25 Days of Writing Meme - Day 10: How would you describe your writing process?

[tippetariuswrites]

10. How would you describe your writing process?

Lots and lots of early drafts. Lots and lots of rewriting. Lots and lots of editing.

The standard writing advice is to go ahead and write a shitty first draft. The idea is to just get some words on the screen and then rest of the work won't be so hard. So that's what I try to do. First I write some notes to help me figure out what needs to happen in a chapter. Then I write a shitty first draft. Then I write a slightly less shitty second draft.

Usually I stall somewhere between the second and third draft. From then on it's like I spin my wheels trying to figure out why everything feels wrong. Why is this chapter not working? Why am I not relating to this character? Why is this dialogue so clunky? Are these scenes really in the best order? Are all these scenes even necessary? Did I pick the best point of view character? If I do this thing here, will I have written myself into a corner several chapters from now? Slowly I keep writing, rewriting, editing, and making notes until I'm finally done. Usually I'm happy with the chapter in the end, but I can't help wondering, isn't there an easier way to get the same results? I'm still figuring that part out.

1. Tell us about your current project(s) – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?
2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project.
3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway).
4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like).
5. What character that you're writing do you most identify with?
6. What character do you have the most fun writing?
7. What do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? Would others agree?
8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read?
9. Are you more of a drabble or a longfic kind of writer? Pantser or plotter? Do you wish you were the other? Both, or neither?
10. How would you describe your writing process?
11. What do you envy in other writers?
12. Do you want your writing to be famous?
13. Do you share your writing online? (Drop a link!) Do you have projects you’ve kept just for yourself?
14. At what point in writing do you come up with a title?
15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)?
16. Tried anything new with your writing lately? (style, POV, genre, fandom?)
17. Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations?
18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.
19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe 'too often', trope you can’t get enough of?)
20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)
21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as? (film, webcomic, animated series?)
22. Do you reread your old works? How do you feel about them?
23. What’s the story idea you’ve had in your head for the longest?
24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?
25. What part of writing is the most fun?

Comments

[unavee]

The few rare times that I've finished a draft, I've stalled out before I've reached those questions. It's really amazing to me how other people can work through the difficult process of editing!

[tippetariuswrites]

Ha, yes, I find the whole editing thing much harder than actually getting words down. I've started adding some books about writing to my reading list, and I'm thinking about looking into one called "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" by Renni Brown and Dave King. It gets a lot of recommendations, so I'm hoping to learn some things that'll make the process easier.