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Research. There are too many interruptions to get any writing done, but I can look shit up on the internet.
I've been trying to figure out a story about the ghost stations in Berlin, and I think I have. It's about a Turkish girl, whose father brought her & her mother & her siblings there in 198570 after he saved enough money. She can see ghosts. It's also a story about the history of public transit, the U-bahn and S-bahn, and DB, in Berlin. I think it has a plot, even.
With this story, I'm trying something new and exciting: having a story arc mapped out before I sit down to write. I know, crazy. Everything I've written so far, fanfic, the draft of Nothing Beside, "A Game of Empire," has been written starting with an idea. I've been meaning to meta on my writing habits, so be warned.
When I write, I get an idea. Sometimes it's an opening sentence, sometimes it's a scene. Sometimes it's just a sense of the story as a whole. When I get the idea, I get the shape of everything, too: the history of the world, the characters' backstories, a sense of the feeling of the story. This is probably why it feels like my worlds are fleshed out, even though it's not anything conscious I've done to this point. Then I write.
The first draft is a skeleton, sometimes with a few tendons and muscles. It's not quite an outline, since it's not told in summary form, but it's not a full story, either.
Then I go back and add the meat and skin and hair, the descriptions, the little bits of backstory that need to be dropped to make more sense, the emotional responses. Some of these are already there, but they need tweaking.
I'll use "Game" as an example, since it's something I actually finished and sold, and edited and all that. Game started with a scene that landed fully-formed in my head while I was in the shower. It was the opening scene originally, but now it's the second scene. And it is largely unchanged from the initial draft, as far as what happens goes; there's a bit of added description, of his appearance, his uniform. The new opening scene came from a series of backstory vignettes I had to write because they wouldn't leave me the hell alone, and it's an email from Hans to Fritz, out on his military cruiser.
Anyway. I had an idea, and I sat down and wrote, in a half-size, spiral bound notebook, 15 pages (about 7 standard letter). Then I typed it up. I skimmed the first draft recently, and it's basically the same story, and some of the comments the editor made were *in* the first draft, but didn't make it into the typed version. She wanted me to add something about how Hans would only submit in the bedroom, but not in the Senate, and that's basically what I have written on the last page of draft 1. Interesting, eh?
While typing, I had to track down things like Prussian military uniforms (I went with the Kürassier, because it looked cool) and star names. I added descriptions and things, and as their history made itself clear, the story got deeper. I got it to about 6,000 words, sent it off to my fabulous beta readers, made edits, and sent it off to the anthology. I think the final version stands around 7,000 words.
Since being a successful writer (ie, one who gets paid regularly) depends on being able to write without just waiting for an idea to strike, this writing method is probably not conducive to that. Also not conducive to series set in a consistent world. So I'm trying out this whole planning thing, to see how that goes.
I've been trying to figure out a story about the ghost stations in Berlin, and I think I have. It's about a Turkish girl, whose father brought her & her mother & her siblings there in 19
With this story, I'm trying something new and exciting: having a story arc mapped out before I sit down to write. I know, crazy. Everything I've written so far, fanfic, the draft of Nothing Beside, "A Game of Empire," has been written starting with an idea. I've been meaning to meta on my writing habits, so be warned.
When I write, I get an idea. Sometimes it's an opening sentence, sometimes it's a scene. Sometimes it's just a sense of the story as a whole. When I get the idea, I get the shape of everything, too: the history of the world, the characters' backstories, a sense of the feeling of the story. This is probably why it feels like my worlds are fleshed out, even though it's not anything conscious I've done to this point. Then I write.
The first draft is a skeleton, sometimes with a few tendons and muscles. It's not quite an outline, since it's not told in summary form, but it's not a full story, either.
Then I go back and add the meat and skin and hair, the descriptions, the little bits of backstory that need to be dropped to make more sense, the emotional responses. Some of these are already there, but they need tweaking.
I'll use "Game" as an example, since it's something I actually finished and sold, and edited and all that. Game started with a scene that landed fully-formed in my head while I was in the shower. It was the opening scene originally, but now it's the second scene. And it is largely unchanged from the initial draft, as far as what happens goes; there's a bit of added description, of his appearance, his uniform. The new opening scene came from a series of backstory vignettes I had to write because they wouldn't leave me the hell alone, and it's an email from Hans to Fritz, out on his military cruiser.
Anyway. I had an idea, and I sat down and wrote, in a half-size, spiral bound notebook, 15 pages (about 7 standard letter). Then I typed it up. I skimmed the first draft recently, and it's basically the same story, and some of the comments the editor made were *in* the first draft, but didn't make it into the typed version. She wanted me to add something about how Hans would only submit in the bedroom, but not in the Senate, and that's basically what I have written on the last page of draft 1. Interesting, eh?
While typing, I had to track down things like Prussian military uniforms (I went with the Kürassier, because it looked cool) and star names. I added descriptions and things, and as their history made itself clear, the story got deeper. I got it to about 6,000 words, sent it off to my fabulous beta readers, made edits, and sent it off to the anthology. I think the final version stands around 7,000 words.
Since being a successful writer (ie, one who gets paid regularly) depends on being able to write without just waiting for an idea to strike, this writing method is probably not conducive to that. Also not conducive to series set in a consistent world. So I'm trying out this whole planning thing, to see how that goes.
