cruiscin_lan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cruiscin_lan) wrote2009-12-22 04:03 pm
cruiscin_lan) wrote2009-12-22 04:03 pm
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Hey writers. Let me poll your brains.
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 ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
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.
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.
Here from metafandom! :D
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
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!