Writing Process Questions

Hi. I'm interested in how other people approach their writing, and so I put together a little questionnaire to get a better sense of this:

1. Why do you write? Sounds pretty straight forward, but do you write because you feel like there is a story you want to tell, or because there are certain ideas you want to get across, or because there are characters whose histories and lives you want to explore, or because...? Is it for fun, profit, a combination of both?

2. What is your chosen genre? Is it fiction, nonfiction, realism, fantasy, magical realism, satire, etc.? Do you incorporate different styles and genres into your writing?

3. What are your influences? Are there writers whose prose or world-building skills or ideas you particularly admire? In your writing, do you try to adopt and emulate your influences?

4. What do you feel makes your voice stand out? Most people write, even if it is only on occasion, and even if they don't talk about it. What makes your story worth telling?

5. Are your stories plot- or character-driven? Would you compromise your ideas for a character, or would you be willing to deal with your characters harshly in order to make a point?

6. What are your criteria for good writing? Do you meet them? What kind of writing faux-pas eliminate your suspension of disbelief and makes you unable to continue reading?

edited 15th Jul '11 1:45:02 PM by kashchei

1. To get these stories out of my head.

2. Urban Fantasy usually. although in my current series its a different genre every story, for the most part they all take place in a modern city usually around the suburbs

3. none that i can think of.

4. no clue. i dont tend to think about it.

5. Character driven.

6. i dont really know *shrug*

I know already that this is going to be an interesting thread:

1. Why do you write?: Because I have a great imagination and have lots of story ideas, so I want to put it in use by putting it on paper. I like reading, so I want to be one of the people who write the books. The life of an author seems interesting. And it's fun.
2. What is your chosen genre?: Mostly Young Adult speclative fantasy. Most of the time, it's urban fantasy. I write Young Adult literature because I'm a teen and that's the type of books I read the most. Write what you know.
3. What are your influences?: I have a lot. Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, manga...I have a lot of works that are influence by one work. For example, my current project (Manifestation Files) draws a little from Kyon and Itsuki.
4. What do you feel makes your voice stand out?: I tend to be a little quirky with my writing. I'd put something funny into the narrative. I also utlizise my tropes well. Not to mention I'm experience in the fields that I'm writing in.
5. Are your stories plot- or character-driven? I lean towards character-driven. I tend to think out the characters more than the plot itself.
6. What are your criteria for good writing? Be interesting. Have good wordmanship, yet present an interesting world. A dyamatic, memorable, and easy-to-understand plot is a must.

1. Well, because, in the end, I like to talk. You bring up a topic, and I have an inexplicable urge to state my opinions. Writing is the same way. I have an urge to tell a story. To get things out there. It's just the way I am.

2.Fiction. Fantasy, mostly, but I usually take the more japanese-ish shonen approach to fantasy. My Kung-Fu Is Stronger Than Yours sort of thing, only less...suckish.

3. I once tried to copy Douglas Adams' writing style. Not going to do that again. Avatar The Last Airbender's atmosphere and One Piece's plot style are my two biggest main influences, currently.

4. I've been told I have great characterization and a talent in making clichéd plotlines original. I don't believe that, though. Personally, I think it's my clunky dialogue and suckish situations that make them stand out.

5. I make plots first, and then mold characters to fit what the plot needs. So...yeah.

6. My criteria for good writing is to be immersive, not seem like a self contained universe, characters are in place for logical reasons, and are likable, strong and still able to overcome new challences. Also, showing, not telling. I meet none of them. Constant lampshading that is the centerfold of a joke is what kills stories for me. Telling, obviously. Also, Unfortunate Implications galore, and romance drama.

edited 15th Jul '11 2:33:38 PM by MrAHR

1. Why do you write?

I've never felt really in control of my life. My parents do everything for me whether I like it or not. I can't pick my friends, my hobbies, or my college, so I use writing to deal with the inferiority complex that this gives me.

2. What is your chosen genre?

Gruesome slice of life, High Fantasy, and speculative fiction.

3. What are your influences? Are there writers whose prose or world-building skills or ideas you particularly admire? In your writing, do you try to adopt and emulate your influences?

\I like different things about every storyteller I've encountered. J.K. Rowling was the one who got me into a love of magic and writing, so I owe a lot to her. Suzanne Collins got me into writing in the present tense. Percy Jackson and the Olympians got me writing in first-person. I learn from their styles, but try to make it my own.

4. What do you feel makes your voice stand out? Most people write, even if it is only on occasion, and even if they don't talk about it. What makes your story worth telling?

To be honest, I'm not sure. I'm just trying my best to come up with a good story, tell it well, and hope that people like it. Money and fame are just bonuses.

5. Are your stories plot- or character-driven? Would you compromise your ideas for a character, or would you be willing to deal with your characters harshly in order to make a point?

I do both. Two plot-driven decisions I made recently are putting one narrator in a "Groundhog Day" Loop and having the other narrator's arm eaten, forcing her to use a clockwork prosthetic. Most of my other plot-driven decisions don't directly influence my characters, and they take care of the stuff going from Point A to Point B.

6. What are your criteria for good writing? Do you meet them? What kind of writing faux-pas eliminate your suspension of disbelief and makes you unable to continue reading?

If a writer can take his or her own style and make it work in favor of the story, that is good writing. It's what I strive to do. But please, please, please pay attention to your characters and don't make them go OOC because it's convenient for you. The plot and characters should work with each other to create a balanced story.

1. Because I have a few decent ideas in me that I think someone else might enjoy.
2. Speculative fiction.
3. Many, many things.
4. I have a pretty decent handle on internal monologue, an eye for subjective description, and some very odd thought patterns.
5. Character-driven, mostly, though plot and atmosphere are important.
6. Hard to explain.

1. Why do you write? I discovered in school that people responded much more positively to my writing than to that of the other students. I remember one class where all the group stories involved talking animals, and then one lone guy (whom I had a grudge against) told a story about a woman who seduced and robbed a man. I went last, and told a story about a man who thought he was in love with a woman, but was really just in love with the idea of her. Everyone clapped, and to me, that was such a good feeling.

2. What is your chosen genre? I keep coming back to paranormal romance, but I'm willing to do paranormal without the romance, or romance without the paranormal. I favor short stories over longer works, simply because I haven't figured out how to sustain a story at length.

3. What are your influences? My early writing owed a lot to Animorphs and The Unicorn Chronicles. I've since diversified quite a bit, and it would be difficult to give all my influences—as an example, the recent film of I Am Legend taught me my most-used trope.

4. What do you feel makes your voice stand out? Precision. I write spare sentences with few details, outlining exactly what the reader needs to know, and I repeatedly check over my stories to make certain I've used the best phrasing I can find.

5. Are your stories plot- or character-driven? Would you compromise your ideas for a character, or would you be willing to deal with your characters harshly in order to make a point? Character-driven, definitely. I don't worry about whether my stories make a point, and I don't worry about whether my characters are bad role models so long as they're believable. I'm usually nice to them, but I have killed them off under certain circumstances (e.g. a self-proclaimed rebel in a totalitarian country who suspected someone else of being an actual terrorist. He ultimately decided to turn her in, only to be killed as a supposed "victim" to justify killing her as well.)

6. What are your criteria for good writing? Do you meet them? What kind of writing faux-pas eliminate your suspension of disbelief and makes you unable to continue reading? My number-one rule is "don't overplay your hand." This primarily covers And That's Terrible, but it's also a warning against making a point too strongly. If someone rejects my story for showing people behaving realistically, small loss—but it's a bigger loss if they reject it because I call someone a scumbag who they think is a good person, or vice versa. (Henrik Ibsen was a strong influence in this regard—check out A Doll's House, which never makes it certain which character we should side with.)

edited 15th Jul '11 2:52:25 PM by feotakahari

1. Why do you write? Because I find it fun, and so that I can write the kind of stories I'd like to see out there but hardly ever do.

2. What is your chosen genre? I don't have a strict preference, but I enjoy writing hard science fiction a lot.

3. What are your influences? There's honestly too many to list.

4.What do you feel makes your voice stand out? I don't know about voice, but I think my approach to writing fiction is fairly unique: I write entirely in a Watsonian style and try to treat my settings as if they were real, rather then using Acceptable Breaks from Reality and other fictional conventions.

5. Are your stories plot- or character-driven? Character-driven, in that I will not compromise my characters' personalities for the sake of the plot. If it comes down to a choice between altering the plot I had in mind or forcing my character to do something OOC for the sake of preserving the plot, the former always wins.

6. What are your criteria for good writing? Show, Don't Tell is a big one, and I also tend to have a very low opinion of all forms of Protagonist-Centered Morality. And of course, if you can't tell already, I disapprove strongly of "railroading" characters to fit the plot.

1. Why do you write?
   • Because it's fun. It all started with my overactive seven-year-old imagination that always had characters and stories to talk about, and it just kept going from there.
2. What is your chosen genre?
   • High Fantasy and Low Fantasy, with some dabbling in Science Fiction.
3. What are your influences?
   • Generally, I'm not influenced a whole lot by works; it's more things that I've read up on and learned about. Minoan influence, Shinto folktales,
4. What do you feel makes your voice stand out?
   • I think I have good ideas. I've been told that my premises are interesting, but I feel like I'm still trying to develop a distinct voice and style as a writer. I lean more towards using a limited third person style that verges on first person by intermixing remarks that could be thoughts right into my narratives, and writing like how my characters would logically think.
5. Are your stories plot- or character-driven?
   • Oh, character-driven. Characters are one of the best parts of writing; I love making them as realistic as people. I've been making complex characters far longer than I've been making coherent plots. Only recently did I learn how to come up with and pay attention to plots.
6. What are your criteria for good writing?
   • My mind should not be wandering when I read prose. Characters should simulate people, not plot devices. In fact, nothing should immediately come off as a plot device. If that's the case, I will laugh, give the offending aspect a ridiculously meta name, and refuse to take the story seriously. Reliance on stereotypes of any kind, inconsistent and/or nonsensical worldbuilding, excessive sex, Beige Prose, inscrutable Purple Prose, and confusing writing will cause me to but the book down and walk away. How many of these things to I at least attempt to follow? I think most of them. My mind usually doesn't wander when I read my own prose, though, because I know what I intend to show.

1. Why do you write?

2. What is your chosen genre?

3. What are your influences?

4. What do you feel makes your voice stand out?

5. Are your stories plot- or character-driven?

6. What are your criteria for good writing? Do you meet them? What kind of writing faux-pas eliminate your suspension of disbelief and makes you unable to continue reading?

edited 15th Jul '11 4:36:17 PM by Leradny

1. Why do you write?

Initially, it was to impress a girl, tbh, but that didn't really work out and I guess I've been trying to self-vindicate ever since.

It would probably help if I ever actually wrote anything...

2. What is your chosen genre? Really depends on the story. Of my 5 pending story ideas (that I can think of) one is a weird-ish Horror/Fantasy/Dungeon Crawl... thing, one is a lighthearted modern fairy tale (i.e. stories with obvious Aesops, think The Little Prince) collection of stories with a loose continuity, one is me trying to single-handedly bring back Chivalric Romance, a kind of retelling of the story of Ashoka (Buddhism's Constantine) but he never really becomes a true pacifist, and it's tragic or something, and one I was going to write a bunch of short stories about but then I realized it was completely Dr. Mcninja (and before I'd even heard of it!) but it was about a guy named Sir Dr. Cpt. Jack Mc Jackhammer, M.D. P.h.D^3 (3 of them. One in pulling science straight out of his ass, one in Improbably Effective Field Surgery and one in MacGyvering.) Esq (I think I forgot a couple of titles though), and it was just a parody of the action genre as a whole. Oh and he had go-go gadget hands.

I suppose it's also worth mentioning that between all of these stories I've written about 7 pages.

Holy shit, that was a tangent.

3. What are your influences? Again, depends on the story, but it varies from Antoine d'St. Exupery to Brandon Sandersen.

4. What do you feel makes your voice stand out? Probably nothing, yet, but I guess one thing I do that's moderately unique in a few of my stories is avoiding a Protagonist/Antagonist, like making everyone believable enough that who you root for is mostly personal preference.

5. Are your stories plot- or character-driven? Character, I think.

6. What are your criteria for good writing? Believability (not a word, but forget you), really.

edited 15th Jul '11 4:39:13 PM by TheEarthSheep

Note: I say "art" instead of writing because writing is not my only creative outlet.

1. Why do you write? Because I get a creative tingling that, if not released in the form of art, will consume me(sounds like a fortune cookie).

It's an interesting feeling, so it's difficult to describe.

2. What is your chosen genre? Fiction/Fantasy because real life is boring.

3. What are your influences? I'm hugely influenced by "Avatar the Last Air Bender". Something about that show eats at me whenever I watch it and makes me want to ejaculate art. Negima has been a recent influence on me. Okami the video game as well. Deadmau5 too. Hell, this would be a long list if I wanted it to be.

4. What do you feel makes your voice stand out? I think someone with the answer to this question would be selling millions. Personally, I have no idea. I haven't been writing long enough.

Though, if I had to say, I am conservative on word count. I aim for "less is more." Flowery descriptions bore me.

I also like staccato sentence structure. It's nice. For real.

5. Are your stories plot- or character-driven? I don't see a need to distinguish these. They are inseparable. My characters are my plot.

6. What are your criteria for good writing? Aside from things like proper spelling and grammar, I don't hold myself to any standards or rules.

edited 15th Jul '11 7:14:03 PM by Jewbacabra

1. One of the writer's main trait is the belief that he/she has something of value to tell to the world. I don't know whether it does hold value or not, but I do know I really, really want to tell a story.

2. Although I don't like the term, most of my works are magic realistic shorts, though things have been changing as I broadened the number of genres I read.

3. If there's one man who's influenced me, it's C.S. Lewis. And if I were to listen another, it'd be Hans Christian Andersen. Oh, and a lot of Brazilian writers like Machado de Assis, Mario de Andrade and Clarice Lispector. And, as recently, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I try to incorporate something from each, but Andersen's works are the ones I try to emulate the most. That and Pterry's witty sense of humour.

4. I honestly don't know. I'd love to say my writing is witty and imaginative, but I'm far from being able to do that. Worth reading? Bah. I'm confident I'll eventually come up with something good, but I'm definitely light-years from the geniuses listed above.

5. Character-driven. One of the fun parts of writing is the thrill of creating them and playing with the different possibilities they have to offer, the emotions, how one's feeling.

6. Flow and a author-to-reader-dialogue, that's probably the most important for me. Without a good flow the writer fails to make the reader turn the page (or, if you are reading on the computer, scroll down), which should be one of the top priorities of a good writer. And the latter is because, well, I hate seeing the author doing a propaganda of their own ideologies. I'm a firm believer of the idea that it's impossible to tell a story or touch in a subject without having a single hint of bias toward a certain side, so that's why a writer, when presenting his/her beliefs, shouldn't treat it as an absolute and let the reader decide by him/herself.

1. Why do I write? I write because I have a knack for making stories.
2. What is my chosen genre? Sci-fi is one part and is the currently biggest work that has seen actual writing. I like some fantasy/fantastical works as well. The classic adventure story is also a like.
3. What are my influences? Assorted anime and manga, as well as a couple of video game universes. Book-wise, JRR Tolkien and Eric Nylund.
4. What do I feel makes my voice stand out? My ability to create plots from whole cloth with little time or preparation beforehand. Additionally I have the ability to pull apart and analyze things like plots, tropes, characterization and visualize to put things together in odd ways.
5. Are my stories plot or character driven? A little of A, a little of B. I like overreaching plots, Myth Arcs, and a well-built world but also my characters have to take part somehow to drive the story.
6. What are my criteria for good writing? Writing in such a way that I can actually visualize or imagine what, where or who that person is without resorting to visual media. Well-connected plots that do not contradict or fall into error. Well built universes where even fine minutiae can be found within the work itself.

1. Why do you write? I wrote mostly for fun, and because if I don't start writing down the ideas they tend to pop up at when I should be doing something else.

2. What is your chosen genre? I prefer to write Fantasy, and visit other genres while I'm there.

3. What are your influences? You'd need to ask someone else about that because I'm not imitating anyone on purpose.

4. What do you feel makes your voice stand out? I try to keep my writing clean and simple to carry the information across without disrupting their own internal imagery.

5. Are your stories plot- or character-driven? I prefer to take a middle ground between plot and character. But if neccesary I can deal with a character harshly or change a bit of the plot to fit the characters personality.

6. What are your criteria for good writing? Do you meet them? What kind of writing faux-pas eliminate your suspension of disbelief and makes you unable to continue reading? If it's entertaining, I can forgive alot if it's entertaining and nothing makes me close a book faster than being boring. I certainly hope that my writing is not boring and entertains people.

1. Why do you write? Because my mind is always full of characters and stories, and I want to tell these stories.

2. What is your chosen genre? I usually write fantasy, but I sometimes also write young-adult stories set in the real world, and recently I've started dabbling in Alternate History.

3. What are your influences? There really are too many to list.

4. What do you feel makes your voice stand out? Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure if it even does, but I like to think that I'm good at coming up with interesting characters.

5. Are your stories plot- or character-driven? Character-driven, definitely.

6. What are your criteria for good writing? That's rather hard to explain.

1. Why do you write? It's only literature, but I like it

2. What is your chosen genre? Is it fiction, nonfiction, realism, fantasy, magical realism, satire, etc.? Do you incorporate different styles and genres into your writing?

Slice of Life, Humor, Satire and Parody; I only touch Fantasy or Sci-Fi when is related to the former genres EXCEPT by one or two fairytale alike short stories

3. What are your influences? Are there writers whose prose or world-building skills or ideas you particularly admire? In your writing, do you try to adopt and emulate your influences?

Hans Christian Andersen, Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell and Oscar Wilde in literature, but I'm more influenced by TV and Film Writers: Woody Allen, Richard Pryor, Mel Brooks, Jerry Seinfeld and people in the animation world: Walt Disney, Tex Avery and Ralph Bakshi

4. What do you feel makes your voice stand out? Most people write, even if it is only on occasion, and even if they don't talk about it. What makes your story worth telling?

For what I've seen in this place and in other websites where I publish, I noticed that I'm kind of an island: most of my fellow authors began to write influenced by Anime, Videogames, Fantasy Literature and Sci-Fi Shows: I've never been a big gamer, I don't watch a lot of anime outside one or two movies a year and I don't find Fantasy or Sci-Fi very appealing to me.

I don't know if that makes me better or worse, but at least makes me feel I have a niche: a more down to earth characters and settings but yet very weird and cartoonish plots

5. Are your stories plot- or character-driven? Would you compromise your ideas for a character, or would you be willing to deal with your characters harshly in order to make a point?

I lean more to character driven...To be fair, most of the time there's no a real plot, just stuff that happens and people that deal with it.

6. What are your criteria for good writing? Do you meet them? What kind of writing faux-pas eliminate your suspension of disbelief and makes you unable to continue reading?

I don't really have a criteria, just the basics: good grammar and an interesting premise, and sometimes not even that

edited 16th Jul '11 6:35:11 AM by Anthony_H

1. Why do you write?

I have these ideas. Constantly. They're sparked by anything and everything. Eventually they clump up and make stories. I'd like to sell my stuff, but so far no takers.

2. What is your chosen genre?

Usually fantasy, sometimes horror, sometimes straight fiction. I adjust my style to suit the subject matter. A romantic comedy shouldn't sound like a zombie apocalypse and vice versa.

3. What are your influences?

Pretty much everything. If I like it, if it's a good piece of storytelling, some piece of it is sitting on a shelf in my mind.

4. What do you feel makes your voice stand out?

No idea. I've been told I write well. I write the types of things that I would like to read.

5. Are your stories plot- or character-driven? Would you compromise your ideas for a character, or would you be willing to deal with your characters harshly in order to make a point?

I start with plot, then come up with some characters that will make it work. Fleshing out characters seems to come naturally, so I don't get attached to them.

6. What are your criteria for good writing? Do you meet them? What kind of writing faux-pas eliminate your suspension of disbelief and makes you unable to continue reading?

Prose should be clear, compelling, and conscientious—in that order (that's a vast oversimplification). It takes a huge problem to make me stop reading a book, because there's usually something there worth taking away.

Why do you write?

I like making stories, basically. Writing is a central part of their creation, so...

What is your chosen genre?

Low Fantasy, or Urban Fantasy. I don't have enough imagination to think of a story without supernatural things.

What are your influences?

I don't have any concious one.

What do you feel makes your voice stand out?

I've no reason to believe that my voice stands out at the moment.

Are your stories plot- or character-driven?

Plot, plot, plot. Characters can burn in hell for all I care. There are replacements.

What are your criteria for good writing?

Well developed characters, where develop means having more personality than what is absolutely necessarry for their role in the story. A good plot that doesn't bend backwards to fit with what the author wants and is at least a bit unpredictable without stuff happening out of nowhere or with a bullshit explanation. No protagonist centered morality. It always backfires.

Of course I don't meet the criteria. Good writing is hard.

Where did you get this idea?

edited 17th Jul '11 11:58:50 AM by Dealan

Those people don't talk about their writing because that's the first rule: you don't talk about Write Club.

Most people also don't write. Period.

No, I don't base that on anything. It's not like I can prove that everyone's been hiding from me the fact that they write.

It's still totally and undisputably true!

-headdesk-

So, is there some rule that says writers have to make their hobby very public? I've never heard of this rule. Is it wrong of me to not tell everyone I like to write because, oh, I don't know, they don't care?

edited 17th Jul '11 12:39:56 PM by snowfoxofdeath

Y'all are misinterpreting this.

OK.

When you tell someone about your story, you are less likely to actually write your story. Why?

Because psychologically speaking, when you're done telling someone, you get a feeling of accomplishment.

So then you feel accomplished without actually accomplishing anything.

I never said that. Nobody ever asked me if I write, so nobody knows.

However, I don't see why "most people write, they just don't talk about it" is more valid than "most people don't write". You can't prove either.

edited 17th Jul '11 12:31:32 PM by Dealan

Added a Sarcasm Mode pothole, because it's apparently necessary.