McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
writing habits of Dresdenarians
meg_evonne:
--- Quote from: Hoodooed on April 28, 2008, 06:51:25 PM ---* I use a desktop PC and MS Word. I am considering a change to an iMac and iWork. I back my work up on a portable flash drive weekly or when I hit a milestone.
--- End quote ---
Did you hear the many groans of OH NO!!! Back up daily and keep flash drive with you at all times! I even back up the back up on a side system work computer.
Hoodooed:
--- Quote from: SailorYue on April 28, 2008, 09:19:52 PM ---has this ever happened to anyone: once you get the story written, your mind forgets it? that happens to me, which is why i dont use paper and pen anymore. once i get the story done, IM done wit hthe story. i never want to dwell on it again
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Particularly with short stories. Novels take more thought and become far more "personal" with me. particularly whan I am staying tight to theme.
--- Quote from: meg_evonne on April 28, 2008, 09:35:00 PM ---Did you hear the many groans of OH NO!!! Back up daily and keep flash drive with you at all times! I even back up the back up on a side system work computer.
--- End quote ---
It would be wise. But I am careless and lazy with it because I lack hope. :-\
Moritz:
I do short stories as a hobby, sometimes for competition. Not published yet.
-Use a computer, old-fashioned typewriter, or pen and paper?
outlines on paper, ideas into moleskin, writing on g4 Powerbook and Word. I always have something to write next to my bed in case I can't sleep
-Set aside a time every day to write?
no
-Force yourself to write something every day, even if it comes out stilted?
no. I have one project for which I write down one idea per day, but not the actual text.
-Have an outline, or just start with an idea? If an outline, how detailed is it?
idea, then outline.
-Have a room or area specifically for writing?
no.
-Play Queen or Queensryche to shut out the world, or do you need complete silence?
if I listen to musik, then soemthing without lyrics. ambient, electonic music, that kind of stuff.
-Start with plot, or with characters?
whatever comes first.
-Edit and re-write as you go, or when come to the end?
when I decide to write but have no fresh ideas/ writer's block, I'll edit some older parts.
-Show your rough draft to others, or re-write first?
rewrite first.
-Struggle most with dialogue, exposition, action scenes, or bridge scenes?
dialogue and action.
-Talk about what you are writing to others?
sure.
bonus answer:
I drink cheap french wine and eat expensive alpine cheese while writing ;D
Yeratel:
Back in the early 1990s, I had a lot of fun writing short stories and humor pieces, and even sold a couple, and won a couple of small press competitions. I used an original PC-XT to start with, with MS Word, and got hooked, because it was so much easier to rewrite and edit changes than with paper and a typewriter. I still generally started a story by outlining it on yellow legal pads, though, and posted the outline on the wall by the PC so I could keep track while I wrote. I joined a local writers' group, and we got together regualrly and shared and supported each other. One of my friends was a big fan of Hawaii Five-O, and wrote and sold the definitive book on the TV series, another got a three book mystery series published.
Then I got a job that entailed a lot of writing as a part of the job description. I spent several years doing a lot of writing on the word processor, cranking out software manuals, requirements documents, user guides, and technical stuff to the point that writing stopped being fun anymore.
Now that I'm retired and have the free time, I'd kind of like to get back into fiction and humor again, and I'm hoping the spark comes back. That's one reason I hang around with people that I know are active readers, and like to discuss books.
Hoodooed:
--- Quote from: Yeratel on April 30, 2008, 01:41:17 AM ---I still generally started a story by outlining it on yellow legal pads, though, and posted the outline on the wall by the PC so I could keep track while I wrote.
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I actually type my outlines and notes into word and then print the material to keep on the desk for easy reference while working. Something about having it on paper...
--- Quote from: Yeratel on April 30, 2008, 01:41:17 AM ---Then I got a job that entailed a lot of writing as a part of the job description. I spent several years doing a lot of writing on the word processor, cranking out software manuals, requirements documents, user guides, and technical stuff to the point that writing stopped being fun anymore.
--- End quote ---
Having been paid to write, do you now find it difficult to care about grammar and spelling when you are not being paid to do so? Like on a posting forum? (Nothing implied.)
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