The how

[resonant]

So I wrote Steve Likes Tony in four days, using Written? Kitten! and e.ggtimer. And what have we learned from this exercise?



About composing on keyboard:

- I can do it, but I have to resort to a really insane structure of carrots and sticks to prevent me from falling back into the habit of idly surfing/playing games/reading other people's stories until all my limited spare time is used up.

- Also, while I can write in longhand in the middle of a crowded coffee shop, I don't seem to be able to compose actual fiction (as opposed to journal entries) on the keyboard unless I'm alone in the room.

- It's a lot easier to write banter on a keyboard than to write sex on a keyboard.

- I find a blank sheet of paper less intimidating than a blank screen. (Hence the backward entrance of "I want to write a story where" instead of just writing the story.)

- If I don't know what should happen next, I will polish the same sentence endlessly.

- The writing voice seems slightly different to me, but I'm not sure whether anyone else would notice.

About posting in progress:

- Man. Reinforcement galore. You people are amazing.

- The microsecond I hit Post, I see something wrong with the story as posted.

- I certainly wouldn't attempt it with anything whose plot was more complicated than "Misunderstandings occur; misunderstandings are worked out; sex is had," because never once have I written a story bigger than that without first seeing where the arrow landed and then going back to the beginning and making it look like that's the direction I meant to shoot it in.

Comments

[droolfangrrl]

*snickers* It was ok, I'm not surprised to learn that you were doing this on the fly.

You might find the following funny... or I might get told I'm a horrible person again.

Hunter S Thompson's relationship with his typewriter.

http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-hunter-s-thompson-quotes.php/hunter-s-thompson-pointing-gun-at-typewriter

Hah! This wasn't the only time he did this

http://www.examiner.com/pop-culture-in-los-angeles/ode-to-the-gonzo-genius-hunter-s-thompson you need to scroll down to see the photo I'm talking about.

[ecaterin]

never once have I written a story bigger than that without first seeing where the arrow landed and then going back to the beginning and making it look like that's the direction I meant to shoot it in.

That is the most awesome explanation of non-creation of plot EV-AR :D

....and Written? Kitten! is flippin' hilarious!!! Brilliant idea :)

[mific]

It's interesting how different people's processes are. I can only thrash out plotbunny notes by hand, the writing for me is all via keyboard. I polish all the time as I go, can't leave it full of typos for long. [How do you manage that - handwritten corrections? Or do you mostly get it right 1st time :) ] Then I go back and re-read sections and revamp them before I can do the next bit - a lot of 1 step forward 2 steps back, looping through it until it's finally "done". And then a bunch more self-editing, then betaing, mostly. Yeah, obsessive. I can only write linearly as well - can't write highpoints then join them up somehow later. Writing ongoing "chapters" of a work in public is intense - the pressure, and trying to make the plot and narrative flow work as you go. The feedback from readers is great, though. I started all this in a fandom where long WIPs where what everyone did, and wrote a damn novel in the weekly chapter format. Heady at the time, but looking back, I have no idea how I managed it - like being on some kind of high for 3 months! These days my main problem is maintaining energy and interest in longer works - I just feel tired comtemplating all that writing! I loved 'Steve Likes Tony', and thought it worked just fine, in terms of flow and coherency across the various bits.

[china_shop]

I often write dialogue notes on paper and then flesh it out on-screen. I find it hard, these days, to sit down at the keyboard without at least some jottings to start from.

The microsecond I hit Post, I see something wrong with the story as posted.

Ha! Yes. But as you say, this is balanced by the reinforcement -- I love the energy of posting in progress, the sense of people being invested and wanting more. It's totally addictive.

I can do romance plots on the fly; anything with a crime will make Zero Sense unless it's been betaed to within an inch of its life.

[lobelia321]

I love this post! I stared at kitten?written for about 15 seconds before (I think) I got it. And does it save your words? And where does it put them? Do you then copy and paste them onto your hard drive? And the e.ggtimer makes such a horrible noise when it's done! It made me jump!

Also, I LOVED your description of the arrow. Work back from the ending. This is totally it. The ending is so crucial in any story; and one can write one's way towards it but then to go back -- that's the thing. One can happen upon it and then return. And one can plan it out in advance. But I love the arrow metaphor.

Also, when you say you posted 'wip', how? You posted unfinished drafts? The first 100 words? and then the second 100 words? *is mightily intrigued*

Interesting re longhand. I used to write all fic in longhand, in cafés, and then transcribe, and the transcription is in itself a great first edit/revision. But I now can't read my own handwriting anymore. I have to type. I go to places without internet or where there's password faffery or, best of all, where you have to PAY.

[lobelia321]

Ignore the bit about how did you post wip. Just figured it out myself. (Still only a sometime visitor to DW, duh.)

[flipbook]

I found this interesting too! I did notice a slight difference in the writing style, but I might have been primed for it.

I personally can't compose in longhand, only on a keyboard. And nowhere where anyone might ever be looking at my screen.