Most of my ideas never make it out of my head because I'm too busy coddling them and building up exactly what I want to happen and then I just don't have the drive to write them out. Therefore, if something gets written, it's more likely to be something unplanned. Does that make sense at all outside my head? Fics written for challenges are generally entirely new ideas generated for the occasion, often after I've tried and failed to wrangle a WIP/extant seedling into service. They come from metaphorically throwing things at the wall until something sticks. Lots of false starts.
Non-challenge ideas that get finished are usually connected to some canon event, situation, or state of being - I want to finish them before being Jossed. Non-challenge ideas that get significantly fleshed out, if they're not finished, are usually mainly comic and die once I've written out the initial jokes. Elaborate AUs of the everyone-is-a-pirate type rarely get beyond planning roles and cackling at my own cleverness. >_>
I have written both linearly and non-linearly in the past - I would say that linear order has a bit of an edge, partly because of the reasons above. But that's not hard and fast. I... go entirely by instinct. Ahaha. I mean, most of the time I generally have at least some idea of where I want to end up so I rely on instinct to guide the pacing. This is why I regularly hit classic "AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED" walls, which I can force myself over if there's a deadline at hand and which result in Certain Stories taking three years to finish if there's not. -_-
The effect of deadlines: as previously stated, I can force myself over walls I don't have the will to tackle otherwise. There is actually an extremely predictable pattern, which goes as follows:
- Whoa, I have so much time until the deadline! I could do this or this or this or this or - so many choices! Yeah, this time I'll wrangle my idea ahead of time and spend a weekend intensively writing early so that I have time to edit and things! Yay! - *weeks pass* - The deadline's in how many days?? Oh my god I can't default now PICK SOMETHING AND MAKE IT WORK. - *false start 1* - *false start 2* - *repeat as necessary until something takes* - *writewritewritewritewritewritewrite* - *break to sleep or eat when absolutely necessary* - omg so close to the end I can taste it - *writewritewritewritewritewritewrite* - no really, this time I'm almost there! - *writewritewritewritewritewritewrite* - FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WOULD THIS THING JUST BE OVER ALREADY - oh my god this sucks doesn't it I'm a second-rate hack and no one will ever read anything I write again - it doesn't matter because I have TWO HOURS LEFT - *writewritewritewritewritewritewrite* - *finish on stroke of deadline/extension, or possibly slightly after* - God that was awful. And it has my name attached. I've been glued to my computer for the past 2389132 hours and probably gave myself a stress ulcer - for that. I can't even look at it. Why don't I ever learn? This is absolutely the last challenge. I'm never doing this again. - *several weeks pass* - .....huh. Huh. That fic's... not half bad. I'm actually quite pleased with how that one part turned out. And I don't even remember writing that part. Wow! - Ooh, another challenge?
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branchandroot
warning: lots of text
Date: 2010-11-30 06:23 am (UTC)Non-challenge ideas that get finished are usually connected to some canon event, situation, or state of being - I want to finish them before being Jossed. Non-challenge ideas that get significantly fleshed out, if they're not finished, are usually mainly comic and die once I've written out the initial jokes. Elaborate AUs of the everyone-is-a-pirate type rarely get beyond planning roles and cackling at my own cleverness. >_>
I have written both linearly and non-linearly in the past - I would say that linear order has a bit of an edge, partly because of the reasons above. But that's not hard and fast. I... go entirely by instinct. Ahaha. I mean, most of the time I generally have at least some idea of where I want to end up so I rely on instinct to guide the pacing. This is why I regularly hit classic "AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED" walls, which I can force myself over if there's a deadline at hand and which result in Certain Stories taking three years to finish if there's not. -_-
The effect of deadlines: as previously stated, I can force myself over walls I don't have the will to tackle otherwise. There is actually an extremely predictable pattern, which goes as follows:
- Whoa, I have so much time until the deadline! I could do this or this or this or this or - so many choices! Yeah, this time I'll wrangle my idea ahead of time and spend a weekend intensively writing early so that I have time to edit and things! Yay!
- *weeks pass*
- The deadline's in how many days?? Oh my god I can't default now PICK SOMETHING AND MAKE IT WORK.
- *false start 1*
- *false start 2*
- *repeat as necessary until something takes*
- *writewritewritewritewritewritewrite*
- *break to sleep or eat when absolutely necessary*
- omg so close to the end I can taste it
- *writewritewritewritewritewritewrite*
- no really, this time I'm almost there!
- *writewritewritewritewritewritewrite*
- FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WOULD THIS THING JUST BE OVER ALREADY
- oh my god this sucks doesn't it I'm a second-rate hack and no one will ever read anything I write again
- it doesn't matter because I have TWO HOURS LEFT
- *writewritewritewritewritewritewrite*
- *finish on stroke of deadline/extension, or possibly slightly after*
- God that was awful. And it has my name attached. I've been glued to my computer for the past 2389132 hours and probably gave myself a stress ulcer - for that. I can't even look at it. Why don't I ever learn? This is absolutely the last challenge. I'm never doing this again.
- *several weeks pass*
- .....huh. Huh. That fic's... not half bad. I'm actually quite pleased with how that one part turned out. And I don't even remember writing that part. Wow!
- Ooh, another challenge?