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
Entry tags:
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.
no subject
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.
no subject
Nonsense! Who doesn't get all warm and glowy inside from affirmation from strangers?
The funny thing is, I learn best by example, and yet millions upon millions of words read have not yet taught me how to structure a long story. I suspect I'm just going to have to buckle down and DO IT ALREADY WHARRGARBL, but I'm terrible at beginning things and never getting around to middles/ends. Le sigh.
edit: millions of WORDS, WORDS damn it
no subject