Writing Process (or, procrastination at its finest)

[cruiscin_lan]

I'm working on like five fics at once over here, so I've been thinking a lot about writing and the writing process, and I was wondering if anyone else wants to join me in this overthinkity-thinkingness (sarahetc, here's looking at you).

Let me start by disclosing this - fic is not the only thing I write. I mean, everyone's written stuff for classes and whatnot, and so I've done a lot of that. I've been writing fiction for fun since I was a kid, and even now I belong to a writing group that meets at least once a month to engage together in prompts and exercises.

One difference between these different modes of writing (besides the obvious) is the way I write for each of them. In writing group, for example, everything we write is immediate; there is little or no preparation and, unless you're really good at time management, you don't usually get a chance to edit or revise much. I'm usually able to come up with a polished little nugget of writing that I may or may not want to go back to work on later, and that's okay by me.

For academic stuff, I spend a lot more time preparing to write than I do actually writing (unless I've procrastinated, which is a special case, because I'm making shit up as I go along). I do a lot of reading/research, a lot more organizing, a lot more prewriting. Sometimes, if I'm really on top of my game, I'll even compose a detailed outline before I ever put a pen to paper (yes, I still use pen and paper. I'm old-fashioned like that, I guess). And, because I normally start this process mere days before the assignments are due, I find that revising sometimes takes a backseat to editing - i.e., I will put aside higher-order concerns like "Does my thesis even make sense?" in order to fix grammatical errors.

And then there's fic, which I've found to be a completely different writing experience. In some ways, it's easier to get your plot bunnies... plot bunnied. You're working with an already-established universe with already-established rules of operation, as well as already-established characters who have already-established traits and behaviors. This means, to me, that I'm able to skip a whole lot of exposition and go almost straight into the story that I want to tell.

You sure do like the phrase "already-established."

Yeah, I know, sorry.

Also, I don't think you can use "plot bunny" as a verb.

Whatevs, yo, verbing weirds language. Anyway, back to what I was saying. For example, writing for the Heroes fandom, I don't have to start every fic by explaining that some people have superpowers. I don't have to go into detail about what Primatech and Pinehearst are, or what any of the main characters look like, because I can assume that anyone interested in the fic is already acquainted with these details. Sure, I can add them in for the sake of style and storytelling, but instead of spending a paragraph describing Angela Petrelli's role physical appearance, I can reveal detail a little more subtly, as in "Since Angela Petrelli had taken control of the Company, the brunette bombshell did this." Or something. That was probably a bad example; I hope you get the gist anyway, since you're an intelligent (and attractive) person, reader.

Angela Petrelli has sexy, sexy gams.

Very true. But back to our discussion. Even if you're writing something that's blatantly AU, your audience is familiar with at least part of the world you're writing in, and you fill in the blanks where the universes are different.

Anyway, I've found that my personal writing process varies from one fic to the next. Sometimes it depends on the length I'm trying to reach. If I'm writing something short (say, less than 500 words) I often just write it all out at once, simply going over it once or twice after it's all written out but not usually doing all that much revising. And then, other times, it depends on what happens in the story. If much of the fic involves a conversation, I find myself writing out their dialogue first and then going back to add details after I know what the characters are saying. And still at other times, I don't know what the hell I'm doing.

As far as preparation goes, I find that with fic, I do a significant amount of reading and research, especially if I'm writing for characters with whom I'm not as familiar. I always have the wiki open in another tab so I can double-check even the tiniest things that I'd like to include: the exact address of Sylar's apartment; the name of the burger joint where Monica worked; what movies Adrian Pasdar's been in.

That last point is probably not all that pertinent to fic, no matter what you're writing.

Dude, don't knock the Pasdar. I don't care what you say about Nathan Petrelli, but Adrian Pasdar is a beautiful, beautiful man. So much so that I forgot what we were talking about. Oh yeah - writing fic. So in addition to researching and some quirky form of prewriting, I also sometimes like to have a beta go over my stuff. Sometimes I don't, because I'm pretty overconfident in my ability to punctuate correctly, or because I'm more concerned with posting when I have a chance to, or because I don't have any kind of quality that resembles patience in any way, shape, or form. However, I used one at first because I was shy about jumping into this whole fandom business (thanks, aurilly!) and I sometimes I'll beta and brainstorm with dragynflies, especially when I'm suffering from writer's block.

And so now, when I totally intended to work on any one of the five fics I've started, I've gone on and on about the writing process that is not actually processing anything right now. But I'm still curious: If you write fic or anything else, what is your writing process like?

Comments

[ayalecia.livejournal.com]

Frenetic. Once I've got the ideas in my head I can't stop till they're out. I'm generally not very organized, and not patient enough to wait for someone to proof read.

Lol, I love reading anything you write it seems, it's all very entertaining
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