writing habits of Dresdenarians

[Yeratel]

I actually type my outlines and notes into word and then print the material to keep on the desk for easy reference while working. Something about having it on paper...

I liked to cut and paste by actually cutting and pasting, shifting the physical pieces of paper around so I could see the whole flow, and inserting new pieces when a new idea would arise.

Having been paid to write, do you now find it difficult to care about grammar and spelling when you are not being paid to do so? Like on a posting forum? (Nothing implied.)

I'm a little more free with slang and colloquialisms in the forums, all the tech writing was in Standard Business English in the company approved format. I don't use spell check here, and sometimes mistype, but I'll go back and correct it if I notice.

[SailorYue]

one thing i always have had some problens with, is if im given something to write about, like for school. i had to write my own satire in 12th grade Brit-lit. i couldnt. but i can make up stories if i enjoy the subject, IE fanfiction.

tho i HAVE come up with original stories... none have ever left my imagination's vault. theyve deteriorated over time, so i doubt ill ever get them wriiten

[Malakai Jones]

1. Laptop, pen and pencil
2.Wish I did set aside time, usually just when I have a spare moment I'll write a little
3.No, No, that will cause your book to have a stale feel, only write when you want to, otherwise you'll make a less-than-quality writing
4. Have an outline, helps keep my head organized..lol
5. Wherever my laptop can sit, I'll write..lol
6. Either one, I like silence the best tho. Outdoors, or listening to relaxing music, (ex. Enya, Jazz, Blues, etc.)
7. Little bit of both, create main character, then go from there..
8. Once again, little of both. I'll write a chapter, then read thru it, edit, and go on. After every 2-3 chpters, I'll read thru all those together.
9. lol, only to trusted friends. But I enjoy the feedback, only makes for a better piece of writing.
10. My most difficult would be long dialogue and bridge scenes.
11. I'm writing a "dresden-esque" novel that focuses on a college kid who is recruited as the squire of the Archangel Michael. Demonic attacks plague the college, so the main character and his friends must defeat the hellish threat that looms in the future.

[meg_evonne]

Don't forget to include some strong female characters (see other thread) and you might have a best seller there. 

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

Don't forget to include some strong female characters (see other thread) and you might have a best seller there. 

How are we defining "strong female characters" anyway ?

I do seem to have a bias for writing female characters being strong in traditionally male ways, and vice versa.  A convincing strong male nurturer is an interesting challenge.

[Suilan]

How are we defining "strong female characters" anyway ?

I've always liked this definition -- http://www.tasteslikephoenix.com/articles/women.html

[Adam]

Writing habits.

It's nearly 4 AM, and I'm listening to the 80s.  Right now it's Orgy - Blue Monday.  A bit of a classic.  I usually write at night.  Although now that I've graduated and need a real job, I'm sure that will change.

Strong female characters.

I grew up watching the Saturday afternoon adventure movies.  The old films with a young hero, an older sidekick hero, a damsel in distress, and often a young guy in a sideways cap with a chimp.  In EVERY such movie, the group would be fleeing some problem (a giant rolling boulder, a lava flow, a crazy giant jungle monster, et cetera) and the girl would twist her ankle and fall, forcing the men-folk to stop, pick her up, and almost die because the problem gained ground on them.  I blame that particular piece of Hollywood stupidity for me hating the idea of weak women.  I like women who are mentally and physically competent, the more so the better.  If a woman has an engineering degree and can kung fu kick a robot's head clean off its shoulders, that's the woman for me.    So I guess in that regard, you might say those stupid old films were a positive influence.

[Adam]

I've just written a truly disgusting scene.  Vomit-worthy.

[blgarver]

Hey everyone, I have returned from my lenghty absence...

-Use a computer, old-fashioned typewriter, or pen and paper?
 Computer for the writing, pen and paper for the brainstorming

-Set aside a time every day to write?
 I try, but due to Real Life it doesn't always stick.  My writing schedule comes and goes in random clusters.

-Force yourself to write something every day, even if it comes out stilted?
 If I'm on the productive part of my writing cycle, yes, I make myself write no matter what.

-Have an outline, or just start with an idea?  If an outline, how detailed is it?
 Thus far, no outline.  But I'm edging toward the use of one for my next book since my current book is so disjointed.  Editing this thing   is going to be hell.

-Have a room or area specifically for writing?
 I usually write at Borders or Perkins Restaurant (I have a table there), but I recently got a new place with an office that I turned into my writing/creative room.

-Play Queen or Queensryche to shut out the world, or do you need complete silence?
 Music is a must.  Usually moody stuff like Tool or dramatic movie scores like Braveheart and Gladiator.

-Start with plot, or with characters?
 Usually plot.  Then it switches as I start developing the characters.

-Edit and re-write as you go, or when come to the end?
 I try to keep moving forward, but if I've been away from the story for a while I usually go back a chapter or two and read up to where I left off, during which time I make changes here and there along the way.

-Show your rough draft to others, or re-write first?
 I have select people that get to test read my rough stuff.  It's both a confidence booster and a practical audience test.

-Struggle most with dialogue, exposition, action scenes, or bridge scenes?
 I wouldn't say struggle.  Sometimes the action and exposition comes out a little clunky, so I have to take some time to smooth it out, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I struggle.

-Talk about what you are writing to others?
  Absolutely.  I mean, my writing is at the forefront of my mind every second of the day, so it's inevitable that I talk about it.  I try to reign it back with non-writers, but when I'm around my fellow wordsmiths, we talk about the craft all day long.



BLG
blgarver.tripod.com

[SailorYue]

off topic: LOL on your icon. If Harry lived in South Park XD

[stingray00alex]

-Use a computer, old-fashioned typewriter, or pen and paper?
Computer.

-Set aside a time every day to write?
No. When the mood takes me, or when I have a particularly good idea, or when I have nothing else to do and time to burn, I write.

-Force yourself to write something every day, even if it comes out stilted?
No.

-Have an outline, or just start with an idea?  If an outline, how detailed is it?
I've despised outlines since high school english. I generally write without a written plan, but I have a layout somewhere mentally. Most of the time.

-Have a room or area specifically for writing?
Beauty of laptops, can go anywhere. Starbucks ftw!

-Play Queen or Queensryche to shut out the world, or do you need complete silence?
I write the same way I read: Anywhere, with any distractions. When I'm doing either of those things, I'm completely unaware of anything going on around me.

-Start with plot, or with characters?
I start with neither. I focus on ideas and concepts to guide my writing. For example, my current book focuses on Syntropy opposed to Entropy. All plot and charactes are somehow derived from that. I know, it's horribly vague and general, but I get my best plot elements and characters by using general concepts, usually antithesis's, as central ideas. Antithesis's? Antithesisii? Antithesises? Bah. To quote Dresden, stupid latin corrospondence course.

-Edit and re-write as you go, or when come to the end?
Definitely as I go. Particularly urgent ideas usually leave out such meager considerations as grammer when hurridly typed out, and the next day I usually make major revisions.

-Show your rough draft to others, or re-write first?
To others, I've gotten a lot of good feedback on my writing from it, which is especially valuable in my case because this is the first book I've undertaken. Other than English class essays, (I'm a high school senior graduating in just a few days), I've not received any review of my writing, until I decided to start writing my aforementioned book.

-Struggle most with dialogue, exposition, action scenes, or bridge scenes?
Dialogue for me is easy. Action scenes are my specialty. Bridge scenes are also not particularly difficult. No, what I have trouble with is the overall length of scenes. The problem isn't a lack of detail, it's that oftentimes my scenes are simply a tad too short, as if I'm trying to hurry to the next one. Character development is also something I need to practice, perhaps a symptom of my aforestated lack of cohesive planning in my writing.

-Talk about what you are writing to others?
Almost everyday.

[bloody crumpet]

1 .pen and paper, and sometimes on scraps of it @ work.

2. I try but sometimes let my characters bump around in my brain awhile before letting them out.

3. not as much as I'd like. grrr.

4.start with an idea. 90 percent of the time I hear character conversations in my head and then roll with it. or maybe thats schizophrenia. sigh.

5.YES!! i have a vampire/cabaret lair in my basement and it's all MINE!!

6.music=life, for me and my characters. eclectic though, not a set soundtrack.

7.edit and rewrite all the time. in fact I am spending more time on my "finished" first then my unfinished second.

8. show some people. turned half of it in for a final project in college then started to "tweak" it again based on how characters developed in book two. and now im stuck.

9.not enough filler it seems to me sometimes. if that even makes sense to anyone else.

10. i live in writer solitude. i wish i had others to talk to...thats why i found you!!!!!