A more honest explanation of my writing/rewriting process. · 7:42pm Dec 12th, 2012
A few people have asked me recently how I go about writing or getting around writers' block, and as my answer in the recent FiMFic panel was more satirical than anything, I figured I'd be more blunt about it.
First of all, in terms of getting ideas, this is one of my strengths. My thoughts follow some very weird patterns, so I'm constantly coming up with things that seem unusual to most people, frequently made as jokes in the Equestria Daily pre-reader chat. All I can say is to find an idea that sticks in your brain, that simply will not leave until you write it, and attack that idea with all the skill you have.
Second, I usually make an extremely rough outline, but feel free to violate it as the chapter/piece goes on. For example, my outline for chapter three of Twilight, Revised called for Applejack to help Rainbow Dash break Twilight out of prison, but I realized midway through that that was just horseshoeing in a character that, bluntly, I didn't need for the scene, so I just skipped right over that part of the outline.
Third, I was completely serious about being in some altered state of consciousness such as sleep deprivation while writing the rough draft. At least for me, crushing self-doubt and self-editing utterly destroy my attempts at writing while totally sober. Some have said using drugs gets the same affect for them; I haven't tried anything harder than alcohol, so I'll simply note that that might work. But they're, y'know, drugs. And as every good kid knows, using drugs is clearly instant death and/or a one-way ticket to a slowly decaying life; the government tells us so and clearly the government never lies ever. Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia.
As an additional note, while drafting (and sometimes while idea building), I almost always listen to music. Generally, I like instrumental pieces that are either slow or packed with emotion; although my own skills as a musician have long since atrophied from disuse, music is still one of the few things that lets me connect with emotion well, which I can often lack in my writing/not realize how emotional readers will get over, say, Princess Celestia thinking to herself that she doesn't deserve to be teaching Twilight about friendship. While your tastes, reader, will no doubt differ from mine, I've linked a few of my favorite pieces to write to below:
Next, after you've written the rough draft and are basking in that awesome writing afterglow and just want to publish it right away, do not succumb to this temptation. I wait for a minimum of three days after writing a rough draft before I try to revise it; ideally, I like to have it sit for something closer to two weeks or a month (although this often is shortened with my fanfic works... with my original fiction, I'll let something sit half a year before I come back to it). This lets me distance myself from the piece and come back into it fresh. Only after making at least one or two passes over it will I send it off to whoever I've roped into looking over my rough drafts at the present time to find all the little things that I'll never find. I'm a halfway decent editor, but it is impossible to find all the errors in your own work. Stated plainly, anything you write you are too close to possibly find every flaw. That's why I enlist people to help me out, and I suggest you do the same. Try not to find some overenthusiastic yes-man; the ideal editor is someone who is willing to help you, but comes into your work expecting to absolutely loathe it. The ideal editor should mark absolutely everything that seems off to them and give little to no benefit of the doubt.
(As an aside, I frequently do not fit my own definition; most of the horse stories I edit for I like too much to be that merciless, and when pre-reading for EqD, I try to spare a submitter's feelings to some extent. Still, if you have me review a story that contains something I hate, like Octavia/Scratch shipping or Rarity in copious amounts, may Sleipnir have mercy on your soul.)
After your editors/reviewers/pre-readers/beta readers/whatever have gotten back to you, edit according to their feedback, using your own judgment on whether to follow all their advice or not. In the end, it's your piece. After that, let it sit a few more days, then comb over the piece for anything they've missed or any other adjustments you want to make. Afterwards, unleash it upon the world!
In closing, I like to use this method or some variant thereof on all my stories. The ones I don't tend to turn out either awful or really, really weird. Any of you interested in finding what my rough drafts for most of my stories looked like may find them here.
I hope this helps those among my followers who also like to write. Thanks, all of you, for hanging around. Y'all brighten up my day.
I like this journal entry for its informative content. I love it for your clever 1984 reference.
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It and Catch-22 have always ranked among my favorite fiction.
Shadows is a great song - I've had it kicking on repeat once or twice for writing also
Never heard of this other band/song though. It's...oh my, that's nice...
As for the whole freerange ideas, work it out as it happens and improvise on the fly: By great derps, YES. Actually, By great derps YES this entire post.
One question though..How do you resist the temptation? I've fallen to it once...or twice...or thrice times before...
Question the second - What is with you and Rarity anyway?
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mine as well.
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I resist the temptation through force of will. Although I don't want to unload, I've been through some rather trying times in my life that have taught me self-discipline very well. A big part of it is balancing out ponefic with other activities; taking your mind off what you've just written can help a lot. Sorry, that's probably not too helpful. Heh.
Rarity reminds me of several negative aspects of myself and reminds me of a more broad category of people I have to deal with in my college studies that I dislike. She has her moments, but she's by far my least favorite character in the show.
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Not for the first, second or even third time - nor the last - I must say, you mispelled Impressive...
Again, you leave me impressed, every time another reason.
You enjoy Lindsay Sterling's work as well?
Good show.
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Who doesn't, really?
If only I could manage to adhere to any kind of system or deadline. I'll keep pretending though.
A lot of very good advice though.
Hey, listening to music is the same way I work! Pretty damn cool to see someone else who does that, though I mainly listen to Drum'n'Bass because I find it soothing.
Confirmed, I write drunk. Snit started as drunk comments on Device Heretic's blog.
It gets expensive.
EDIT: Also, the advice about leaving things for a while before editing is extremely good.
Sweet! Free trips! Now I am a bellhop....
I actually prefer combing over the idea itself in my head, my current story has ran in my head for 5 months with only 2 chapters typed.