How do you write?

[MeghanJH]

As the title said, how do you write your stories? Do you make detailed outlines, do you make extensive character sheets, and etc? Or do you just make a basic outline for your story, do you just make a simple character sheet, do you let your characters drive the story, and etc?

When I write I tend to make really detailed character sheets, but when it comes to the outline for my story I typically only have a few sentences about what will happen and I pretty much let it develop itself while I am writing it.

[Maldeus]

I Snowflake it.

Which reminds me, I've got something like 30 hours to finish my Snowflake before November starts.

[Quickster]

I'm like you, Meghan. I'll come up with a brief outline, point A-B, and let the characters do the footwork.

[cookiecat]

I come up with a really basic mental outline, never write it, and then get into huge detail planning the characters. I usually let it develop as I go, like Meghan.

[Lord Lovrina]

I come up with characters, a summary and go at it. I make sure not to mess up on my canon while working.

[Deleted]

Nov 2, 2010 17:24:06 GMT -8 Lord Lovrina said:

I come up with characters, a summary and go at it. I make sure not to mess up on my canon while working.

[Demeter]

Oct 31, 2010 14:30:12 GMT -8 cookiecat said:

I come up with a really basic mental outline, never write it, and then get into huge detail planning the characters. I usually let it develop as I go, like Meghan.

This. And I get these really good scenes in my head, but I just can't get them down on paper Microsoft Word for some reason.

[Mina Murray]

Well I get the idea, make a somewhat brief outline of the beginning and the end, and maybe a few key events. Then I make some outlines for characters and then I do research if necessary. Occasionally I will do things I'll write done thing I or people I know have said/done and incorporate that into the story.

[Deleted]

When I'm writing a short story, I usually just make a brief outline in my own head and just let the characters do the rest.

When it's a novel or a series or whatever that I'm trying to write, I usually write down an outline complex enough for me not to fall into continuity errors, but not complex enough to tie me in too hard, I like to give myself enough freedom, because if I figure out too much of where I'm going and if I decide it all with too much detail, the story becomes boring for me to write, I like to discover new things as I'm writing and I like to be able to change my mind or let the characters drive the story in a umpredictable way.

I also prefer to write the story from the beginning to end. If a scene comes to my head that belongs further ahead, I just write it down so I won't forget it, but I never actually write the chapter it will be in if it isn't right next to the last I wrote (more often than not I end up not even using it, because the characters evolved differently).

Now the characters I actually love developing and outlining in detail and in advance, it's actually my favourite part and it's usually what I do first (after the main idea for the plot). But I also like to give them freedom to develop differently as I'm writing the story, since I love in character driven plots and not otherwise. I prefer for them to move the plot along, instead of the other way around.

I hope that made sense. It does in my head.

[nchaos]

Depends. Once in a while I get hit with a good idea and I'll just go, revise it later. Usually that's with short stories which is what I mostly right, but if it's something that'll be a bit longer or have multiple installments, I like to write out character sheets and outlines, which I got really addicted to when I was still working on my script. It also made it a hell of a lot easier when I got stuck at some point, to just move onto writing a separate scene instead of sitting around saying "Well, shit".

[J.Day]

Oct 30, 2010 11:11:44 GMT -8 MeghanJH said:

When I write I tend to make really detailed character sheets, but when it comes to the outline for my story I typically only have a few sentences about what will happen and I pretty much let it develop itself while I am writing it.

^ That's pretty much how I approach my current writing projects. I like to leave room for any additional ideas and make adjustments in my revisions as I go along. Other times I just use the Snowflake method and make plot webs with whatever ideas happen to hit me.

I've never really had much patience for sitting down and planning out every intricate detail for every single chapter.

Whatever works for you, I say.

[Story Keeper]

I create my characters, summarise the story by writing the important facts in order, then do the minute details when writing.

[Deleted]

If I suddenly get an idea, I'll let it brew for a while, the one I'm working on went from 3rd person to 1st person, linear to cross cutting, the protagonist knowing a little bit to knowing nothing. The plot developed too, I came up with even more characters and I got to know them better.
I write down the basic plot, I intend for it to be a few lines, but it ends up taking up five pages of A4 lined.

My favorite part of developing a novel is creating the characters, you can do so much and it never gets old! Protagonists and antagonists are the best to flesh out, so I leave them till last, every character counts, and with each development in characters I find new plot twists I can add. I start writing casually while I'm developing characters, and then go into the real thing!

[Deleted]

- First, I brainstorm ideas: Characters, Plot, Location.
- I then out with a chapter-by-chapter outline.
- Then, I write out character sheets for each major character.
- Afterwards, I go back and revise the outline if it needs revising.
- If I'm satisfied, I practice writing out some important events in the novel, and if I wish to c- ontinue, I start the novel.

I am very serious about my novels.

[Mikashi]

Hm...it depends upon the story.
Of course, I get an idea, write down said idea, try to come up with a character's gender and name (and figure out the physical/personality features/attributes later.)
|_> For my BMD series (and a different novel, which is trashed) I would write extremely detailed outlines/chapter summaries. Which, for when I was writing/typing it on my laptop, I wouldn't get stuck on it.
Other times, I'll just write whatever comes out from my head, and then edit it all later so it'll make some sense (I don't do this as much anymore, usually only when I'm trying to get out of writers block, if I think too much, I can't write...XD).

[tldr]

Slow. I write slow.

Actually I'm usually inspired to write when out of nowhere I think of scene/idea that might have been triggered from what somebody said or what I learned in class. I over think about that scene and then I think of how it fits into a plot and develop the characters involved in it. Basically I usually plan it out in my head in no particular order before writing it. Or I continue planning in mid-writing. And sometimes to avoid forgetting about something I planned out in my head I will write down key words that describe it on a scrap of paper. Yea, my method for writing is really unorganized.