eating my brain, but that's where my muse is right now.

I don't know if *any* of this was helpful, but there ya go.

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

I imagine all the scenes in my head as I'm writing. Since my source material is a movie, it's pretty easy for me to do.
I think I do the same thing (all the fandoms I belong to are TV shows, so yeah, imagining scenes is pretty much how it goes). I think I just write down the dialogue first because otherwise I have to mentally rewind and catch it all again... or maybe my brain is just broken...

I don't know how much interest there will be since it's small fandom and I have an OC, but I'm not posting any of it until it's finished.
A little bit off-topic from the rest of the discussion, but I will tell you that I am weird about reading stories with OCs. I have no problem with OCs in general - sometimes you need to make up characters to keep the plot going - but the larger the role they have, the more resistant I am to them. Like, yeah, if it's a minor character that Sylar needs to kill, that's fine. If it's the latest scumbag that Veronica Mars is investigating, that's okay too. But when they become a main character's romantic interest or something, I'm not interested.

I also have been avoiding OCs in Glee fics like they are the plague, because every time I've given one a chance they've turned out to be a total Mary Sue.

I don't know if that's at all reassuring or not...

[moorishflower.livejournal.com]

Generally when I write one of two things happens: either it comes out of me all at once (hurr hurr that's what she said), or I lose interest, go and do something else, then regain interest and come back, and that can happen anywhere between one or ten times, usually.

Generally, the fandom I'm writing for doesn't matter so much. I mean, if I'm writing for Heroes or Supernatural or Fringe, I'm more likely to write serious stuff. As far as genre goes, I lean towards drama, but not full-blown angst, because when I write angst I make myself cry and it sucks. It's easier for me to write scenes that are tense, but not tear-jerky. I also like humor and romance, though I probably imagine I'm funnier than I actually am, lol. Not so much ship-fics, because I don't adhere to specific pairings. There are some I write more than others, but if I get the idea to write Noah/Luke then I go with it. :)

The why is pretty easy. Mostly I get ideas right when I'm about to go asleep, so I have to get up out of bed and write them down otherwise I'll forget. I can work with prompts, but those normally make me produce things that are shorter in length, which is something I'm working on.

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

When I write for memes and stuff, I tend to do it all at once, otherwise the excitement is lost. Otherwise I'll do the go-and-come-back-10-times thing.

Sometimes I'm not sure what the difference is between drama and angst. I conflate the two a lot...

Man, if I started using my sleep-associated ideas I'd have some really surreal stories.

[cadesama.livejournal.com]

I think, for me, most of these poll questions would depend on the fandom I'm writing for.

Yeah, I definitely agree there, particularly with the pairings. Some of it is dictated by length, since it's pretty much impossible for me to be funny for more than five thousand words and then best you'll get out of me then is a neutral tone with some kind of action plot if it goes much longer than that. A lot of it is also my favorite character being Peter and the characters interacting with him influence a lot of the tone of the story -- if it's Daphne, it'll be light and funny, but if it's nearly anyone else, they'll get sucked into his issues.

The actual writing process is ... eh, none of the options really cover it. I only wish that it took two or three writing sessions. I realize that while I feel it takes forever, though, writing ten thousand words in a couple of weeks isn't actually that bad. I just usually have to open the document every day and add a little bit, or revise a little. Usually I write the most on weekends or days I've been to the gym, so I've had a lot of brainstorming time where I could not actually write that instant.

I must write chronologically, too, which sucks at times. I've tried going out of order or just doing a sketchy version and then filling it in later, but that mostly results in me not bothering to finish anything since it seems "done enough." Which, again, sucks because it means that I get hung up on single lines of dialogue in scenes that I really want to move past, but can't until I don't hate them. Leaving the story to sit and ignoring it for days until I don't hate it as much is a big part of my process. :/

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

it's pretty much impossible for me to be funny for more than five thousand words

I would extend that to apply to almost everybody. It takes extreme talent to maintain the humor, and sometimes I question even the abilities of pro writers and comedians to do this.

I realize that while I feel it takes forever, though, writing ten thousand words in a couple of weeks isn't actually that bad.

It isn't? Because I tend to get frustrated after just a few days. Fortunately, though, I don't try to write chronologically most of the time, but I do have to ignore my stories every so often just so I can look at them again with a fresh mind.

[speccygeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

I pretty much just write porn.

Someone actually gave me props on my angst in a recent meme which confused the hell out of me because I am the worst at angst and I hardly ever touch the genre... I like my fanfic to make things better for characters, not worse. And if it's better because they're getting laid, well, that just happens sometimes. Most of the time. >.>

Usually if I don't finish writing something within three or four days, it's going to languish forever on my desktop. I currently have five projects I haven't touched since... September, I think? Just staring me down every time I look at the desktop. I should probably just delete them because looking at them makes me feel worse.

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

I find that, even when I don't set out to write porn, porn usually manages to find its way in there.

Don't delete those old fics, though - I recently repurposed a snippet of something I wrote a while ago, and I liked how it turned out. :)

[etoile-dunord.livejournal.com]

My writing process is kind of stupid--I drag myself through it kicking and screaming pretty much every time. (Actually, that's how I do a great deal of what I do.) I really like writing, but I have this weird quirk where I generally only write stories I haven't seen others do (which is why my mylar_fic exchange piece for aurilly turned out so weird), so I don't know how to write the fic I want to write until I've already written it. It takes a long time, and I need to write the story in order, lest by the time I reach a scene I've written in advance, I find that it's completely inappropriate for what I've written to go before it.

I like writing drama the most, but not angst. I tend to think of drama as being when the point of the story is that a lot of stuff happens between the characters, and angst as being a subset of drama where the stuff that happens between the characters is, well, angsty. I also think of romance as a subset of drama, but I generally write gen drama. Actually, the story I wrote for last Christmas' heroes_exchange turned out to be really angsty, but I didn't realize that until I got comments saying so. As I was writing it, I was just describing what happened. So maybe my angst radar is broken or something.

As for betas, I don't use one unless I have to for an exchange, but I always use the same one when beta reading is required because she's awesome. I love my beta to pieces, but I'm often looking for odd things from a beta that are hard to ask for, so most of the time it's easier to just figure things out on my own instead of describing them for my beta. Like, for instance, I'll wonder about the number of syllables in a certain sentence, or the frequency at which I bring up a certain theme. (Wow, this is making me feel really pretentious.) Sometimes I want to, like, record a commentary track for a fic detailing my concerns before I send it off to a beta. Actually, I've done that when beta reading someone else's work, and it was really useful in helping me figure out what I wanted to say before I started typing it all out.

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

I generally only write stories I haven't seen others do

That's good, though! I'd much rather read something different for a change.

And I never thought of romance as a subset of drama, but I guess that makes sense. Unless it's, like, really fluffy or humorous romance... which, in Heroes, it almost never is.

Like, for instance, I'll wonder about the number of syllables in a certain sentence, or the frequency at which I bring up a certain theme.
I find I have the same problems with my own writing, though, sometimes, but I don't think I've ever expressed it to a beta so specifically. I normally just highlight the sentence or problem areas when I email the doc and ask them if it works.

BRB going to read your story from last year again...

Here from metafandom :)

[kuro-tenshi13.livejournal.com]

What
For me, what comes out usually depends on the story. It depends on how much wiggle room I have in canon, and what plot holes I need workarounds for, and really, just the story that wants to be told. I once managed around 25,000 words simply from the prompt 'watermelon'.

Why
This is really tied into 'what' for me. A lot of my current work is for Power Rangers, which gives me a lot of plot holes that are fun to try and logic out. Plus, the characters really grab me, so I'm interesting enough in them to see where I can them. I tend to avoid prompts/challeges that pose time limits/lengths, mainly because things like that 'watermelon' prompt happen on a regular basis. (I've got another set in WIP mode and I've already cleared 50,000 and I'm not even half done.) Plus, I'm a slow writer who's working and going to school part time, so my writing time is very limited.

How
Most of my writing comes from asking either 'how' or 'what if'. Like, how is this possible? Or what if this happend? And the stories spring from there. I tend to let the idea just percolate in my mind, I play scenes in my head like mini-movies until I find the one that lets the general outline of the story flow through. Once I have a decent mental outline, usually with a couple of set scenes, then I just start writing.

Hello from metafandom!

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

I once managed around 25,000 words simply from the prompt 'watermelon'.
I'd say "there are no words for how awesome this is" but in reality there are 24,999 words for how awesome this is. That's, like, half a novel based on a kind of fruit... that isn't even a lemon. *ba dum cha*

I tend to avoid prompts/challeges that pose time limits/lengths, mainly because things like that 'watermelon' prompt happen on a regular basis.
I've been trying to wean myself off of prompts/challenges, to no avail. I find them addictive, even when a prompt grabs me for longer than I intended. I can see how it would make sense to avoid them, especially considering how you have to budget your time.

I play scenes in my head like mini-movies until I find the one that lets the general outline of the story flow through
I'd really like to hear more about this. I think I do something similar (playing scenes mentally before recording them in text - I think the same thing came up earlier in the comments, too) and I wonder what exactly you mean by letting the general outline "glow through."

[eleventh-guard.livejournal.com]

I only use beta readers for specific concerns. Sometimes for plot reasons I'll need to include a character that I don't normally write about, or I'm a little unclear about a certain era of the canon that affects the story I'm writing in a later one. Then I'll ask someone to look over that part and let me know if I got it right and, if not, what I need to fix.

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

I almost always use a beta, but who I go to depends on what specific concerns I have. So it's kind of the same... only not.

My writing process, let me show you it!

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

First I outline. I need to have an outline, even if it's the following:

Steve awakes---> becomes head of SHIELD-->action happens--->Avengers assemble!

Then while writing, I tend to fill in spaces in the arrows. But yeah, outline, better work. Or, if I can't outline, I have the thought that, "At the end of the story, the reader should feel, X and Y."

I can write a story all at once if it's a smaller story, but will benchmark stuff for later just so I don't get stuck. When writing this epic (for me!) story, I tended to write non linearly (but checking my outline just to make sure that I wasn't veering off track), and benchmarked areas that needed me to do research. I'd just write "I AM MAKING SCIENCE HERE." and move on.

Betas can be valuable if used well. They can save me a crap load of time in terms of editing my work, especially if I have fandom fests to attend to. I tend to repeat my words, and if I don't have time to put my work down and 'see' the mistakes, I'll ask someone to beta. Or, if I need help with science, I'll ask someone who has that as a background (I'm... an arts graduate) just to explain stuff to me, or direct me to websites that I wouldn't know of in the first place.

Yeah, I tend to write to prompts myself. I know that when writing self prompted work, I tend to be all indulgent, but if I'm writing for someone, I do try to tailor the story to what they might like, and even tweak my writing style to see what they like. If they like purple prose, I'll add a touch of aubergine. If they like fluff, I'll ... try for fluff. If they like dialogue that's witty, I'll throw that in, too.

Re: My writing process, let me show you it!

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

"At the end of the story, the reader should feel, X and Y."
Well, that's interesting! So you're not looking for a specific scene or resolution for the characters, but for the readers? I've never thought about doing that!

I do the benchmark thing, too, though, when working on really long fics. I think in one draft I have two separate spots that are marked "AND HERE IS WHERE ASS GETS KICKED."

I tend to repeat my words, and if I don't have time to put my work down and 'see' the mistakes, I'll ask someone to beta.
I think most writers get some sort of fic fatigue with their work if they've been looking at it too long, and thus won't pick up mistakes or spot where writing could be cleaned up. That's why betas rock my socks.

I'm curious as to how you would approach an anonymous prompt - you won't know the prompter's preferences because you don't know who the prompter is! Do you ever write for kink memes or other memes?

[robling-t.livejournal.com]

Your "how" sounds a lot like mine -- write down the bits as they come, which are often the dialogue first, and join them up however it seems to make sense. Which is why I almost never know how long something is going to be until it's actually finished... Aside from oneshots, which are generally under 5k, I've only managed to sit on two chaptered fics until they were finished to start posting them, one because it was for a big bang and one because it was a spoiler for a current WIP storyline that hadn't come to that part yet. (Oddly enough, they're both about 17k words, as it happens.) And then there was The Werewolf Story, which I thought was only going to be the drabble that's now chapter 1 until the backstory grabbed me and wouldn't let go; surprisingly enough, I did work out around chapter 4 of that that I was going to have 13 chapters of material for it and was able to plan that out accordingly. Obviously this isn't the sort of process that lends itself to formal outlining, or even conventional betaing... (the big bang required going through beta, which is actually the first time I've used one for my fic, and neither of mine found any major issues by the time it got to their hands 'cos I'm already paranoid about proofreading the hell out of my stuff ;) )

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

Which is why I almost never know how long something is going to be until it's actually finished...
This happens to me all the time. I can't tell you how many comment fics I've started that have ballooned to 5k or longer.

The Werewolf Story? Dare I ask?

via metafandom

[kazaera.livejournal.com]

Okay, so my writing is beyond weird.

Genre: My main genre tendency is that I used to only write gen, now mostly gen and even if I set out to write a pairing chances are it'll vanish halfway through. *points at icon* Apart from that, I've been all over the place - I used to write angsty introspective fic and fluff, then some crack made its way into the picture and now my main fic tends to be snark (which is so a genre).

Lengthwise, I spent years and years writing double drabbles and shortfics around 500-1k and then it suddenly blew up. I can barely get a fic under 10k these days and the thing I'm currently working on is so long it's nothing short of ridiculous. It's technically a novelisation, but I'm 30k words in and barely past the introduction. My fic *now* is mostly one-shots at around 5-15k plus one or two fics that I mentally tag as sort of infinite plus a weird exception that is sort of prospectively middling - maybe 50k? I dunno.

I hit *both* "fun" and "agonising" for writing, because writing tends to be fun but I have somehow built up this humongous amount of anxiety around writing and panic that it all sucks while I'm writing and that's kind of agonising. Um. This may be why my writing output is reeaally low - my fic count for 2009 lies at one. When I do write, I generally write chronologically; I sometimes skip to the scene I really really really!!! want to write but generally regret it because filling in the blanks becomes next to impossible. This way I have an impetus to write the boring bit to get to the bit I'm excited about. I do all my outlining and plotting in my head, which is annoying when I then leave the fic hanging for a year and forget half of it... I also *used* to work out pretty much the entire story in my head and only write it down once I could almost rattle it off, but nowadays I start writing when my ideas are much rougher and see where the keyboard takes me. (This may also depend on genre, because for the snark fics this works /wonderfully/, for the angsty pretentious stuff I used to do not so much.)

Re: betas - I only rarely use betas, because my fandom habits are bizarre and the idea of trying to find a good beta for any fic I was writing makes me want to cry. Some of the fandoms I'm in don't even have the concept of a beta. When I do use betas, it's not so much for spelling/grammar errors - I'm extremely sensitive to spelling errors bar a few, this is one of the few situations where that's actually useful - as for checking overall consistencey and, yes, for cheerleading. .///. See the anxiety mentioned above; I'll often be so convinced that my writing sucks that I can't actually write the fic at all (especially for fics I really want to write - the more I think the fic could be awesomesauce or the more people want to see it, the harder it gets) or mentally blow up extremely minor wording issues into huge flaws that block me completely. Having someone tell me "actually, I don't see what you say is so horrible here, I think it's fine as it stands" or "I like this fic! I don't see why you keep saying your writing is the most awful thing known to man" can be really helpful in getting me out of that kind of funk.

To assuage the embarrassment of admitting I need cheerleaders, I'm beginning to think I need a beta to untangle my sentences. They seem to be getting longer and longer and more and more grammatically complex (and the parentheses, oh god) and I have a lot of trouble fixing them.

Re: via metafandom

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

Okay, so my writing is beyond weird.
I think I probably should have prefaced my post with a similar sentiment.

Lengthwise, I spent years and years writing double drabbles and shortfics around 500-1k and then it suddenly blew up. I can barely get a fic under 10k these days and the thing I'm currently working on is so long it's nothing short of ridiculous.
I've found that the more I write... the more I write. I've been writing fic for maybe 15 months now, and most of my earlier stuff is comment fic or stories that top out at 1-2k. I wonder if it's just because of practice or getting more comfortable with writing or what.

I hit *both* "fun" and "agonising" for writing, because writing tends to be fun but I have somehow built up this humongous amount of anxiety around writing and panic that it all sucks while I'm writing and that's kind of agonising.
I think this is true of a lot of people for various people - and I think the same goes for almost any hobby.

Re: betas - I only rarely use betas, because my fandom habits are bizarre and the idea of trying to find a good beta for any fic I was writing makes me want to cry.
So by "good beta" do you mean one that's going to do everything for you - grammar, canon, plot development, etc.? Sometimes I use more than one beta for my fic, especially if I know one is good at one aspect, and the other is good at something else.

I love betas who cheerlead, and when I beta, I try to be as encouraging as possible. Not gonna lie, what I love about betaing is getting to be the first to read something new, and being able to take credit for helping it along in anyway I can.

[elspethdixon.livejournal.com]

I usually write long, chaptered fics (I've written ficlets and one-shots, but those are secondary, one-off things. The sit down and actually work at it, every-day writing I do it for longfics), almost invariably OTP-based, but usually with action or h/c plots. The last time I wrote a fic that was just straight romance rather than action/drama, I spent the entire length of the big bang challenge I wrote it for freaking out that my big bang fic had no plot, and my co-writer had to keep reminding me that a relationship plot *is* a plot ("You read romance novels on a weekly basis! You know the fic has a real plot!").

I write most of my long fics with a co-writer, and the two of us generally do a scene-by-scene outline first, and then write the fic with the two of us sitting in front of one computer together and me typing (when in different physically locations, we talk on the phone, I type, and then I email her each 200-500 word segment as we go. Or I type the scene in lj comments). Dialogue is often the first part of a scene that gets written, with us going back to add in physical descriptions.

One real benefit of outline is that it lets us work a fic out in detail when we first get the idea for it (usually when in the middle of writing something else) and then save it to go back to it later. And having a structure set in place before we start writing makes writing much easier, because most of the heavy lifting of plot, structure, etc. has already been done when we start writing.

My co-writer reads the beta commentary and does the editing, because I hate editing and she likes it. Plus, I've found that criticism works well for me when a story's in the outline stages and hasn't actually been written yet, because then it feels like brainstorming ideas with someone, but can be anxiety-inducing when the fic's already partially written, when it feels like being graded -- I can do it, but it's easier to make her do it for me (I never wanted to look at term papers when the teacher handed them back to me, either. I had to *force* myself to see what grade I'd gotten, and then force myself to read the notes the professor had written on it). Which is one reason why we like to send our outlines to be beta-ed -- plus, major changes in structure or pacing or plot that would be impossible to do once it's written without gutting the fic and starting again from scratch are easy in the outline stage.

[elspethdixon.livejournal.com]

Hmm... It's probably also worth adding that I tend to think of key visual images or emotional high points in the fic first, and then come up with a fic to go around them. The longest fic I ever wrote basically exists for the sake of four scenes -- 1. one female character bathes by candlelight and a second female character watches her, 2. main character A and main character B have one night of stolen time together in the middle of a war before A has to return to the front and probably death, 3. main character B kills the main villain in a specific, extremely badass way, and 4. main character A is tortured by the bad guys and main character B finds him in his cell and thinks for a second that A's dead and he was too late, but (yay!) he isn't. The Id-vortex stuff comes first, and then comes the work of making a framework to hang the Id-pr0n on and then trying to make the result actually good.

Here from metafandom! :D

[fakeplasticsnow.livejournal.com]

What
I'm kind of the same way -- I'll try any genre once (except for supernatural/AU, my brain just isn't hard-wired for that sort of thing), but it mostly depends on what fandom I'm writing for. I've only been in LJ 2 years and had 3 fandoms: I spent enough time in American Idol RPF fandom to try everything from humor/crack to angst, depending on the pairing; I was a hardcore Isaac/Peter shipper in Heroes fandom, so my fics were all dark and twisty, with occasional flashes of humor; now I'm in Glee, and I doubt I'll stray far from the romance/humor wheelhouse.

As for story length, I think it's not dependent on which fandom, but my experience with different fandoms. The more fandoms I've been exposed to, the longer my fics tend to be. Back in Heroes, I used to think 4,000 words was long. Now, post-Idol where long fic was the "in" thing, I find 10,000 words to be average. I do fully-fleshed out plots now, with large supporting casts, so that usually means a longer story overall.

Why
I used to do prompts and fic challenges, but now that I've started college, I don't have the time for it -- I only write when a plot bunny bites down hard and doesn't let go. I find that the more inspired I feel about a plot, the better the story that comes out of it.

I do, however, have a habit from fandom to fandom of writing gift fics for my frequent reviewers; I ask them to give me a prompt and a pairing, and I make something out of it.
I do better with very specific prompts (even outlandish ones).

How
I can take anywhere from 4 hours to one month to complete a fic, depending on how inspired I feel to write it. I almost always write in a linear, start-to-end fashion; it doesn't turn out quite as nicely if I jump back and forth between scenes.

The thing about beta readers is, it's extremely difficult to find a good fit. You don't want someone who has the same set of strengths and weaknesses that you do, because then there's a certain level of error-blindness involved. Conversely, you don't want someone whose style is radically different from yours, because your styles might clash and the fic kind of loses its essence after all the edits. I've lucked out with exactly one beta, who taught me a whole lot about writing, but outside of that, I prefer to self-edit.

Re: Here from metafandom! :D

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

The thing about beta readers is, it's extremely difficult to find a good fit.
The more I hear from people on this topic, the more I realize how freakishly lucky I have been as far as betas go. I've never had a bad experience, and I've never felt that any one of my betas has done less than a bang-up job.

I do better with very specific prompts (even outlandish ones).
Then do I have the prompt table for you!

[paperflowered.livejournal.com]

I have got to check my flist more, because how did I find this on metafandom first??

what
I'm working on a year-in-review thingamabob, so I've got this subject on the brain! Although I entered into big fandoms at first (House, Heroes, Harry Potter - ooh, all H's), I'm lately much more interested in smaller fandoms, like books (y helo thar Paper Towns, is that a plot bunny?), and in larger fandoms, the minor characters (I quit Supernatural this year, but would still like to write an awesome story about Jo Harvelle, thankyouverymuch SPN fandom). I tend toward writing romance/sex, strangely enough; I like reading gen and plotty fics much better. I think I tend toward more unconventional pairings (there might be a couple of reasons for this: mostly I dislike really popular ships in a fandom, largely because they're usually guyslash but also because of fandom attitudes, and because the biggest pairings have writers and stories that are already doing amazing things I'm not capable of, so I'd rather tread on new ground, so to speak). I do very little crack, humor, or crossovers (which are always crack-y in my head, never serious) because, besides being sarcastic and dry, I'm not that funny. My fic leans toward serious, though it's not always angst (I used to write really wangsty angst). I really love vignettes/scenes that are very character-centric or episode-tag-style, because I have no head for plot. I hope that'll change, because there are longer stories that I want to write (a novel-type epic is rattling around in my head for Syfy's miniseries Alice) but I don't know whether that's a skill that can be taught, or how.

why
Why I write what I write - well, like you I mostly enter challenges/fests; having a deadline pushes me to actually finish things I start, although that's much less true now that it was a year or even six months ago (now I cave under pressure; I have several fests that I'm in full BEARS mode over, and not in the fun communal-flailing kind of way). As for the general why, I like the feeling of having an audience's attention and the sense that what I'm saying matters to someone, if just for a moment.

how
Oh sweet baby jesus have mercy! UM. I don't do a full outline, but I do make notes on some of the things I want to see (usually not a long list, given that my stories are in the 2-3k range typically). Sometimes I make a scene list, which can be really helpful. Notes on tone, what I want to accomplish with this story/scene/whathaveyou, the directions I think the characters are going in and how. I tend to write beginning to end, but that's not saying much with shortfic. Although I think my creative process is changing drastically because of my mental state & the events of the last year, so all of the above may not actually apply any more, or for much longer, haha.

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

I have got to check my flist more, because how did I find this on metafandom first??
I don't know how this got on metafandom in the first place - I might have left off the last poll question had I known...

I tend toward writing romance/sex, strangely enough; I like reading gen and plotty fics much better.
I wonder how many people have this divergence between what they write and what they read. I know I do sometimes.

I have no head for plot... I don't know whether that's a skill that can be taught, or how.
This is a good question. I mean, even in formal creative writing classes I imagine it's still a struggle. I'd like to say that the best way to learn is by doing, or by reading a lot of plotty things, but I really have no idea.

As for your how, I think I've done a lot of what you describe, but I find that my process will vary from fic to fic. The only thing I don't really do is write from beginning to end, unless the fic contains only one scene.

I come from metafandom

[lyndseas.livejournal.com]

As with...probably everybody else...my writing process is weird. Back in the day, when I actually completed things, most of what I wrote was 500-1000 words long. Of course, that was before I started doing NaNoWriMo, and now I don't have any ideas that could be written to be that short- which is kind of depressing; I have this tendency to not finish longer fic (my NaNo novels being a fluke, and not up to my standards). I get distracted by new ideas, since I am an idea factory, or can't figure out the plotline to write. From experience I know that if I don't write it in order, I never go back and fill in all the parts I need to fill in- so I write in order, even though that's not what I do naturally. I can't write endings if I don't know where it's going to end from early on in the writing process- I end up just cutting it off at some random spot.

What genre I write is mostly defined by the characters, I think. It would completely break my brain to write fluff with Bruce Wayne as the main character. Sometimes it's defined by the plot- I tend to write a lot of "it's canon until the point I start writing, then it becomes AU" fic, which can change the genre my brain is willing to write in- if the fic starts off with a death, it's not going to become fluff (probably). I have a number of ideas which could be considered crack, but I really can't write anything other than seriously, regardless of the plot- which, unless I'm confused on the terminology, means I can't write crack.

I have a close and antagonistic relationship with my muse; she tells me to write and what to write, and I do. The antagonistic comes in when she wants me to write things I really don't want to write. She doesn't let me write to prompts at all.

Beta readers are something that's making me unhappy at the moment. Ideally I'd have a beta reader who gave me constructive criticism: plot holes, characterization,etc. That said, I've actually only ever gotten that when I posted my nanowrimo on fanfiction.net, oddly enough- which was something I hated enough by that point that I didn't want to have anything to do with it. Where are you when I *want* to edit, concrit?

Re: I come from metafandom

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

What genre I write is mostly defined by the characters, I think.
Oh, I agree with this. There are some characters that definitely lend themselves to certain genres, and to read anything else would make them seem OOC. Not to say that there can't be some great Bruce Wayne fluff out there - I just think it would be terribly difficult to do well, and it might not attract an audience.

I have a number of ideas which could be considered crack, but I really can't write anything other than seriously, regardless of the plot- which, unless I'm confused on the terminology, means I can't write crack.
I guess if you took those cracky ideas and wrote about them seriously, it could turn out to be parody or satire, or just a really ironic story. I'm not sure.

I must have hit the beta jackpot, because mine have always been willing and able to provide concrit and encouragement. But then I don't think I've ever gotten concrit via review, unless it was a minor spelling/grammar nitpick or an HTML issue.

Here via metafandom.

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

I'd like to add to the 'beta as cheerleaders' thing that it's not so much encouragement I necessarily need as someone to brainstorm with.
"Okay, so you think pairing this guy up with himself would be hot, and I agree and would like to write it, but how're we going to work that into the plot?"
"Well, there's that cloning facility they used that one time."
"Good point! But an alternate universe version of this guy would be fun too, what would they be like?"

And so on, I need people to brainstorm with/encourage me as much as I need a beta reader who can tell me when my canon or my characterisation or spelling/grammar/punctuation is off.

Re: Here via metafandom.

[cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com]

I guess the poll options are a little bit limited in terms of what roles betas can play. I forget sometimes that they're very useful during the actual writing process, and not just in helping polish the finished product.