What's your process?

[Demesnedenoir]

Outline: 0 Pages
Book 3: 850 in print
Series: 2200 in print (so far)

I don't even bother with story notes any longer. Maps, cultures, religions, etc., I jot down some basic information,

Saves me time, sanity, and paper... okay, maybe not sanity, heh heh. My process might help explain how I can forget my own birthday.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

My process might help explain how I can forget my own birthday.

I do that, too! lol We have 500+ named series characters (not all will make a showing) and I know every single one by name. Can I remember the name of my pharmacist? Nope. Can I call my pets accurately by name on the first try? I usually run down a list before I hit on the right name. I'm a menace. lol

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I personally waste... I mean invest, more brain cells on past and future events and religion than on names... an ungodly number of names complicated by epic fantasy naming craziness, but I can recall my favorite insane name... Gersvoreshkûmjotu-kî. It's been stuck in my brain for maybe thirty years... God only knows how many real people's names I've forgotten in that time, LOL.

 

[pmmg]

Gersvoreshkûmjotu-kî

Someone went to a lot of trouble to figure that out and spell it out many times, but to me, they are just the character whos names starts with G.

 

[ThinkerX]

Someone went to a lot of trouble to figure that out and spell it out many times, but to me, they are just the character whos names starts with G.

My rule of thumb - keep the names short, simple, and easy to remember - for just that reason. Sometimes I do go for longer names, but those are usually 'one-offs' or for special characters.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

It's the name of an important dragon, and the rhythm to the pronunciation made it stick for years even after I lost the original and only document she was in. Most of the time her full name isn't used, with people calling her Kûmjotu-kî or simply The Kî.

 

[pmmg]

Well, dragon names ought to be the most unpronounceable. But...couldn't we shorten it to just The K?

 

[Demesnedenoir]

It's easy to pronounce! It's just long, heh heh. Anyone who owns the audiobooks should have it down pretty easily.

Well, dragon names ought to be the most unpronounceable. But...couldn't we shorten it to just The K?

 

[Gwynndamere]

[/QUOTE] So I start telling myself the story. I'll actually write down things like "how does he actually get from X to Y? By horse? Walking? No, walking is too slow." That sort of babbling. But it's there on the page (I do this sort of thing on paper, but that's a necessity only for me).

This could evolve into an attempt at description. I'll maybe describe the road, the forest. Then I decide he took ship and I'm off describing that. Pretty soon I've decided the character needs to talk to someone and now I'm writing dialog. I may not (often!) know where I'm headed with the scene, but I do try to have it mean more than just getting from X to Y. Maybe there's an encounter, or maybe he's just thinking about a lost love. More than just travel.

Now, I might break off in mid-paragraph and dart in another direction. It's probably terrible process, but the point here is that it's all writing. If you are only thinking the things, that's not writing. Nor is it doing something just to do something. It really is actually writing.

There are other kinds of writing as well. Explaining how magic works, for example. Or some local elvish custom. It's all writing. Or, to take a completely different example, you could try writing ad copy--your blurb, a summary, an elevator pitch. You're gonna have to write it some day!

Any and all of these things gets butt in chair and words on paper. The rest is cakewalk. <grin>[/QUOTE]

I really like these ideas! I visualize my story, however when I sit down to write, the words don't always flow, or they rush out too quickly, and I don't get the entire scene that I "see" down on paper. Writing in smaller chucks might just work for my current situation - I won't feel like a failure for not writing for days/weeks at a time - and it might just inspire me and help the story move forward - even if at a snails pace! Thank you.

 

[pmmg]

I think I could work it out, but the accent marks make me less likely to try. It was a play on a obscure irony, cause someone who uses the forum, and sometimes identifies as their avi, used an unpronounceable name. Though, along those lines. I can think of another member who could use shortening to just The D.

I read a book called the Hidden Queen, where about in the middle the MC left their home and went to an land kind of based on arabic or dervish culture, and OMG, every character had long unpronounceable names. I gave up trying to figure them out.

 

[pmmg]

I really like these ideas! I visualize my story, however when I sit down to write, the words don't always flow, or they rush out too quickly, and I don't get the entire scene that I "see" down on paper. Writing in smaller chucks might just work for my current situation - I won't feel like a failure for not writing for days/weeks at a time - and it might just inspire me and help the story move forward - even if at a snails pace! Thank you.

The thing with feeling lake a failure is more along the lines of setting up a hard to reach expectation. Why I suggest the better strategy of just agreeing to write a single sentence, after which you can quit if you like. That way, you can move on if inspired, and not feel like a failure if you dont.

I scoured above, but did not see where your quote started.

Anyway...as far as the whole process goes, I do tend to see patterns. Most scenes for me start as description of the scene, the setting and goings on, and end with dialog between characters about it. Most everything I write, I usually write with the thought 'I will fix that in the rewrite', but I know that at the rewrite, I am at the point where the back ground sketch is done, and now to color it all in. So, its a good place to be. I do sometimes wonder at the pattern though. It repeats a lot.

I tend to look at stories as a) The Big Idea that gives me all the energy to write in the first place, b) the long slog in the middle and c) the cool stuff at the end.

I tend to identify scenes as ones that are telling the story and connecting scenes to glue them all together. The connecting scenes are the ones that are hardest to slog though.

And then the scenes themselves, which follow the pattern of describe and them have characters interact.

Mostly, I like following the characters, and a lot of it is less interesting to me. I tend to be minimalist in description, as I feel I can trust the reader to know what trees look like, and that the sea is rough. But...when it matters, I give it due attention.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

It's easier than that. The ˆ denotes long vowels, the rest are short. I borrowed this from some language or another to make it easier for me to remember the pronunciation of my names after years of not reading them, heh heh.

I think I could work it out, but the accent marks make me less likely to try. It was a play on a obscure irony, cause someone who uses the forum, and sometimes identifies as their avi, used an unpronounceable name. Though, along those lines. I can think of another member who could use shortening to just The D.

I read a book called the Hidden Queen, where about in the middle the MC left their home and went to an land kind of based on arabic or dervish culture, and OMG, every character had long unpronounceable names. I gave up trying to figure them out.