What's your writing process?

Okay, so I got my storyline all together. My character's are all personified. I thought about it for a long long time. I'm pretty much set to start writing ,but here's the thing; My thoughts are so unorganized. I'm just consumed and I get writer's block and I feel what I'm writing isn't good enough.

So what is your writing process?

Do you think of everything you want your story to be first before you start writing, or do you just write and make it up as you go?

Do you write a general outline or a deep detailed one?

Do you write a little at a time, go back, edit it, and then start writing again, or do you write everything you wish to write and edit it later?

What do you do to get yourself prepared for a big novel?

I have an idea of what I want to do with the story before I write, but it generally changes as I go.
Sooner or later I do have a set out line and write that all out, just to organize my thoughts. But some people just write with no outline what so ever, suppose it just depends on the person.

I usually start developing my characters first and putting traits to them. I've got a general idea of what the plot is, but sometimes I decide to take out some parts, and new ones as I go. And I research where the story takes place, the character's hobbies. and how people with the characters' ages talks.
And to get myself prepared I just relaX and forget almost about everything except the novel which I'll write. When I start writing I like to listen to music that fits the mood of the scene, and drink a lot of water.

Hope this helped!
*winie*

I start writing. I type for a while. Then I stop.

If I get an idea I just start writing. The characters just come from the top of my head and the more I write on the story, the more developed they become. The more I learn about them. So then I write their own little bios to help the story along.

Even though I hate doing it, I go back and edit. Just find small little things that I don't like, add more description, etc.

I can't use outlines.

Really, everyone has their own way of writing a story/essay/poem. You'll get going

Check this out.

It's a pretty awesome planning article.

I tend to outline things in a fair amount of detail. I'll plan out all the steps, how the scenes work, characters and general outlines/emotional changes.

Then I forget about the whole thing.

Because as I'm writing, new stuff comes up, the characters interact in ways I never thought possible, (new characters get added into the mix...) and pretty soon, the outline in my head doesn't match the outline I had written out. Since I'd rather be writing then tweaking the outline endlessly, I tend to leave outlines alone as soon as they're finished.

Vivacious- Thank you for that website!

Usually it begins with something small, like a concept or a character, and then it just unfolds naturally. Though, after a certain point the ideas stop flowing on their own and I actually have to work at something to get it done and done right.

As for the actual story writing; first off, I suffer from Major Depressive Personality, and one of my symptoms is total lethargy. It's a struggle to begin writing, and once I start writing it's a constant fight not to give up on myself until I have at least a little bit done. Sometimes I can fight the depression long enough to get a chapter done in a day, but sometimes the depression engulfs me for weeks on end. It's all up and down with me.

All I can say is, that it's important not to give up on oneself, and that even though writing can be a challenge and a battle, it's always worth it in the end. I love the stories I devote myself to. My characters and my worlds are worth fighting over. I figure, as long as you have that mindset, you can write anything.

What I do, and what I plan to do for my novel now is:

- Write out the whole novel, and don't stop for one correction/

- Go Back and do a self edit /revision.

- Get The Friend who im writing it with to a edit / revision.

- Get my roomate do an edit / revision

- Get mom / dad to do edit / revision
]
- ANother Self Edit- Revision

Then Probably send it to the publisher (:

For the story, my process goes by the following:

Characters -- Appearance, personality, quirks, ambitions, backgrounds

Plot -- What is going to happen

Plot execution outline -- How it's going to happen. It usually looks like this:

1) Characters introduced; they go about their day as they normally would.

2) Something happens that will (logically) disturb the flow of their normal day. (Logically: I once read a story where a girl died purely because no one talked to her. She didn't commit suicide, she didn't starve from neglect, she just dropped dead with no explanation of why.)

From there, I go to the domino effect: What events could happen that would create the conflict I want, but still get me to where I want to be at the end? This part takes me the longest. All aspects of the story need to be taken into account.

When I have a rough draft of the novel, I check for errors in:

Spelling/Grammar

Continuity

Characterization (there's a difference between development and derailment).

Formatting

Spelling and grammar part deux.

Continuity II: The return of Mr. Error

The son of Characterization

Formatting: The sequel

And then, when I'm done doing that, I have other people do it. Sometimes I/others check over my draft 10+ times and I still have issues.

Then, when I'm absolutely sure, I'll think about getting it published. I haven't reached that point yet.

Once I have a basic idea in my head and the characters that are absolutely necessary to the plot all lined up, I basically improvise from there on out. I make up whatever ideas sound best for the story after that as I go along. I add in new characters when I feel it'll benefit the story overall.

Is it the wisest idea? Maybe not. But it's worked for me thus far.

I decide how I want my story to end, and then I think of how my story will begin. After that, I think over in my head how I'll get from Point A to Point B. Once I've thought about it, I'll start writing out a rough outline. I'll usually end up writing several outlines so I can get the exact story I want and add a little more detail. I get a basic knowledge of my characters and start writing.

While I'm writing, I make a new folder on the computer for my novel, and I create different documents for each scene. This helps me break up the text into one manageable chunk that I can focus on, instead of going over one huge document.

I start out with either character ideas or plot ideas. From there I name my characters (choosing ever-so-carefully) and figure out the setting. After that, I build a plot that has a moral. I kind of just have an idea of my start and end, and fill in all the gaps in between. I take a lot of notes for events I can use in my story, so I keep a notebook handy.

I also read and observe how other writers develop their plots.

Usually it starts as Characters + Initial Plot. Then the characters make their own decisions and the story writes itself.