Writer's block and inspiration

[kangeiko]

Because I have nothing better to do, and also because people around me are busy being incredibly productive whilst I sit and twiddle my thumbs and wait for inspiration -

I keep reading on my flist how people are hit with a bunny, and then they sit down and just write it. Others, it appears, are given a story outline or develop it or pluck it out of thin air, and then sit down and write it. And these outlines really aren't the easiest thing to envisage someone thinking up, either. I'm talking - X meets Y and does something un-X-like, and yet works withint he context of the story because of abc, and then plot Z development happens, and everyone grows as a person, and possibly there is some sex.'

OK. How?

It probably shows how very uninspired I feel at the moment, but I think I have actually forgotten how to go from a vague idea of "wouldn't it be cool if..." to writing a sixty-part epic. OK, I always had problems writing sixty-part epics, but we'll leave that to one side at the moment. And we'll also ignore my current frustrations with the Multiverse story I am most spectacularly failing to write, as I have started three times, drafted three different stories, and consigned all of them to oblivion.

*

All those prolific writers out there that feel completely comfortable with your characters - come on, share the love. Tell me how you get from "I need to write a story for X featuring these characters" to something plotty. Tell me about strategies, or ideas, or even your favourite places to sit down and scribble.

If you're writer who isn't writing - where do all the story ideas go? *ponders*

*

Current frustration: writer's block.

In trying to write Jack/Nadia for monanotlisa's request eons ago I wrote myself into a corner and had to start again. The recent Ethan fic request by andrastewhite actually corresponds to a story I've had on the go since, oh, three years ago, at least. I may even get around to working out what I originally wanted to say with it.

As it is, I'm going to have a look at 'The Whore of Babylon' and see if there is anything in there I might be able to work with.

*twiddles thumbs*

Comments

[queenspanky.livejournal.com]

Um, I try to give them a reason to work together or work apart. Or I write about how they met, or how they will meet again five years in the future. Or I pick an emotion and try to show how each deal with it, in terms of each other.

Practically, I sit down with a pen and paper, put on music that corresponds to the mood I want the fic to be in, and write down lists of what I want to see, phrases I like, places I want them to visit, body parts they might focus on *winks*.

Does any of this help? To inspire your muse, I might start on a Jack/Irina fic I've had brewing in my mind for a few days now. Will post it when written and beta'd.

*Runs away to find kangeiko's muse and tickle her until she comes back*

[kangeiko]

My muse, it turns out, is on strike until conditions improve. And 'conditions', this means

1) new music
2) new pen (my beautiful fountain pen is still lost)
3) new notebook (but i buy you new notebooks all the time! *wail*)

sigh.

I used to start with an image, or a sentence, and spin it out from there. But now, it's just not happening. *puzzled*

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

It's not so much that I get a bunny, as that the bunny gets me. I go running and these stories just happen in my head, I imagine these scenes, I can hear the characters saying their lines, I visualize what happens. And they obsess me. I can't stop thinking about them.

When the story in my head gets to the point where it has a definite beginning and a general direction toward a conclusion - maybe some points in between, maybe not - I start writing.

If it starts to become a complicated story, I "outline" it, although my outlines are basically one or two words per scene. They're just a tool to keep my scenes in order, and make sure that everything that needs to happen gets a scene.

I don't write - I can't write - something that I haven't figured out in my head, first. I trust to my instinct that the later story bits will come to me when it's time. So far it's mostly worked; there's only one story I have gotten totally stymied on that I abandoned.

After I post my new SG:A story I will post some exhaustive meta about the writing process, because I love navel-gazing.

[kangeiko]

That's fascinating, I can't write that way at all. Or, rather, I do write that way but it's stopped working for me. *puzzled* The moment I finish the outline, the story feels 'complete' to me and I can't actually write it. Or I can't move from general mental idea of what I want to write to scene by scene outline.

I may just sit here and be jealous for a while.

Of course, it occurs to me that three years ago my writing process involved alcohol and/or drugs and all the sleep deprivation a person could manage. So.

After I post my new SG:A story I will post some exhaustive meta about the writing process, because I love navel-gazing.

That would be fabulous. I am fascinated in how others write.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Well, as I said, I don't actually outline except for long stories (and by long, I mean more than 10,000 words). And my outline is nothing that can possibly fool me into thinking the story's complete. Here's the "outline" for my SG:A story, for example:

1. Rodney: discover the device
2. Elizabeth: discover the device
3. Rodney: infirmary
4. John: figuring things out
5. Elizabeth: dinner, progress
6. Rodney: preliminary exploration of platform
7. John: dream, wake, wank, argue
8. Elizabeth: send the team
9. Rodney: tension about relationship, working on solution
10. John: meet with team, more sex
11. Rodney: solution almost at hand but omg crisis
12. John: learn situation, plan rescue
13. Rodney: rescue, terror, exuberance
14. Elizabeth: observing the transfer back
15. Rodney: lonely as hell
16. John: lonely as hell
17. Rodney: yay sex

Now, if you can figure out my story from that, I'll be impressed. Mostly it was just so that I could make sure the 3 different POVs were nicely mixed, and that I wasn't missing any scenes, and that each scene had a function in the overall storyline. And also, this is the final version - it started out as being only 12 or 13 scenes, and I added some and changed POVs as I went.

But with a shorter story - for example, the Aubrey/Maturin piece I posted a few weeks ago, 3500 words - I just started out with the idea of their conversation about women turning to a sort of truth-or-dare kiss, freaking out Jack because he is so affected by kissing Stephen, and it ends with him realizing he loves him and they have sex yay. And I thought about how bits of that scenario might play out, and once I had the beginning pretty well figured out - Jack pacing, them talking about women and ships - I just worked from there and trusted everything to go where I wanted it to.

[kangeiko]

Well, as I said, I don't actually outline except for long stories (and by long, I mean more than 10,000 words). And my outline is nothing that can possibly fool me into thinking the story's complete. Here's the "outline" for my SG:A story, for example:

I was just going to say that I haven’t written any long stories for years, but seeing as my multiverse one just topped 10k… *rolls eyes*

I see what you mean though. Question – do you script scenes or parts as a general rule? ‘cause for said multiverse thing I scripted parts, and then scripted the scenes of each part, and… ok, I’m no Shakespeare and a five-act structure is entirely too complicated.

On the other hand, I tried scripting scenes for a stargate story and got absolutely nowhere with it, mainly because it just sort of meandered along.

But with a shorter story - for example, the Aubrey/Maturin piece I posted a few weeks ago, 3500 words - I just started out with the idea of their conversation about women turning to a sort of truth-or-dare kiss, freaking out Jack because he is so affected by kissing Stephen, and it ends with him realizing he loves him and they have sex yay. And I thought about how bits of that scenario might play out, and once I had the beginning pretty well figured out - Jack pacing, them talking about women and ships - I just worked from there and trusted everything to go where I wanted it to.

How long does a shorter story take, on average? If you have a standard amount of time, that is. I normally bash out the bare bones of something in about a day, and spend the rest of the week fleshing it out. So my main problem recently has been a lack of inspiration for those bare bones on which to hang flesh. And no one else I’ve spoken to writes bare bones first – they say they work out the structure in their head, and then just sit down and write a complete first draft. I’m wondering if this is a hold-over from essay writing, as for a 2-3k word essay I’d write a 1k long plan, and then flesh that out into sentences and citations and evidence.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

If by 'script' you mean 'write down', the answer is no. However, I am constantly going over bits of dialogue and other snippets in my head, especially while I'm out for a run, or working on the house. I tend to think in scenes, and when I write a scene I know how it begins and how it ends, and what I want to accomplish with it. Maybe a few snippets of dialogue in my head. But other than that, I don't write until I write, if you know what I mean.

I've written short stories in a weekend (Briar Nose, for example) but usually it takes me a week or so, yes. I write at the beginning and I write to the end, but frequently go back and flesh out bits that need it. But I can't just write a first draft at once - I write a close-to-finished first section, I suppose, and then continue from there, occasionally fixing and changing earlier stuff.

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Wheeeeeeeee!

Also, um, sorry 'bout the corner. But oooh, J/N! (Just do it from her perspective, if that's easier for you. & ;-)

[kangeiko]

I may write the incest one. Because, hey, death. Death is good. (Well, you know what I mean.)

Or something more, er, concise. With no actual smut. But Allergory, and Metaphor, and A Lesson Learnt (& probably also death).

Yes.

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

All of your stuff is good. (Well, most!)

::ducks and runs::

seriously, much looking forward to it!

[kangeiko]

All of your stuff is good. (Well, most!)

::ducks and runs::

*spack*

seriously, i put up with a lot of faff...