Snowflake Challenge 3

[keiliss]

Day 3

In your own space, talk about your creative process - from what inspires you to what motivates you to how you manage to break through blocks. Does your process change depending on the type of creating you're doing? Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Some days I can talk about this for hours, others not so much. Not sure what kind of day today is.

Inspiration --- I like having pictures around that seem to relate to what I'm writing and will spend ages trying to find the 'right' desktop, but I don't usually get an initial idea visually, though there was one notable exception. Mainly I ask what and why a fair bit, or people mention things and I see a gap no one's filled or a concept that is just so right.... Sometimes (often when I'm up against a deadline - wonderful inspiration, deadlines - Red has an icon about that) I give myself a one line suggestion and see where it goes (this is usually after a meltdown and swearing I'm dead in the water this time). If I can dimly see my way by the end of the first page, I keep going. If not, I delete and start over. I can't keep on with something hoping eventually it'll talk to me, it either does or it doesn't.

Sometimes just starting with a bit of dialogue can kick things into action (that usually involves Erestor). And sometimes there are stories that have been waiting a while and the time is right so they arrive, like Elwing in Windborne. Most important to me is knowing what I'm writing about --- just the core point, which tells me what it's meant to be about and where it ends... EQtDoubt was over 102,000 words long, but still could be summed up as 'Elros leaves for Numenor'. When he sailed, it was time to wind down.

I don't like discussing what I'm doing much once I start. I'll talk round it but when I'm writing, that's what I do, time for brainstorming is over. I write in stages - draft, tidy up, edit grammar and phrasing, edit story. My first drafts are horrific, a way of getting the story out of my head and onto the page quickly. I don't tidy stuff, I don't fuss with grammar, I go back and start cleaning once I've got to the end. If it's days and days of writing, I'll even avoid reading back more than necessary, just keep the story moving.

Do not like the necessary evil that is editing though.

I had terrible writer's block last year for months, but that was mainly an emotional response to a health issue. Normally though if I'm half way with something I assume I got some step along the way wrong and try and find a different direction. If that doesn't work and I can't just let it go and move on, I keep writing till it starts making sense again.

Motivation? Ohh, you mean besides challenges and swaps, situations where the fear of shaming myself and having to leave the fandom keeps me writing? Heh. Basically I write because I'm not happy when I don't. 'Person who writes stuff' is part of my self-identification. It doesn't have to be good 'stuff' or even get shown to anyone, but I need to do it or know that I can do it if I just stopped playing Cradle of Rome or if I could just make something of the MSV prompt...........

Oh, I should probably shut up now. Not reading over this, just posting it.

Comments

[aglarien1.livejournal.com]

"If I can dimly see my way by the end of the first page, I keep going. If not, I delete and start over."

I think that's very sound reasoning! I'm just hovering at the end of page one and it seems to make some sense, so I guess I keep going...

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

I find I often end up deleting part of the first page later, but it walks me into the story, so to speak. Good luck :) I haven't started yet, just finished back to back swaps and need to breathe for a few days, but I have a nice request.

[akamine_chan]

I don't like discussing what I'm doing much once I start.

I'm the same way. I don't want to lose the momentum I've got going when people say "What about this or that?" Usually the first time anyone sees it is when it's sent to beta.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

That's me too, otherwise I'd end up confused and trying to go in three directions at once. I might show my beta after a few pages if I'm not sure what I'm doing works, but that's just for a stop/keep going comment.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I always hyperventilate when you say "delete." Do you means actually delete like erase, eliminate, throw in the trash actual prose? I never do that. I will remove it from a story and save it in case I need similar language in the future. I never delete anything. I really do believe that the actual construction of sentences must be far more difficult for me.

I can have dialog in my head for years waiting for me to write a story.

just the core point, which tells me what it's meant to be about and where it ends... EQtDoubt was over 102,000 words long, but still could be summed up as 'Elros leaves for Numenor'.

I can usually sum up my intent or focus of a story in a sentence. Relating to my story The Princess and the Horse Lord (still a WIP of nearly--between published and not yet published--200,000 words) is about the younger generation of post-war leaders--Eomer, Lothiriel, Faramir and Eowyn. I was not at all interested, except as background in Aragorn or Arwen after the war, or Elrond, Galadriel, pr the Hobbits or the whole Imadris crew. They are very important to the ambience of the story, but are not main actors.

That was it! And plenty enough material for an epic novel. [It should have been a trilogy--lesson learned!]

Very interesting. We do something alike and other things very, very differently.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Really delete, lol. Select copy and press the del key. Unless it's one of those cases where I write a scene I like but it doesn't fit with what I'm doing or it stops dead and doesn't want to go any further. I keep those and they show up elsewhere later (usually, I have a few that've sat around for years).

You get it right first time, none of that editing and patching and moving things all over the place. You have no idea how I envy you.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I just think deleting is the bravest thing in the world--it shows confidence in the future, in your own inspiration, in the bottomless pit of energy and imagination. I am always afraid that I just hit my peak and everything will be downhill from here and I just deleted the last decent 300 words I'll ever write.

Maybe I'll never have any use for that language or that setting or that kind of scene ever again, but I can save it, just in case I ever need it. Believe it or not, I actually do sometimes find myself needing something I saved, edited or reworked, in slightly different circumstances, another character, or even another fandom. Something made me want to write it the first time. It might be the seeds of another story wanting to be told.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

I think it comes down to how we write? You would have 300 carefully considered words, while I'd have 300 words I threw out in ten minutes and can see have no potential. If you deleted, that would be brave. When I do, I'm being practical :D I can usually feel when something isn't right. It's far less likely to happen once I've gotten into the story though - that's when scenes I might hold onto are more likely to happen.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I was not thinking of it that way. I was thinking that the 300 words took and hour and were based on something that had been considered over a much longer period of time. (Maybe something one had been thinking of a way to use for ages!)

There is it again! The writing process is so very different for each person. Sometimes, when I am in a very optimstic and self-congratulatory mood, I might think that you and I might be somewhat similar in writing style. Doesn't mean we used the same method to get there.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

I think we might do something quite similar, but it's a bit like the difference between a good traditioinal cheesecake and one of those deconstructed versions beloved of some chefs (a heap of crumbs here, a little round of baked filling there, a few fruit scattered around and a strawberry coulis in one corner *g*). You write each sentence as a whole, polisihing and editing as you go along, while I do it in stages, because if I lose momentum getting the story out initially, I struggle. At the end, we probably spend equal time on those 300 words and I'm way less likely to kill something that's at the end of the process.

[red-lasbelin.livejournal.com]

I hyperventilate when she says delete too. She has snippets of things that are brilliant but not full fledged stories yet, and I'll say wait, tell me what you are deleting again?

[nienna-weeper.livejournal.com]

Here is the contents of my Gil-galad folder. I won't feel hurt at all if they aren't to your taste - just thought I'd give it a shot :)

(http://s892.photobucket.com/user/leebeesuzanne/media/Elves/92c66ad0d84904714ccefd7f5b10f7d5-d4o53z5_zps0559962d.jpg.html) (http://s892.photobucket.com/user/leebeesuzanne/media/Elves/tumblr_static_sidebar_zps1e21b700.jpg.html) (http://s892.photobucket.com/user/leebeesuzanne/media/Elves/611889_zpse712c613.jpg.html) (http://s892.photobucket.com/user/leebeesuzanne/media/Elves/gfotrprologue2_zps0dad7ad0.jpg.html)

[nienna-weeper.livejournal.com]

Movie Gil-galad is only nice when fuzzy, lol! The first two are my favorite. Blue guy is a bit too pretty but on the right track. :D

[nienna-weeper.livejournal.com]

Aaaand, I posted these to the wrong entry. Oh well, my intent was good. xoxo

[elfscribe5.livejournal.com]

oooh, really like the first two. Movie Gil-galad, umm, just no.

[nienna-weeper.livejournal.com]

Me too and I know, right? He's not too bad in the fuzzy pic and the actor himself is gorgeous. I did not like what they did to him AT all. They made him look like a middle aged school principal in elven armor, Heh.

[elfscribe5.livejournal.com]

"A middle aged school principal in elven armor" LOLOL!

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Movie-Gil - I never worked out why no effort got made to make him look in the least elven. First guy - oh, who is that by? I'm sure I've seen him before. I love the armour. Second guy - yes, I've seen that one. Maybe a very young Gil, first battle, Blue guy is interesting and I can't work out why - there's a vibe there. Thank you, darling *hugs*

(and yes, definitely a middle-aged school principal in elven armour :D)

[nienna-weeper.livejournal.com]

It's called 'The Spirit of Battle: The Last Elven King' and it's by elfkin on DeviantArt.

XOXO

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Thank you!
*loves*

[talullahred.livejournal.com]

lol!!! After a decade finally someone speaks the truth. :D :D

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

LOL!!

[chaotic-binky.livejournal.com]

I love the first two.

*Hugs for evol twin*

[nienna-weeper.livejournal.com]

Meeee toooo! :D

xoxo

[elfscribe5.livejournal.com]

I'm always interested to hear about other people's process, which is a little different for everyone I think. I keep hoping for tips that will improve mine, but mostly it's just whatever will get the job done. And that's just plain work -- lots and lots of it. I'm feeling despair right now that I'll never get my project done, wondering if I should try a short piece just for something different, but realizing that's only keeping me from the long piece. I find that making and sticking with a daily word count is about the most effective way to push words out. I'm capable of endless editing, that part is easy for it -- it's getting the first draft that is like giving birth to an armadillo. What project are you working on now?

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, we're almost polar opposites - getting the first draft out once I have a semblance of an idea is fine, but I find editing really hard work.

Writing daily is what they all say is vital and I know the more I write the more I can write - I just completed two back to back swaps and the second one moved along a lot faster than the first (though that could also have been about style). Are you talking with anyone about what you're doing, sharing the frustration, getting encouragement? I remember you had a writer's blog for a time, but I don't think you've used it in quite a while? Original fiction has always struck me as quite a lonely path, because one thing about fandom that I think will stay with all of us is the sense of community and getting support when the muses aren't cooperating.

Current project - I always panic when I stop half way with something but this year I decided I wasn't having my life run by some overambitious fic so I left Burning Bright 2 and signed up for two swaps (lotr_community and SeSa). Holiday's over now, so I have to get back to the monster. I had the sense to leave it on chapter 6, which at least should be more fun to work with than the previous one. The break and writing something else has made me more enthusiastic about it and it felt great to stretch a bit, so maybe it's worth considering doing something short and unrelated?

You're a wonderful writer, you know. All you need do is trust yourself and believe in what you're doing and it will get done eventually.

[elfscribe5.livejournal.com]

You're a wonderful writer, you know. All you need do is trust yourself and believe in what you're doing and it will get done eventually.
Thank you so much for that much-needed boost. Trusting oneself and believing in what we're doing, harder to do than one would think. Hugs!

[talullahred.livejournal.com]

Motivation? Ohh, you mean besides challenges and swaps, situations where the fear of shaming myself and having to leave the fandom keeps me writing?
Story of my life. :D

I find your process really interesting.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of wailing and hand wringing involved too, and panicked LJ posts *g* (you might have noticed this).

[chaotic-binky.livejournal.com]

Giving yourself a one line suggestion and seeing where it goes is a good idea - I bet some really good stories come from it. So is abandoning a story you cannot see the ending of beyond the first page. How many people write a story with no clear ending and cannot finish it?

Good luck with the MSV story :)

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

I've tried pushing through with something even though I'm having to force the words out and the result is never pretty. I'd rather cut my looses and not waste time I could spend finding another approach that works. Or playing Cradle of Rome *g*.

I have no idea what to do with the MSV. It's very open ended, exactly the kind of nice relaxing prompt you think you want till you actually have to write it, lol! I need to settle in and think about it.

And yes, beta work is underway!

[chaotic-binky.livejournal.com]

I am around tomorrow and the day after for brainstorming a plot if you would like?

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Thank you :)