What’s my writing style?
And what’s yours?
Miss Write posted her answers to this (she’d originally got the questions from Writing Wrongs), and I thought I’d have a go at answering too - these answers apply to my fiction writing, by the way! My technical writing methods do have some similarities, but an awful lot of differences… and some things just don’t apply, of course.
- Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter?”
A bit of both, really. I generally have an outline before I start writing, but I’m willing enough for it to change if something in the story veers off in an unforeseen direction. If that happens, I often re-plot though as I definitely work better with an outline. - Detailed character sketches or “their character will be revealed to me as a I write”?
After all my years of creating characters for roleplay, I definitely work better with some sort of character outline. I know from last year’s NaNoWriMo, where I didn’t have anything, that it’s easy to get stalled both in plot and character development if I don’t have at least a few notes scribbled down. I’m happy for my characters to change as the plot develops though, as long as it’s in-character for them to do so… - Do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing?
See above. Knowing goals, motivations and conflicts are part and parcel of outlining a plot and characters for me - they are what defines the characters and drives the plot, after all! Though again, I’m happy for things to appear as the story develops. - Books on plotting - useful or harmful?
I’ve never read one, so I can’t answer this. - Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?
I am an extremely good procrastinator, more’s the pity. I work best to a tight deadline and/or when I have some outside impetus such as NaNoWriMo. Even with a word count goal to work towards, I can find it hard to get started, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve after all these years to get myself going. - Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?
I’m a short-burst type of person. I have a very short attention span generally - well, no, that’s not true. I just multi-task a lot and find it strange concentrating on one thing at a time. I know that I can sit down and write for 10 or 15 or 20 minutes straight, but then I need a break - although it’s definitely then easier to get back to it if inspiration is flowing. - Are you a morning or afternoon writer?
An evening one, partly because I’ve trained myself out of wanting to write during normal working hours, else I’d get very little ‘real’ work done during November! In fact, on weekends, I find it hard to write during the day. - Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate?
I like some sort of accompaniment. I can write in a silent room, but I prefer having some familiar music in the background. I’m quite capable of writing in a public setting too, and I like writing in company - as long as we agree that when we’re writing, there’s to be no talking. If other people around me are talking about what they’re writing, it’s very distracting. - Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?)
Computer, generally. But one of my methods for kick-starting a writing session is to take my notebook and pen away from the computer and its multiple distractions, and write long-hand for a while. (Till I get cramp, anyway. I’m out of the habit.) - Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One?
Generally - it’s part of having my plot. Although if the story develops and I need to revise my ending, so be it… Likewise if I decide that a sooner or later point would be more appropriate.
(Huh. Not that I ever seem to finish anything anyway - but I do know the end points for all my unfinished novels!) - Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?
No. I write whatever the story is that wants to be told. - Editing - love it or hate it?
Love it - so much so that I have to switch off my inner editor (which for whatever reason is llama-shaped) when I want to get plenty of words down. I’m quite happy to go back over things and revise them - sometimes too much so.
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on July 16th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Great writer’s meme. Gives great insight into you as a writer. Thanks for sharing!
PlotDog’s last post: Chapter 17 - Dead Play
on July 17th, 2008 at 9:17 am
This is not so much a criticism as an observation but I get a little tired of lists like this. On one level they’re a bit of fun, an easy post, a bit of light relief, and I had no problem going through your entries and filling in my own answers which I won’t bother sharing. What annoys me about them, and I suppose this is just little ol’ insecure me talking, is that I keep thinking after all these years of muddling along that there still might be a right way to be a writer and I’m not doing it so I can’t be a real writer. Of course this is me looking back but I can remember as a novice seeking the same kind of validation, that what I was doing was okay. There was no Internet back then of course and so I just got on with it and by the time there was one I pretty much realised that my way of writing got the job done so why does that nagging doubt still exist I wonder?
The broad answer to all the questions is that I’ve never found a method and been able to stick to it. Everything is different and I’ve written under all sets of circumstances. I think that’s one of the things I love and loathe about writing in equal measure that everything I write is a new experience and I have to make up the rules for that job as I go on with it. The only thing that experience has taught me is that I will get the job done – eventually.
Jim Murdoch’s last post: Under Control
on July 17th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
That’s a valid observation, Jim - and I think now that I probably should have put some sort of disclaimer that these are my methods and they probably won’t work for anyone else.
I’ve run into too many people over the years (particularly through NaNoWriMo) who see their way of writing as The Best Way, but if I’ve learnt nothing else, experience has taught me that different things work differently for different people and under different circumstances, and I agree with you that there are no hard and fast rules about how to write. If you can and do write, then you are a writer, and that’s what counts.
That said, I rather enjoyed completing this questionnaire (and I don’t do /that/ many memes even if 2 out of my last 3 posts were) as I found it interesting to assess my methods - and although I didn’t post anything about it, to compare and contrast my fiction-writing methods with my non-fiction ones.
on July 18th, 2008 at 3:47 am
I agree. There’s no such thing as the “right” way, and I keep telling people just that when they ask me to “teach” them how to write. I don’t even know how I “learned” how to write. It’s all very sketchy to me. It’s a fun questionnaire that makes you think a bit about your own methods, but nothing that screams “this is how you write”. it’s good fun
Miss Write’s last post: Reading Can Improve Your Writing
on July 18th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Fun list. We seem to share a lot of writing traits.
So, how did your inner editor come to be llama shaped? Very curious, indeed.
haleyhughes’s last post: Doodle Evil