How do you write it?

Matt11 said:

How do you write your fanfic?
Do you write it on paper and then put it on your computer, or do you write it straight on your PC?

And tell me why you picked it this way?

Click to expand...

I usually write on computer. One because 60 WPM > 10 WPM and two because it's just easier for me - no hand cramps. Plus no one in my family really uses the computer much and I can always take the laptop into my room. However, when I don't have access to a computer, I will write on paper. This writing is very fragmented and poor.

Matt11 said:

Wow, some people really take long to make chapters.
I wanna try make a fanfic before the end of the summer holidays in september so I cant wait that long for each chapter...

Click to expand...

I used to make chapters very quickly. Like, one a day at the fastest. I would go on obsessive writing sprees when I got hooked and they would last for days if not weeks. However, now I'm a little more calm about my writing. My chapters remain about the same length, but I just don't work as fast as I used to. Now I need more inspiration to get me started on my chapters again; sometimes I just have cases of terrible writer's block, and on most occasions I simply don't feel like writing at all.

But I wouldn't worry too much about rushing yourself. My philosphy is: if you feel like writing, write. If not, do something else for a while and maybe you will. At least, if I were to rush my writing (and it has happened before, which led to the abandonment of my fic, "Bonds"), the fic would quickly grow just as rushed as I am, and the plot would simply deteriorate. So, I tend to take my time.

Matt11 said:

do write straight from ur head or do u make little notes on a piece of paper or have a big plan on ur computer? Stuff like that?

Click to expand...

Sometimes, for long and important fics, I type up a huge list in bullet-format listing all the major events and things I plan to include. I also often make lists and descriptions of the characters, what happens to them, and petty much make a whole setup for the story and save it to my "Pokemon Fanfiction" folder in my Documents. Of course, I still sometimes add more things I never even thought of when I made my plannings (which is fun), or later based on the outcome of the story so far will scrap past ideas, but a general plan on how to work everything out helps a lot and keeps me from getting any serious writer's block issues.

Matt11 said:

How do u think of new ideas then, like new plot-twists etc?

Click to expand...

Mine are ususally generated randomly, at completely unexpected times. If I like an idea, I mentally build and elaborate on it until I can decide whether it can or can't be applied to the fic. Then I might add it to my "master-plan".

Also, reading other fics helps inspire me to work on my own. I won't steal an idea, but certain concepts and my own perceptions of them can be manipulated to fit my work, and then I proceed with the "mentally build and elaborate" step as I described before. That or just reading well-written fics makes me want to write mine just as well. XP

Matt11 said:

How do you write your fanfic?
Do you write it on paper and then put it on your computer, or do you write it straight on your PC?

Click to expand...

I never write a fic on paper. Ever. It's way too slow and tiring for me compared to a possible 80+ words-per-minute when I'm hooked to my story. Paper is also easilly loosable, wheras a fic posted on a site or two, saved to its own folder on more than one computer, and backed up on a USB-storage device is simply not. Besides, I have better things to do with paper, like draw. :laugh:

Thanks ppl, your comments really help ;)

When writing my chapters I usually make a long, shallow cut along my arm and use the blood as ink to write out the outline of the chapter on a stone tablet. This process occasionally takes days depending on how well I get the blood to show up on the stone. I then copy that outline onto a piece of notebook paper and, using ink drawn from badger saliva and snake venom, write the chapter. I then type it into word processor. Depending on the availability of the supplies, this could take anywhere from an afternoon to months. This explains why it takes me so long to finish a chapter of "Thief in the Night".

....

Really, I just use word processor, and I usually listen to music as I write because the beat sometimes helps me think. (Apparently this doesn't work for some people- Philip Pullman, for one, has said that he can't listen to music when he writes because it messes with the rhythm of the next sentence. Maybe he just isn't listening to The Police?)

Thesis said:

Philip Pullman, for one, has said that he can't listen to music when he writes because it messes with the rhythm of the next sentence. Maybe he just isn't listening to The Police?)

Click to expand...

Hooray for referencing Phillip Pullman! (I loved the His Dark Materials triology...) I sometimes listen to music as well, I might add, but I can see where it would mess people up. Sometims it distracts me and starts to noticably detract from the quality of my writing. Then, by the time I take out my headphones, I'm too de-motivated to continue. Then usually I come here. :D

Thesis said:

When writing my chapters I usually make a long, shallow cut along my arm and use the blood as ink to write out the outline of the chapter on a stone tablet. This process occasionally takes days depending on how well I get the blood to show up on the stone. I then copy that outline onto a piece of notebook paper and, using ink drawn from badger saliva and snake venom, write the chapter. I then type it into word processor.

Click to expand...

Really? And here I have been wasting my time with the outmoded method of banging my head against the keyboard and thanking the sweet mother of grammar and her uncle who most never be named for guidance every time I produce something that the spell checker can correct into legible English. Why don't you ever share this stuff with me, man?! I thought we were friends. D=

...

Erm...yeah, like Thesis I just type on the computer, though for personal reasons I use the advanced reply box rather than a word processing program, then copy-paste my work to a text document whenever I need to take a break. The ideas...are mostly in my addled mind, I'm afraid; I just can't find a way of writing them down in any concise manner. XD

I dont like to write in silence because I feel weird, so I either have music on or the TV on in the background. Any silence creeps me out really xD