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Snowflake Challenge Day 11: Process
By the rules of the challenge, I know it's okay to skip days and go out of order, but I still feel weird having passed up Days 9 and 10. Oh well, here goes.
Day 11: Talk about your creative process(es) — anything from the initial inspiration to how you feel after something’s done. Do you struggle with motivation or is it a smooth process? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to pull out when a fanwork isn’t cooperating? What is your level of planning to pantsing/winging it?
I feel like I've written a fair amount about creative process over the years, but it's been awhile, and I have a feeling a lot of what I've written has been in response to Tumblr memes that are now lost to the ages. (I've been contemplating exporting all my original posts from Tumblr and crossposting them somewhere, but it sounds like a lot of work, and I'm not sure what I would do with them. It's weird, knowing how fragmented my online presence became for a few years there.) So this seems like a good opportunity to put a bunch of thoughts in one place.
So, process. It varies, to a certain extent, depending on the source of the inspiration. Like most creators, I draw inspiration from all kinds of sources: consuming media -- especially a rewatch/reread/replay; for some reason I'm more likely to make inspiring connections and get ideas my second or third time through -- prompts, meta discussions, hearing a song, random musings in the shower. Once the idea strikes, it typically goes one of two directions. Sometimes, I am struck so hard by an idea that I can sit down at the keyboard or pull out my tablet/phone and start furiously typing, getting as many words out as I can while the rush lasts. Or, and more often these days, I force myself to the blank screen and try to type something, anything, just to have the form of the idea in a tangible form. The second version involves a lot of false starts -- typing a few words, deleting them, trying something else, going back to the first wording again -- and frustration, but I still feel better for having done it, because as soon as I have tangible words, I have something to work with, and that's infinitely better than a blank page. And sometimes, the act of forcing the words brings other words and suddenly I'm on the first path, with the words and ideas flowing at a brisk pace. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's the best.
Regardless of how I start, I tend to proceed in fits and starts. Sometimes I'll have a good writing day; sometimes it's like pulling teeth. I've tried to figure out what makes the difference, but there's no clear pattern. More time is helpful, and fewer distractions are helpful, but I've definitely had days where a long block of writing time just means I give myself more latitude to run down rabbit holes and let myself be distracted. Turning off the Internet is one of those things that rarely works for me, because I'm more distracted thinking about what I might be missing than I am by the Internet itself. But every once in awhile, especially if I'm on deadline, I will turn off the wifi. One thing that's a must is music -- silence is no good. I have several playlists designed for different writing moods, or I'll just put the whole phone on shuffle and let it run.
More often than not, I write on my laptop (an 11-inch MacBook Air, which I adore), but if I'm on the go, I'll sometimes write on my phone or iPad. Most of my composition is in Byword, a simple Markdown editor. I like two things about it -- the very simple, uncluttered interface, and the easy portability of documents between platforms. Then, when it comes time to do a final edit, spellcheck, and format for posting, I switch to Microsoft Word. Word has its foibles, but I've been using it for decades (for school, for work, and for writing -- when I first started writing fic, I composed in Word exclusively for several years), so I know those foibles well. The exception is long and complicated stories, like Wardens of Ivalice. For those, I compose and do most of my editing in Scrivner, which is great for organizing multi-threaded stories. When it comes time to stitch the parts together, once again I'll do my final editing/formatting run in Word. Most of my writing happens at my desk, but I also like to go out to a coffee shop when I can. The impersonal bustle going on in the background usually helps keeps me on track, much like listening to music. I try to get out at least a couple of times a week, either after work or on a weekday that I'm not working.
I plan almost nothing in advance. I only outline long stories, and those outlines tend to be flexible and very loose. I almost never know the end of a story before I start writing it. Part of the reason I write a story is because I want to find out what happens! I edit as I go, even in early composition phases most of the time. I know this goes against all the writing advice, but I find errors and imperfect wordings too hard to just ignore. One exception: if I'm participating in a writing sprint, the objective of which is just to set down as many words in a specific period of time, usually 20 minutes to half an hour, as possible. I find writing sprints really helpful, and I need to get back in the habit of doing them. They're particularly good for getting unstuck. One lesson that I keep relearning is that I won't get over a block by not writing. There's nothing wrong with taking a brief break from a story or a journal post, but if I step away too long, I lose my momentum, and it's like pulling teeth to get back to it.
As long as I've been writing fic, endings have been the hardest part of a story for me (followed closely by titles). When I can feel a story wrapping up, it takes some effort to decide how much more it really needs. Once a story is done, though, I try to get it posted as quickly as possible -- do one last edit, format for posting, agonize over a title for a few minutes, and go.
So that's my process, more or less. Feel free to share yours, whether or not you're participating in Snowflake. I always enjoy learning from other people's experiences.
Day 11: Talk about your creative process(es) — anything from the initial inspiration to how you feel after something’s done. Do you struggle with motivation or is it a smooth process? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to pull out when a fanwork isn’t cooperating? What is your level of planning to pantsing/winging it?
I feel like I've written a fair amount about creative process over the years, but it's been awhile, and I have a feeling a lot of what I've written has been in response to Tumblr memes that are now lost to the ages. (I've been contemplating exporting all my original posts from Tumblr and crossposting them somewhere, but it sounds like a lot of work, and I'm not sure what I would do with them. It's weird, knowing how fragmented my online presence became for a few years there.) So this seems like a good opportunity to put a bunch of thoughts in one place.
So, process. It varies, to a certain extent, depending on the source of the inspiration. Like most creators, I draw inspiration from all kinds of sources: consuming media -- especially a rewatch/reread/replay; for some reason I'm more likely to make inspiring connections and get ideas my second or third time through -- prompts, meta discussions, hearing a song, random musings in the shower. Once the idea strikes, it typically goes one of two directions. Sometimes, I am struck so hard by an idea that I can sit down at the keyboard or pull out my tablet/phone and start furiously typing, getting as many words out as I can while the rush lasts. Or, and more often these days, I force myself to the blank screen and try to type something, anything, just to have the form of the idea in a tangible form. The second version involves a lot of false starts -- typing a few words, deleting them, trying something else, going back to the first wording again -- and frustration, but I still feel better for having done it, because as soon as I have tangible words, I have something to work with, and that's infinitely better than a blank page. And sometimes, the act of forcing the words brings other words and suddenly I'm on the first path, with the words and ideas flowing at a brisk pace. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's the best.
Regardless of how I start, I tend to proceed in fits and starts. Sometimes I'll have a good writing day; sometimes it's like pulling teeth. I've tried to figure out what makes the difference, but there's no clear pattern. More time is helpful, and fewer distractions are helpful, but I've definitely had days where a long block of writing time just means I give myself more latitude to run down rabbit holes and let myself be distracted. Turning off the Internet is one of those things that rarely works for me, because I'm more distracted thinking about what I might be missing than I am by the Internet itself. But every once in awhile, especially if I'm on deadline, I will turn off the wifi. One thing that's a must is music -- silence is no good. I have several playlists designed for different writing moods, or I'll just put the whole phone on shuffle and let it run.
More often than not, I write on my laptop (an 11-inch MacBook Air, which I adore), but if I'm on the go, I'll sometimes write on my phone or iPad. Most of my composition is in Byword, a simple Markdown editor. I like two things about it -- the very simple, uncluttered interface, and the easy portability of documents between platforms. Then, when it comes time to do a final edit, spellcheck, and format for posting, I switch to Microsoft Word. Word has its foibles, but I've been using it for decades (for school, for work, and for writing -- when I first started writing fic, I composed in Word exclusively for several years), so I know those foibles well. The exception is long and complicated stories, like Wardens of Ivalice. For those, I compose and do most of my editing in Scrivner, which is great for organizing multi-threaded stories. When it comes time to stitch the parts together, once again I'll do my final editing/formatting run in Word. Most of my writing happens at my desk, but I also like to go out to a coffee shop when I can. The impersonal bustle going on in the background usually helps keeps me on track, much like listening to music. I try to get out at least a couple of times a week, either after work or on a weekday that I'm not working.
I plan almost nothing in advance. I only outline long stories, and those outlines tend to be flexible and very loose. I almost never know the end of a story before I start writing it. Part of the reason I write a story is because I want to find out what happens! I edit as I go, even in early composition phases most of the time. I know this goes against all the writing advice, but I find errors and imperfect wordings too hard to just ignore. One exception: if I'm participating in a writing sprint, the objective of which is just to set down as many words in a specific period of time, usually 20 minutes to half an hour, as possible. I find writing sprints really helpful, and I need to get back in the habit of doing them. They're particularly good for getting unstuck. One lesson that I keep relearning is that I won't get over a block by not writing. There's nothing wrong with taking a brief break from a story or a journal post, but if I step away too long, I lose my momentum, and it's like pulling teeth to get back to it.
As long as I've been writing fic, endings have been the hardest part of a story for me (followed closely by titles). When I can feel a story wrapping up, it takes some effort to decide how much more it really needs. Once a story is done, though, I try to get it posted as quickly as possible -- do one last edit, format for posting, agonize over a title for a few minutes, and go.
So that's my process, more or less. Feel free to share yours, whether or not you're participating in Snowflake. I always enjoy learning from other people's experiences.
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*nods*
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I am, broadly, a sprinting writer; I hate editing, but love the rush of words. I'm trying to teach myself how to edit, but it's hard. Usually, what goes out is what went down in the first place, which makes it fortunate that I'm decent at stringing words together.
I'm constantly struggling for a balance between outlining and flying by the seat of my pants. If I do no planning I get stuck wondering where I'm going or get lost in the metaphorical woods for days; if I outline too much, I have scenes but no connections between them so it seems like a constant track-skip. It's something I'm working on this year.