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I was asked by someone I'm working with about my process. The response is worth repeating, I hope. So I'll share it with you. If it helps, awesome. If not, there are lots of processes, choose another one.
What do I do?
No one actually knows where their characters are going until they’ve met them, so no, I don’t know where my stories will go until I write them. I do outline after a manner though, big ideas and general objectives a la, “I’ll write a werewolf story with a tragic ending that explores process of changing,” or “This is boy meets girl, falls in love with sister, gets dumped, and ends up alone.” It may even be as simple as my protagonist gets a cup of coffee and daydreams about the barista. The longer the work, the more detailed that becomes, and fair warning, I almost never stick to the outline. It’s more like a suggestion.
Once I’ve written a first draft and look at what I’ve done and try to understand why anyone, why I, would care. And then I go back and line up my plot, each characters NOCR (Needs/Wants, Obstacles, Climax, Resolution), and at a minimum the protagonist's character arch. Then I go back and retell the story, making sure to deliver of those three things, throwing away anything that doesn’t and adding anything that’s needed to make it work.
You should have trusted readers – someone to build you up, someone to tear you down, and someone to tell you the truth. I use people from this writing group. There are some really exceptional writers on the forum.
Take their feedback. Understand that they will tell you what works and what doesn’t. Listen to them. They will also tell you how to fix it. More often not, they don’t know shit, because they don’t know your characters. You have to fix it, but you can keep in mind what they say. That goes for me too. I’m just some joker you met online by asking for a beta.
Basic pattern in, in full, though I rarely do the whole thing.
1. Get your story out, however, you do that. Tell it until it’s finished.
2. Do something else for a little bit. Giving critiques to others is good, so is mowing the lawn or catching up on work. Or writing another story.
3. Reread your story. Try to understand why it matters at all.
4. Write down your plot.
5. Write down your character(s) NOCR. Everyone that changes the plot has a NOCR. You especially need to love you antagonist as much as your protagonist or they will ring hollow. This means you must sympathize with your Antagonists reason(ing) for being the baddie. Bad guys think they are good guys. We are all the heroes of our own stories.
6. Write down your character arch.
7. Write a second draft. Nothing but practice goes out on first draft. If you haven’t written a second draft you haven’t finished your story.
8. Read it again, draft it again if necessary.
9. Get another round of feedback from a truth teller.
10. Clean up your most current draft with fixes and touches.
11. Edit for grammar and spelling. This is a pain in the ass, and everyone needs it. No one is perfect.
12. Line edits – this means read every sentence stand alone, then with the sentence before and after. Decide if it’s the best sentence it can be, fix it if it isn’t. This is a giant pain in the ass, but the difference is insane.
13. Send it to an editor or submit it for consideration.
14. You should be able to describe your story in a paragraph no matter how long it is, and that comes from 4, 5, and 6 above.
The most important thing is to write, and write a lot. We all play like we practice. You will only find your masterpiece if you write it.
Last, why do I give feedback and detailed critiques? It improves my writing to think about yours and tell you what I think. You should do it for others too. Everyone has a voice no matter how advanced or how new. Part of practicing your craft is giving criticism.
What do I do?
No one actually knows where their characters are going until they’ve met them, so no, I don’t know where my stories will go until I write them. I do outline after a manner though, big ideas and general objectives a la, “I’ll write a werewolf story with a tragic ending that explores process of changing,” or “This is boy meets girl, falls in love with sister, gets dumped, and ends up alone.” It may even be as simple as my protagonist gets a cup of coffee and daydreams about the barista. The longer the work, the more detailed that becomes, and fair warning, I almost never stick to the outline. It’s more like a suggestion.
Once I’ve written a first draft and look at what I’ve done and try to understand why anyone, why I, would care. And then I go back and line up my plot, each characters NOCR (Needs/Wants, Obstacles, Climax, Resolution), and at a minimum the protagonist's character arch. Then I go back and retell the story, making sure to deliver of those three things, throwing away anything that doesn’t and adding anything that’s needed to make it work.
You should have trusted readers – someone to build you up, someone to tear you down, and someone to tell you the truth. I use people from this writing group. There are some really exceptional writers on the forum.
Take their feedback. Understand that they will tell you what works and what doesn’t. Listen to them. They will also tell you how to fix it. More often not, they don’t know shit, because they don’t know your characters. You have to fix it, but you can keep in mind what they say. That goes for me too. I’m just some joker you met online by asking for a beta.
Basic pattern in, in full, though I rarely do the whole thing.
1. Get your story out, however, you do that. Tell it until it’s finished.
2. Do something else for a little bit. Giving critiques to others is good, so is mowing the lawn or catching up on work. Or writing another story.
3. Reread your story. Try to understand why it matters at all.
4. Write down your plot.
5. Write down your character(s) NOCR. Everyone that changes the plot has a NOCR. You especially need to love you antagonist as much as your protagonist or they will ring hollow. This means you must sympathize with your Antagonists reason(ing) for being the baddie. Bad guys think they are good guys. We are all the heroes of our own stories.
6. Write down your character arch.
7. Write a second draft. Nothing but practice goes out on first draft. If you haven’t written a second draft you haven’t finished your story.
8. Read it again, draft it again if necessary.
9. Get another round of feedback from a truth teller.
10. Clean up your most current draft with fixes and touches.
11. Edit for grammar and spelling. This is a pain in the ass, and everyone needs it. No one is perfect.
12. Line edits – this means read every sentence stand alone, then with the sentence before and after. Decide if it’s the best sentence it can be, fix it if it isn’t. This is a giant pain in the ass, but the difference is insane.
13. Send it to an editor or submit it for consideration.
14. You should be able to describe your story in a paragraph no matter how long it is, and that comes from 4, 5, and 6 above.
The most important thing is to write, and write a lot. We all play like we practice. You will only find your masterpiece if you write it.
Last, why do I give feedback and detailed critiques? It improves my writing to think about yours and tell you what I think. You should do it for others too. Everyone has a voice no matter how advanced or how new. Part of practicing your craft is giving criticism.
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