#writing methods

Plotting vs Pantsing: Pros, Cons, & How To Choose Your Writing Method 

I identify as a Snowflake Methodist on the long run. Glad to know there was a name for my type of writing, tbh

More info about each here

Tag your fellow writer/storymaker/lorebuilder/OC tale developer pals!

Hello! This is a really good question. I would say that it depends heavily on the story.

For my main WIP at the moment (The White King Prophecy) I definitely fleshed out the characters first because they were the idea that inspired me the most. The plot has changed drastically over the years. It's honestly unrecognizable from when I first started planning it out, but the characters are essentially the same two guys as they originally were. For other works of mine, like the WIP I'm planning to work on next, it's different though. Sometimes I get really caught up in an idea for a specific world or just a specific vibe and that ends up being what I base the entire story on. It's not really a uniform system. I just get inspired by random things and try to run with it.

One of the only things I do like to do is come up with names very early on. I find that characters are much easier to remember and keep consistent once they have names, so I try to get that out of the way as soon as possible.

i present u the original story i wrote myself into a hole with.

It happens!!! It hasn't happened with a MOTA fjc yet thankfully but of course it happens. I think the thing that helps me the MOST is having a solid understanding of the ending and how everything is resolved.

With kingdom for a kiss i knew from the get-go there would be an argument outside where john kisses gale, I knew it would end with him going back to wyoming with gale to live happily ever after (mostly happily) so as long as I knew the final direction and goal I was headed towards I could meander around as I pleased. Hence why the word count got so high.

I use playlists and music EXTENSIVELY to direct my plot and emotions.

meet me at the chapel was written entirely to Chapel by Adam Mac (all ten hours of writing)

the james arc in kfak was arguably my most difficult to write and I would not have been able to without listening to these two songs the entire time

my body is a cage by arcade fire and roman candle by elliot smith

(and one more but I cant remember what it is)

I do plot in a vague sense! i know the points i want to touch on in my head and just connect the threads between.

for kfak it was:

Oh, they most definitely would! Probably with a few POH-TTAHs sprinkled in.

Honestly, Ashlyn's nationality isn't something I've given much thought to. Originally, in the very very early and unpublished version of this story, she was a self-insert (Oh the cringy shame! but I was in middle school... so valid excuse?) Then I re-discovered my old writing when I was looking for inspiration and decided to fix it up, create a proper plot, and post it. Part of that transition was remaking Ashlyn into a Y/N type character, where I kept the name only because I find Y/N very jarring, instead of purely a mask for my own individual voice.

She is no longer a mini-me, my child is complete with her own virtues and vices that have nothing to do with my previous 11-year-old brain but there are definitely some traces of my voice still left in her. Mostly in her creative swearing.

As the fic has developed, she's definitely grown into her own fully actualized character, and I am *this close* to removing the reader insert tag altogether. The only thing stopping me is that, other than her very striking personality, Ashlyn Moore is still pretty vague.

This makes sense because the story focuses on her transition and the after-effects of dimension hopping, but that means that other details are lost because they aren't as narratively important.

I think I'll continue to leave most of her background up to the reader's interpretation. But, considering the fact you lovable internet stalkers have sussed out that I'm British, her sharing some elements of that would fit with the origins of her character.

But yeah, I feel like Vince would have made a water bottle comment when they first met.

Hello lovely writers of Tumblr - how are you today? I have a question.

How do you go about writing? (poll at the bottom)

I am not a planner - I write what comes into my head as it does, which also means I write totally out of order and fill-in/make-it-make-sense, once I go back. When I go back through to figure out what else I need to write in I'm lucky if I get a one line note down - sometimes it just says FILLIN.

Sometimes I get to a point where I have to create a timeline just to sort out what's going on in my head properly.

But my twin writes completely in order and plans so much before hand. Her scene notes often have so much detail!

Oh no here she comes again with the fanfict she will never write=

Okay, I'm in the middle of a mess, trying to organize my first draft. I managed to write a short summary and a full synopsis, using the Snowflake method, and for now, I'd say it actually works.

Read more bellow if you dare.