What's Your Writing Style?

[DonnaDuck]

When you write, do you just focus on pumping out the story and finagle with the editing later or are you meticulous about what reaches the page initially and pore over it as you go along?

How do you section out chapters? Do you write the whole shebang and then go through it once it's finished or do you know where each chapter ends and where a new one begins?

For those that write serials, do you know where one book ends and the next begins or do you just write the whole thing and carve it up when you're done?

For me, I write just to get it out and I'll worry about editing and continuity later on. It's relatively linear but if I don't write how the pen wants to flow, it won't come out right so I write, let it do its thing and then I'll go back to it. As for chapters, I'll only know, in my fantasy WIP, where one ends in hindsight. I won't be able to tell when I'm actually writing it. With my Coney Island piece, each chapter is a specific story so it's pretty clear cut. Considering my fantasy is looking to be a serial, my aim is to write 500k words and then carve it up once all that's done. I just won't feel like I can have the first book right if I don't know what's coming in the last. My lines of demarcation aren't clear as of yet.

So what about you? How do you write your book?

[Elladog]

I get it down and edit later.
I write the first draft by hand, and do a lot of editing when I type it up. I divide into chapters after a couple of edits.
I have found that trying to get it right the first time just clogs me up.

[joyce]

With my first novel I tried editing as I went along. That was a big mistake, at least for me. The second one I just let the words flow. I'm now in round one of editing. If I try to edit as I go along, it seems that I'll never finish. I figure I can flush out all the flaws once I'm finished. I do have chapter breaks as I'm writing, though when finished I may break one into two. This just works for me. I need to feel like I'm going to finish or I get too depressed.:D

[slcboston]

I, uh... well... WOW, that's a lot of questions in one post. :D Hmm, where to start?

Mostly I worry about the editing only after I'm done - or if I get "stuck" someplace. Then I'll go back and edit. Especially for my short stories, which I tend to just crank out as the idea comes to me and only go back and look at once I've put the final "the end" on it. One of my reasons for this is also the varying word counts of different places that I might submit it. I get the idea out first and then worry about the word count second.

It's mostly the same way for chapters. I tend to see each chapter separately and so write them that way. The breaks just seem to come - for the most part - naturally to me and I know about where to cut them. I'm also a subscriber to the theory that generally speaking chapters ought to be about the same length. One page chapters generally annoy me, unless they've got a specific purpose. :)

I have a recurring character, but couldn't even imagine attempting an actual serial. :D

[OverTheHills&FarAway]

Depends on the story!

Typically, though, once I get the first 10,000 or so words locked in--or else, up until the first major huge unchangeable crossing-the-threshold plot point--I can continue relatively uninhibited until the end. But those first 10-20k words...I like beginnings, they're fun, but they're also hell to write for the first time.

That's why I write them many, many times.

And by that point I usually know where the story's going and I can write the middle and the end pretty quickly, just chugging away and letting the words flow.

Chapters just kinda happen, as I'm writing. I have no clue beforehand how many I'll have and whatnot. They just form themselves into nice little chapters.

All this tends to happen whether I outline or not. My subconscious is my greatest ally!

[DeleyanLee]

When you write, do you just focus on pumping out the story and finagle with the editing later or are you meticulous about what reaches the page initially and pore over it as you go along?

I get it down as best I can and then go back and edit the scene/chapter as soon as I'm finished with it to add all the layers needed before moving on. So, I guess that's a bit of both.

How do you section out chapters? Do you write the whole shebang and then go through it once it's finished or do you know where each chapter ends and where a new one begins?

By feel. Usually, I write a sentence and know that's where the chapter's got to end, so I end it there.

[CaroGirl]

I'm a "pantser" (which means I don't outline). I write scene by scene. I don't formally edit as I go, but I've usually thought about a scene before I write it, so it's fairly well formed before it hits the computer.

[Dragon-lady]

I am a fairly meticulous writer--I hate sloppy writing whether it's the first draft or not. I just can't bring myself to just put it down without using an internal editor. It might would be better if I could, but there ya go. That's the way I am. So I write carefully even with my first draft. And I always know where the chapters go. I just know.

[williemeikle]

I write in the mornings, edit in the evenings. I've been doing it for years now, and the routine works for me.

Willie

[sheadakota]

I have the story in my head but that doesn't mean that's what's going to end up on the screen-

I write it down and make it up as I go- sloppy first draft- then I go back and edit and rewrite and edit- so on and so forth-the important thing to me is that I get the puppy down while the idea is still hot in my head.

[Dreamer3702]

I rewrite the first 2k fifty million times or until it feels right. Then, I plunge forward! I only go back to edit the WIP when I get stuck.

Where to end a chapter comes naturally. As far as my series... I have a rough idea of how I want to end them before I start writing. Once that story arc is over, so is the book and its time for the next one.

[ClaudiaGray]

I do a lot of outlining ahead of time, so I know where I'm headed and roughly how long it ought to take me to get there.

Then I write through, linear fashion, mostly concentrating on laying down words. If a scene or chapter is definitely not working, I'll stick with it, but mostly I want that first draft. The whole time I work on the first draft, I have another document called "Things to Fix" open on the other side of the screen. When I think of something ("You know, I'm not sure I've covered X enough,"), I immediately jot it down in Things to Fix. That way, I have an action list of things to take care of ASAP on the second draft.

The second draft is usually about big fixes.

The third draft is about smaller fixes.

The fourth and fifth drafts are fine-tuning.

[Paichka]

I do rough outlining -- I have five acts to my book, and five chapters per act. Before I start writing each chapter, I have an idea of where it needs to end, and in what state my characters need to be before the next chapter. What happens along the way usually comes as a surprise. :)

[roskoebaby]

I write scenes as they pop into my head and then go back and fill in the rest. It is a very random style, lol, but it's worked out pretty well so far.

[Shadow_Ferret]

I just write it. Then I edit it when I'm done.

And my chapters just naturally break.

[Zelenka]

I write it without paying much heed to editing at first, though if something is really annoying me I will go back and edit tiny things so I can go on. If it's a really big thing that needs editing, I put a 'comment' on using MS Word (which leaves a little yellow highlight over the section, and if you hover the cursor over it, you can read the notes you left yourself). I can then jump from comment to comment easily when it comes to editing.

I outline, loosely at first, just things like 'section 1 - MC does such and such, section 2 etc' so that I can see the shape of the overall story, then I go into more detail for each chapter as I come to it, working out the exact moves etc. In terms of breaking chapters up, usually that comes naturally to me, though I have seen me in edits, if I've added a great deal or taken stuff away, I've changed the break.

For those books I know will be part of a series I outline it the same way, with a kind of general arc for the series, then I will do rough notes for the 'shape' of Books 1, 2, 3 etc, then go into more detail for the one I'm writing at present.

[Elladog]

I do a lot of outlining ahead of time, so I know where I'm headed and roughly how long it ought to take me to get there.

Then I write through, linear fashion, mostly concentrating on laying down words. If a scene or chapter is definitely not working, I'll stick with it, but mostly I want that first draft. The whole time I work on the first draft, I have another document called "Things to Fix" open on the other side of the screen. When I think of something ("You know, I'm not sure I've covered X enough,"), I immediately jot it down in Things to Fix. That way, I have an action list of things to take care of ASAP on the second draft.

The second draft is usually about big fixes.

The third draft is about smaller fixes.

The fourth and fifth drafts are fine-tuning.
You described (much better than I did) what I do, exactly. Except that since I do my first draft longhand, my "Things to Fix" file is actually a collection of scribbles and post-its on the first page of my notebook (or occasionally on the page that contains the issue).

[ACEnders]

I just write to get it out. Well, my first book I did that, and then I went back and revised it a million times, broke up the chapters a little better, added and deleted things.

With my current WIP, i'm doing it mostly that same way. Except my best friend loves to read it as I go along, so if she suggests a big change, then I consider it and go back and fix it if I need to.

[Stew21]

I just write it. Then I edit it when I'm done.

And my chapters just naturally break.

ditto

[ishtar'sgate]

I fuss over my opening - a lot. I have written and chucked out about a dozen openings for my WIP but I seem to be approaching something I like. The rest of the manuscript is revised daily. I usually go back to what I wrote the previous day, make whatever alterations I think necessary and then continue on. I do that all the way through the novel. Once I've written 'the end', I set it aside for two to four months then go over it as many times as I think necessary. I always want it to be better so I usually don't put a stop to my 'tweaking' until I begin getting requests for partials or fulls.
Linnea

[Brighid]

I am a fairly meticulous writer--I hate sloppy writing whether it's the first draft or not. I just can't bring myself to just put it down without using an internal editor. It might would be better if I could, but there ya go. That's the way I am. So I write carefully even with my first draft. And I always know where the chapters go. I just know.

Dragon-lady and I seem to be in the minority. I am very meticulous and can re-write a sentence a dozen times before moving on. As I finish each chapter I go back over it one more time, but more for spelling, punctuation, etc.

Working with a rough outline, I generally know where the chapter ends.

[OddButInteresting]

I outline, loosely at first, just things like 'section 1 - MC does such and such, section 2 etc' so that I can see the shape of the overall story, then I go into more detail for each chapter as I come to it, working out the exact moves etc. In terms of breaking chapters up, usually that comes naturally to me, though I have seen me in edits, if I've added a great deal or taken stuff away, I've changed the break.

This sounds like my style, right here.

I threw together a nifty Gantt Chart back in November. X boxes down (# of story branches) and Y boxes across (# of chapters). Inside the boxes I've bullet-pointed the major events and happenings within each respective chapter. So I have a plot.

From there I've been developing each bullet-point on seperate pieces of paper, getting progressively more detailed the deeper the planning goes.

For example...

[Bullet-point] Character A meets with Character B. They talk/shag/fight/whatever.

[On a separate piece of A4] A questionnaire:

Where does this scene take place? (answer explored on a seperate sheet)

Who is present? (as above)

What time of day is it? (you get the idea)

Basically I build it all from the ground up. A single bullet-point is developed over numerous hand-written sheets of A4, and each separate sheet usually spawns a number of others: like a family tree of notes.

If I'm writing a script I tend to be much less thorough, as the extra detail is rarely necessary. It's essential if I'm working on my novels though, as I tend to get stumped and hate having to use placeholders (because I sometimes forget where I left them).

[KTC]

I am always meticulous. But I don't think about being meticulous while I'm writing. It just happens.

[Fresie]

I guess, some might find my writing habits rather funny, but they do work for me. I did try, in the past, to "write first, edit later" but it definitely didn't work for me because I inevitably got side-tracked big time and ended up with a kitchen-sink mess instead of a plot. Then I tried to outline first, and it worked even worse because, as I discovered, a story that seems pretty believable and low-key in an outline turns out totally larger-than-life Hollywood-ish when I actually write it down.

So for years I've been doing it my way, and it definitely works for me:

I think in scenes, 1000-2000 words in length, so the first day I jot most of it down. After that, I spend the rest of the day thinking about it, changing things in my head, making it more logical and believable. Next day, I reread what I wrote (which is always awful), I edit it until I'm relatively happy, I introduce all the changes, and write on. Then I spend the rest of the day thinking.... you got it. Every day I add a few paragraphs until I come to the end of the scene, all the time editing the previous bit, and all the time thinking and changing the actual events, until I'm relatively satisfied with the scene and can't think of anything else to change; I print it out and move on to the next one.

On average, it takes me about a week to do 2000 words, but then it's basically done. Most importantly, not only the writing itself is relatively edited, but the characters in every scene do natural things :), the dialogue is relevant :) and the conflict is in place. Which means every scene gets about 6-7, sometimes 10 rewrites, while technically it's still the first draft.

[icerose]

I'm like in the middle of the two.

I write pretty fast but I also am careful about what makes it on the paper. I despise editing and want to cut out as much of that stage as I can. If something bothers me on paper I will work with a few times to get it right.

Names are my biggest trip up. I give characters a unique designation until I come up wiht a name for them. That way I don't have to sit there and agonize over it.

[HourglassMemory]

I'm sort of a perfectionist. I need to have the scene THERE for me to go on with a stable mind.
I'm learning to leave a rubbish behind, because, after all, it's only the first draft.
but I keep going back constantly and fixing little things.
I sometimes feel like punching myself because of how annoying I sometimes become with my little nitpicking.
It waste my time on just one sentence.
It really annoys me, because even if I leave it alone, it's like it doesn't come to me as well as it could. I'm constantly tweaking when I could be advancing the story.
It's stupid, honestly, because this makes me waste a lot of time.

I'm a horrible amalgamation of edits and first drafts and final drafts and god knows what else.

That's what you get when you're a first time writer and you go for an epic that tries to be different from everything out there.

How do I do my chapters? They just cme really. I end a group of scenes, and if the next scene is a sort of time jump, and in another setting, that's a new chapter.

[rossmart34]

Is "fumbling/bumbling" a writing style..?

[Danger Jane]

I write really slowly. I want every word, even on the first draft, to count as much as possible. So on a busy day, I'm pretty much spent after about 400 words. But they're 400 good words. I can't write a crap first draft with the intention of getting it all on paper as fast as possible. Like KTC, I am meticulous.

Continuity and subplots, though, I fix later.

[IdiotsRUs]

Kinda depends really. I never used to outline at all, and had so many false starts ( and gods know how many thousand words got deleted)

Now I try and just get it down. I have a rough outline, and I absolutely have to have a scene to aim towards. I'll fuss a bit over words / sentence structure, but if I can't get it right I just plough on.

I kind of edit as I go in that each time when I start writing I read over what I wrote yesterday - it gets me back into the story/ world and I take out the more hideous style aspects such as saidisms etc.

The reading back what I did yesterday has helped so much in just being able to plough on - I know I'll be looking at it with fresh eyes tommorow so I don't have to worry too much, I can just get on and write.



BTW, as I suffer from tangentitis ( I can go from the geology of the Devonian to the latest episode of Scrubs in one easy bout of tanget), I've been thinking of writing my query / synopsis first, to keep me more or less on track. Anyone else do this?

[Esopha]

When you write, do you just focus on pumping out the story and finagle with the editing later or are you meticulous about what reaches the page initially and pore over it as you go along?

I hate editing, so I never do it while I'm writing. The first draft is usually a loose string of the scenes I know must be in the novel. Then I edit. The first pass is to edit out the crap and tighten the plot. The second pass is for word choice and characterization. The third pass is for description, word choice, and anything else I forgot to deal with. The entire time I'm editing, the story itself solidifies.

How do you section out chapters? Do you write the whole shebang and then go through it once it's finished or do you know where each chapter ends and where a new one begins?

I tried to write the whole shebang all in one go, but it's easier to divvy up the novel into chapters if I write with chapters in mind.

For those that write serials, do you know where one book ends and the next begins or do you just write the whole thing and carve it up when you're done?

I know exactly where each novel ends and the next begins, because even though some characters stay the same, the stories stand on their own. For the most part. There's one storyline that depends on the backstory established in previous books, but other than that they're all disjoined.

[akiwiguy]

I write really slowly. I want every word, even on the first draft, to count as much as possible. So on a busy day, I'm pretty much spent after about 400 words. But they're 400 good words. I can't write a crap first draft with the intention of getting it all on paper as fast as possible. Like KTC, I am meticulous.

Continuity and subplots, though, I fix later.

Sounds a bit like me, but it is something I'm working on changing. I'm trying to speed up first drafts, mainly because I can't immediately see my work very objectively and am therefore probably going to have a lot of editing to do anyway.

But first edits I become really meticulous. My underlying thought is basically... "every sentence of what I have written has to be contributing to the scene, and furthermore I want it to contribute as powerfully as my skill allows."

So, compared to where I was at say a year ago... if I have a little passage of dialogue that is "ok" in the context of the scene I'm writing, I'd now tend to question... but can I make that dialog more interesting in its own right? Perhaps to slightly reveal a more subtle aspect of what is transpiring or a deeper aspect of the characters... whatever fits.

I absolutely love "Crafting Scenes" by Raymond Obstfeld. Perhaps more than any other book I've ever read it is changing the way I think about my writing. Without directly quoting, it sticks in my mind his describing each scene of a story like a rubber ring keeping the whole afloat. The more powerful and memorable scenes in a story, the more likely the whole thing keeps afloat. The more weak and forgettable scenes, the more likely the whole thing sinks into mediocrity.

So as my own skill develops in its own little way, I'm trying to become more and more observant as to passages that I've handled rather lazily, that could be lifted. And its intriguing how by editing, say, one little line of dialogue a whole new aspect of a character becomes clear, one that I may have never seen before.

Don't you love those ocassional "oh wow, yes... now that is quite good" moments? In whatever way we experience them given our current ablities.

[DonnaDuck]

While I'm more inclined to "write from the hip," so to speak, I do get side-tracked in the telling of the story. I know what I want to focus on, the bare-bones plot of my story but right now I'm stuck info-dumping some history of the world because it just appeared there as I started writing. Whether it'll become it's own story or remain in the novel as a whole is yet to be seen but I must get it out since that's what my brain is telling me.

I've never outlined a story before-hand but, with this one, I think I might have to just because I have so much information already and I'm only 20 written pages in. I have all of these subplots, what could potentially be separate stories, not to mention characters that once I mention them, their history just pops into my head. The only was I'm going to be able to keep track of all of this information is to outline but at this point I have no idea where it's going to end and I really don't want to know. I know where I need to get to in the story but, even at this point, I have yet to determine whether that's closer to the beginning or the middle of the story.

[Mumut]

So what about you? How do you write your book?

I'm like you, I let the pen lead the way. But I find that I start to feel insecure if I don't revise regularly. When I review, I might find a person doing something out of character or the action heading to a dead end. I don't like to do too much re-writing, so I re-read often. I don't think of anything except the story, it's continuity and continued excitement. The editor doesn't come into it.

By the way, before I get fully into the story, after I've decided on the main characters, I write about half a page biography for each of them. I start from childhood and include any factory which have caused them to be like they are in the book.

As for chapters, because I write historic fiction, I throw all the action in one location, into one chapter. This means a chapter can be quite short or very long. I haven't had any criticism about this even though I worried about it before I was published.

Cheers

Mumut

[Indirectly]

The first book draft I finished I wrote using a loose MindMap outline of my own devising. The second one I finished I wrote using a chapter-by-chapter outline. The third one I am currently writing by the seat of my pants. (The story told me to do it.) It's all very intuitive right now and yet seems to be coming together better than the first two (knock on wood).

Well, actually, to be more specific, I spent almost a month outlining, plotting, researching, and worldbuilding. Then I threw all my ideas and notes away and did nothing for about a month except forget them, now I am writing something else as it comes to me. Yet I have the feeling that my month of plotting and nothinging was not wasted even though I'm not writing what I set out to write. It was grist for my brain, now my brain is spitting out something better than I consciously created. I recognize a few of the pieces. That's my theory anyway. I'll see what happens from here.

(Is it a sign of insanity when one begins to regard one's brain as a seperate person? If so, I'm strangely okay with it.)

[Varthikes]

When you write, do you just focus on pumping out the story and finagle with the editing later or are you meticulous about what reaches the page initially and pore over it as you go along?

I tend to fiddle with it as I go. If a line I just typed doesn't seem right, I'll try to work it out. Or, if I'm trying to figure out what to add to make it better, I'll spend some time on it. Though, if the scene is going slow, I'll just put down what I have and move on. Then, try to work it out when go back to edit.

How do you section out chapters? Do you write the whole shebang and then go through it once it's finished or do you know where each chapter ends and where a new one begins?

I separate it into chapters beforehand, as I'm working on the outline. I use a chapter-by-chapter outline.

For those that write serials, do you know where one book ends and the next begins or do you just write the whole thing and carve it up when you're done?

I usually know how I want to end each book in the series to end. In fact, that's usually one of the first things I have down with a couple lines outlining plot.

[Fresie]

The more powerful and memorable scenes in a story, the more likely the whole thing keeps afloat. The more weak and forgettable scenes, the more likely the whole thing sinks into mediocrity.


I can't agree more! I tend to think in scenes, too, and try to make each as powerful and vivid in its own right as possible. Also, I can't remember who exactly said it, but in every good novel, there's always one unforgettably quirky scene that sticks in the reader's memory. Don Quixote fighting windmills, this sort of thing. If you think about it, there's always one in every good book.

And as for chapter breaks, I love what Holly Lisle says: Something ought to change. Once the situation's changed so that there's no way back, that's where the chapter ends.

[HourglassMemory]

I can't agree more! I tend to think in scenes, too, and try to make each as powerful and vivid in its own right as possible. Also, I can't remember who exactly said it, but in every good novel, there's always one unforgettably quirky scene that sticks in the reader's memory. Don Quixote fighting windmills, this sort of thing. If you think about it, there's always one in every good book.

And as for chapter breaks, I love what Holly Lisle says: Something ought to change. Once the situation's changed so that there's no way back, that's where the chapter ends.

Wow! My stories are basically vehicles for that sort of stuff. I'm always creating eccentric and extreme scenes that could leave a footprint in the reader's mind! Because that's what I look in other stories.

[Sonneillon]

My method is to develop the characters as fully as possible (which takes very little time because they tend to spring forth, Athena-like, full grown and ready for action), drop them in a situation, and let them take it from there. I can put obstacles in their paths, but they decide what to do about them. I can offer plot hooks, but they decide whether to follow them. It's an undisciplined method because it means I very rarely have more than a vague, generalized idea of where the story might be going, and at any moment it could veer off in a different direction. Still, I have found that it contributes to the vividness and believability of the characters themselves.

And it creates amusing scenes when they vastly overreact or over-plan. I get a kind of sadistic pleasure out of that:

Kite: OMG, it's a rokh, FLEE!
Rokh: La dee da, enjoying the thermals, such a beautiful day... oh, hey, moving things. La dee da, thermals...
Kite: OMG, it might have killed us!
Yinn: *sweatdrop*

I've never had problems figuring out where a chapter should end - that has always seemed to fall naturally. Usually, I put a chapter break where there's a break in the action, such as when they fall asleep after an argument, or when I want to shift focus to a different set of characters. Also, I try to keep in mind the average number of words per chapter, and keep it somewhat consistent. Usually, it works out without my having to worry.

[Feathers]

So what about you? How do you write your book?

Mmm. I wouldn't call myself one of those meticulous types that has to make sure every sentance is perfect, but I try to keep the basics in my head as I'm writing, and I make sure I'm pushing to reach the standard I've set for myself. Besides that, I don't really edit until after I've written half the book, and then I outline everything and rewrite the beginning, then the end, and then I edit.

Most of my chapters fall pretty much into place. My last story had chapters between 10-15 pages long. This book has chapters between 2,000 and 4,000 words long. Whatever fits the feel of my book. Most chapters end themselves. I never end chapters mid-scene, so I have about 2-3 scenes per chapter, and try to end it with a "finished" feeling.

I once planned on writing a trilogy. (never happened, btw.) I wrote the first book and planned the second two out. I always thought each book in a series/trilogy should stand on its own, so I made sure each story was it's own "story," approx the same lenght as the other books, and that they all came togethor to form a coherent whole.

I like my stuff to be tidy, without being cramped. I have to outline as I write. Mostly, I edit words in my head before they ever come out.

So. Me in a nutshell ;)

-Feathers

[Feathers]

I can't agree more! I tend to think in scenes, too, and try to make each as powerful and vivid in its own right as possible. Also, I can't remember who exactly said it, but in every good novel, there's always one unforgettably quirky scene that sticks in the reader's memory. Don Quixote fighting windmills, this sort of thing. If you think about it, there's always one in every good book.



Mmm, I second Hourglass. My stories always come to me in scenes.

[HeronW]

I let the characters wander bitch fight moan then they look at me and say, 'well, wtf are you lookin' at? You gonna do something or just sit on your thumbs and wiggle?'

Uh, so I wiggle and walk off to figure out what they do next. Then I get revenge by rearranging what they've done. :}

[KarlaErikaCal]

When you write, do you just focus on pumping out the story and finagle with the editing later or are you meticulous about what reaches the page initially and pore over it as you go along?

I write it out first. Then edit. But for my first chapter, I had to edit it b/c I'm sending it off to the Iowa Young Writers' Studio.


How do you section out chapters? Do you write the whole shebang and then go through it once it's finished or do you know where each chapter ends and where a new one begins?

I know where each chapter ends and when a new one begins. I'm actually planning ahead 2-3 chapters then write the first few chapters.


For those that write serials, do you know where one book ends and the next begins or do you just write the whole thing and carve it up when you're done?

I'm planning on my WIP to be a series, but I havent laid out the foundations of it yet. After I've done that then I'll decide whether I'll continue from there.

[M.P. Furo]

First, the characters come to me in a flash of inspiration or fevered hallucination, and it takes quite a bit of time for them to develop. Like fetuses in my brain. Maybe that's why I'm having so many headaches lately, haven't been writing much. Then, I figure out what these people are supposed to be doing, which doesn't take long because it's easy to figure out what two or three or five people will do when placed in any given situation. They'll probably fight, then get rid of their problems, and that's when I stop because otherwise it'll end up erotica.

Then, only when I have the entire story sans details outlined in my brain, I get out my little green flash drive and start writing. Then I have to make sure my beginning is perfect (beginning meaning however long it takes for everyone to hate each other) and then attempt to charge through without revising. Chapters mean nothing, outlines mean nothing, I just write wherever the characters take me and if they take me somewhere I don't want to go, I erase it. At the end, I revise everything again several times, which takes forever. Then I die a little bit. Then I repeat with other characters, or maybe the same ones.

[ascribe]

I try not to worry too much about the actual words at first or I'd never get anywhere. I start with a main charcter and a list of chapter outlines. I know I'm onto something when the character becomes real and the outline goes out of the window.

[BlueLucario]

My writing style? When I write chapters, I start with chapter one...two... etc. And make deadlines for each one. My chapter five is due Feb 30. It has to be finished by then.

As for my style in general, I don't know, just trying to figure that out.
but I have read books and this forum and compile all the writing styles together.

[Charlie Horse]

My writing style? I just write. Then I edit. Then I edit some more. When I'm done, I start writing again.

I don't plan anything more than jotting down plot points etc. in my journal. I like to let my story and characters surprise me.

[Bufty]

Good luck, Blue! :Shrug:

My writing style? When I write chapters, I start with chapter one...two... etc. And make deadlines for each one. My chapter five is due Feb 30. It has to be finished by then.

As for my style in general, I don't know, just trying to figure that out.
but I have read books and this forum and compile all the writing styles together.

[Hopcus]

I make the chapters as I go so I can figure out where I am... if that makes sense. I also pre-edit as I go, but once I'm all done I go back over the full ms and do revisions.

[TurkeyLurkey]

I do all my outlining and images first.... then I just plow through the story. :)

[Chasing the Horizon]

I start with a detailed scene-by-scene outline (tried writing without this once. To say it didn't work would be an understatement. After 12,000 words I found myself back to exactly where I started . . . except the hero was now a car thief, which had nothing to with anything . . . yeah.) When I'm writing my mind is entirely on the moment-by-moment details, so the only time I really see how the pieces fit together is when I outline.

I don't really edit as I write, but I do pay close attention to how the scene is turning out. This is more an 'overall' thing, not picking at every word or sentence. I just want to be sure the events and actions are solid so I don't have to rewrite anything later. I usually ignore rough sentences when I'm actually writing, because I know I only notice about 20% of them, so fixing the few I see won't keep me from having to line edit later. Unless it's so bad I'm afraid I won't remember what I meant, I just keep going.

I both write and edit out of order. Usually I'll line edit a chapter when I finish it, and give the whole book a once-over when it's finished (mainly looking for places I repeat information, forgot to put in necessary information, or contradicted some detail from the previous scene because they were written two months apart). I have a strict 1-2 rule with editing: everything gets edited once, nothing gets edited more than twice. Something about how I write means editing more than this actually weakens the scene.

I do very little revising (with my last novel I cut a couple scenes and rewrote half of one chapter). 99% of the kinks were worked out in the outlining phase, so there really isn't much left by the time I'm actually writing. (I have a huge pile of 'this so didn't work the way I thought it would' outlines, though.)

I know exactly where the chapters will begin and end and where the books in my series will be divided because of the outlines as well.

[Linda Adams]

When you write, do you just focus on pumping out the story and finagle with the editing later or are you meticulous about what reaches the page initially and pore over it as you go along?

Neither. The current WIP is quite a departure from how I've written anything before. I write steadily through, trying to get everything reasonably right--though I won't spend time perfecting it. In the past, I would go back and revise, but right now I'm content to add a sheet of notebook paper at the end of the scene with some notes. The only minor revision I'll do before I put the scene to bed is make a quick pass for tense issues. I'm writing in present tense (don't ask me why; present tense just became part of the story), so I see if I slipped into past anywhere. Even then, I'm not doing a careful check.

How do you section out chapters? Do you write the whole shebang and then go through it once it's finished or do you know where each chapter ends and where a new one begins?


Again, another departure from how I would have normally done things. Before, I would have written it chapter by chapter, but for this one, I'm doing it in bite-sized sections. They all run about four or five pages, about one writing session's work. Not sure why I'm doing it like that, but so far, it's working for me.