Your writing method/process?

Great question, Brooke.

Last year was my first year in this contest, and with each round I got better at gauging how long (or, more realistically, how short) 1000 words is. Like you, I try to hit that mark out of the gate as best I can. I try to think of a story that can be contained and progressed in that small space.

Aside from my first round story last year, I don't think I've ever had to trim more than 100 words, or so.

I'm not sure how I compare to the other writers here, but think I do a lot of the vetting in my head, and then try to knock it out in one sitting.  I might take notes, but I don't write an outline. I think through various plots. I see it like a dot-to-dot image, and I just keep rearranging and replacing the various dots until it forms the image that feels right. At that point, I sit down and start going, and often times it goes a different place than I intended, but I let it go where it feels good.

I think my approach leans organic, but who knows? I'm sure it's not much different than anyone else's. It may not be what's best, but it's the way that I enjoy doing it. If I did it in some way that were too laborious or formulaic, I'd quickly start hating it and stop doing it.

-Alan
Twitter: @aljmac


Edited by aljmac - 18 Aug 2010 at 3:15am

Oh, I should add that I'm a cheap shopper.  Even though I know I can, and will, put "things" (in this case, words) back, I always tend to lean toward not putting too many things in my cart in the first place.  And if I think I'm going off on a tangent, I go ahead and cut a paragraph out and set it aside, not deleting it entirely, but holding it off (hiding it somewhere in the store where no one else will find it perhaps?) 

sootfoot5 wrote: I also find it interesting when people say they can't think of a title.  So often my title writes my story.  Once I know my title then I know what I'm going to write.

I envy you! Coming up with titles is hard for me. I have to have at least a scenario in mind before I start writing. Now that I think about it I suppose I've come up with titles from just the scenario sometimes, but I often end up changing them once the story is written. This time I wimped out on the title and took the obvious route instead of something interesting.

What do you look for in a title? I tend to go for description over, say, intrigue. But then my titles are often dull and fail to draw readers in. My thesis editor despaired. XD

sootfoot5 wrote: ...if I think I'm going off on a tangent, I go ahead and cut a paragraph out and set it aside, not deleting it entirely, but holding it off...

I do that too! When I'm writing longer things I always have two files: the working file and my "CP" file. CP = "cut'n'paste" All the bits that aren't working now but I think are particularly witty or something I'll put in the CP file for later. More often than not I end up not reincorporating them, but sometimes I'll use bits of them in other things.


Edited by Brookelet - 18 Aug 2010 at 3:21am

I’m the complete opposite of EvanDigby – I’m not really a planner at all.  I brainstorm for a while and come up with a bunch of different ideas that incorporate the requirements.  Usually at this point one of them is pulling at me a little more, and I’m already envisioning scenes, but I still run the ideas by my family members to get their thoughts on the pros and cons of each before settling on one.  Although I will say that the one time I ditched the idea that was already forming scenes in my head to go with one of the other ideas was the kitty car wash fantasy that netted me a whole zero points in the final last year, so I call that a useful lesson learned.

At that point my ideas are a situation rather than a plot.  Here’s how it works for me.  Basically the idea is kind of like a map with a starting point and an ending point, but the route is a complete mystery.  All I know is that I have to get from A-ish to Z-ish, but I can take any path over any terrain I want.  And so I start writing.  Things might meander a bit, and I might have to backtrack, but finding the route to the end is part of the fun.

And that’s why I always end up overshooting the mark by so much (usually by 500 words).  Then while revising, I can go back and chip away at the words until I’ve found the absolute best path from beginning to end.  It makes my writing so much tighter and cleaner.

Coincidentally, the one time I came in much closer to the target word count (I was only about 200 over) was also that disastrous kitty car wash fantasy.   I’m hoping it’s a good sign that this time my first draft was 496 words over.  Although this time I actually had to cut some plot I felt was important rather than just refine like previous stories, so who knows?

This is so interesting seeing how different people work!

My "recipe":

-- "Right-size" an idea.  I'm getting fairly good at this since this is the seventh 1000-worder I have written for competitions here, not to mention various practice pieces and "unofficial" entries (posting a story even when I was already out of the running). It is much, much worse if I go even one word over the word count in an initial draft than if I end up around 850, since when I revise I tend to think of ideas to enrich the plot, and that takes more words. I can pare maybe 100 words off a story with basic word-smith tricks, but a new direction in a piece can easily add 200.
-- Start revising.  I would say close to 60-70% of the weekend is spent on revision cycles, and that's not counting the insta-revising I do as I write (I have a hard time doing free-flow rough first drafts).  Just keep reading and re-reading, often aloud, to see what works, and try to imagine I am reading the story for the first time, every time (which is, of course, very difficult). Sometimes I imagine I am on "This American Life" reading my story, imagining the points where the listener at home is cringing, smiling, crying, or simply confused.
-- Alter my mind. This can be accomplished through breaks, menial labor, music, sleep, lack of sleep, or hard liquor. Revisions seem much newer after an alteration, and my "two halves" will actively correct the other and scoff at the others work. The bottom line is that revisions have to be fresh and honest, and if you can sort of "forget" part of the piece and re-approach it, the story is almost always going to benefit (for me). They say Ray Bradbury would revisit stories up to a year after writing an initial draft, but that's a luxury we don't have!
-- Have readers. This is somewhat optional, but more important (I think) for shorter writing periods.  For the SSC earlier this year (eight days to write 2500 words), I didn't let another soul see the work until it was submitted, and the story ended up being judged second place (finalist-worthy).  But for two-day or one-day challenges I like more feedback since I don't have as much time for the fresh revisions I wrote of earlier. One can only alter oneself so much in 48 hours.  *smile*
-- Sometimes the work starts with a title, and sometimes the title jumps out later.  Synopses are always pretty easy, as I have never had a problem with opening lines or teaser sentences.  Writing a synopsis is probably the most fun part, since it is, by nature, incomplete and somewhat melodramatic. I'm good at that.
-- Read every posted story possible, and take the time to form well-written, concise critiques. This is how I have learned more than any other method, especially when diligent record-keeping helps me keep track of what stories do well in the results (I keep track of every story link and even author names if they appear).  I don't think it makes me change my writing style to gun for results, but it helps in those spots where I have the luxury of choosing two ways to go in a story.  If all other aspects are equal in my head, I will opt for what I know worked for another story I read, and I will do just enough to advance to the next round  (as much as I can guess what that will be, anyway).  This time, I am shooting for 4th or 5th place on my story, because that is all I think it is probably worth.  Turns out comedy isn't really my bag, so I'll cross my fingers for something else in the next challenge.

Thanks,
JoeK