How do you write?

The following post only applies to my comics. I have a different approach to my screenwriting.

Do you start at the beginning and work through? Usually.

Do you write scenes in a particular order? In the order that they happen. I know, I'm boring.

If you have a great idea for the end of the book do you write that, then work towards it, rewriting it to keep everything tied in? Yes. Although I usually have the opposite problem. I can write up until the end, and I get stuck. Although lately I cap the thing off with some kind of punchline.

Are there certain scenes you must have, and you bend the story around them? Since I write comedy, I try to come up with stories that have the greatest potential for humor. So, if I come up with a good enough gag, I come up with a story that might work for it, or find a way to work it in somehow. Although I will throw the whole thing out if it's not as funny as I thought it'd be, or if I can't carry the story past the initial gag.

As for my actual writing process, I usually start by figuring out what I want to accomplish and making a checklist. These can be minor things like, "George should be hit in the face with a brick" or something a little more important, like "Establish that Phil is a mechanical genius and brilliant inventor".

Then, in a old, beat-up spiral notebook, I write a bare-bones outline, usually as a three-way graph depicting only the major events ("Liz gets flung into another dimension", "Lawn gnomes invade Washington D.C., ect).

Then I start writing the script itself, in pencil, in case I change my mind about anything. (The script tends to be messy and unorganized, since I'm the only one reading it. And if I can understand what I wrote, then that's all that matters!)

And finally, I actually start drawing the thing, making final, minor changes if needed.

edited 29th Jan '12 9:25:51 AM by DrFurball

Do you start at the beginning and work through.

Yes, I need to work chronologically, so I can go through it along with the characters.

Do you write scenes in a particular order.

...see first question

If you have a great idea for the end of the book do you write that, then work towards it, rewriting it to keep everything tied in?

See first question

Are there certain scenes you must have, and you bend the story around them?

That's how most of my stories START.

First I research/world build, then I start at the beginning, and if an idea occurs to me out of order I write it in a separate doc, and it may or may not end up as part of the draft. Proceed to get bored with it (usually) after finishing, cycle through a few other stories, edit. Wash, rinse and repeat until satisfied with all current works.

edited 21st Jun '17 5:16:29 AM by ArlaGrey

I have to know the general plot before I go 'at it'. The idea for the whole story may be just one plot point, or character description. I once wrote

I then realised what if the New Testament was written as a police procedural? I need to do the research, but I will then know the plot (the same way as Stoppard knew the plot of Rosencrantz and Guildenstein are dead)

I map out the general plot - Incitement, Plot point one, mid way twist, plot two, denouement, resolution, then write the strongest bit that's in my head. I tend to do the major plot stuff first, then bridge together.

If I have a good idea for a scene I will write it in a general way, then fine tune it once I work out where it goes. At the moment I have the end of a chapter in my head - I know what the words are, because it links an unanswered question to the question's final answer. I know what this piece is after - the preceding scene has to happen for the plot. What I don't know is exactly how to get to the plot important scene, I only currently know the words for the consequences. (Lead couple get together is the plot point, consequence is a photo of them, exactly how they got together is as yet unwritten. I am about to write the photo part.)

Once various of blocks of text start joining up, I can go back and edit into something seemless, with referenced in block 'F', that will be picked up in Block 'w'.

Before I do any actually writing, I sit down and write down a bare-bones outline, then I flesh out the characters. If I have a particular scene that sticks in my head, I'll build the story around that, which may or may not be a good way to write, but that's how I work.

I always have seven chapters: the expo, the rising action (four events), the climax, and the reso.

Sometimes I start with the characters, then think of a plot to put them in. Or I might think of an idea for a plot first, then think about what kind of people would be interesting in those situations. Then, I write an outline of the plot, forming character connections as I go. Then, I just write, and it's kind of hard to explain after that.

Sometimes I start at the beginning, but a lot of times, I write little bits of scenes and the connecting material between them, then put them in order afterwards.

The only scenes I absolutely must have are ones that advance the plot or the characters' relationships/development. Or ones that might entertain the reader.