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Katie McNNote:
The original version of this post can be found at Hi Sigerson! On Sat, 27 Jan 2001 03:36:42 GMT, you might have said: <edit of Sigerson's story development method> I've read quite a number of writing books and find that successful authors follow all different story development methods and the rule seems to be that the one the works is the one you should use. 'The one that works' means a method that actually produces stories people want to read. We hear over and over again about the BHC and how this person or that has 50, 100, 150 or more stories in some state of not complete on their hard drive. The method they are using might not be a good one. I'm currently writing two stories for fans as a tune up for an important long form story I'm working on as a collaboration. I have one story for an author that will happen after the collaboration. I just released a story called Katie McN:A Slut's Story which can be found here http://assm.asstr.org/Year2001/28521. While each story started out from a different idea, the process I use is the same. Once I have the idea I think about it for some period of time. This could be a day or a week and sometimes more than that. The main pieces fall together during this time and at a certain point I have to start writing. I call this point the place where the story is forcing itself out. I used to develop a lot of the same documentation you describe in your post, but I no longer do that. I found that the story will start writing itself at a certain point and so all the preliminary work I do is generally a waste of time. Frequently this is a way to avoid starting to write and yet sill feel like some work is being accomplished. An outline is enough to get me going and possibly a character description if these are characters I've not used before. I use the Word Outliner to develop my story outline. The title is the first line and then I use a single indent for the hook, 1 or more scenes and a conclusion. Each of these is further described with phrases covering the flow of action in the scene. If the scene is quite complicated the flow may be broken down further with additional phrases. Once I'm happy with the outline I open a new document in split screen so I can see both pages at the same time. I have a 21 inch monitor which lets me see enough of each document so I can work without a lot of manipulation. I usually start from the top and try to write in sequence. Recently I've been writing stories in the 4000-6000 word range. It usually take me two or three sessions to create what U call the rough draft. I start each writing session by editing what I did in the prior sessions. This serves several purposes. First, it helps me remember what the story is all about. Next, it's a warmup to get me started on the next part. Finally, it reduces the amount of editing I have to do before I send the story off to Denny Wheeler for the actual editing. When I've completed the rough draft, I go through it one or more times editing out things that don't make sense. I like to reduce the size of the story and throw things out during this phase. I try to find wasted words and problems I frequently introduce to the story. My editor is very good at this sort of thing, but I try to catch as much as I can up front so he can concentrate on the fine points. Once I have a proposed rough draft, I read the story aloud in monotone. I've found my eyes will play tricks on me and read what's not there or skip over things that shouldn't be there. For some reason this doesn't happen when I speak the story out loud. I use monotone because I don't want to add anything that won't be their for the reader. If I read it like a story telling session, the reading might overcome problems that will still be there when it is read another person. I let the story sit for a day and read it over again. I've always found that there are going to be little things that have to change during this process. When I've finished all that I send the story to Denny. Sometimes he sends it back and says it's done. He can change my stories and doesn't have to inform me that he does. In some cases he questions story concepts and I do a rewrite. Since I'm not in love with any of it, I usually have no problem making the changes that he suggests. He may get the story back at this point for another go round or I could just send it out depending on what changed. Like everyone else, I run into writers block. For me this usually is a fear of the story. There are several reasons why this happens. I may not really know what I want to do with the story and stall until something comes to me. It's possible that I have other projects in mind and wander off to play with them instead of doing the hard work of finishing what I started. I feel overwhelmed by what I'm doing and hide from it. All of the above seem to be related to fear. There is the fear of not knowing how my story will end. There is the fear that the story isn't any good and so I'd rather do something else that might be better. There is a fear that I'm not as good as someone else and so stall on writing a given work. One example of this is SF Nights. I'm writing with Michael D who is a better writer. Even though he has never once said anything of a comparative nature, I know what's going on and stall in getting my part done because I am more critical of myself than anyone else can be. How do I overcome fear and get stories written. It's quite easy. Once It's time to start producing, I make a list of the stories and write them one at a time in order. If I'm stuck on a given story, I don't start in on another one. Instead I continue to write until I've written five pages. That is my minimum output for a given day. If the stuff turns out to be crap I throw it away. I've found that one paragraph, one page or one day later the tide turns and better stuff starts showing up. Eventually the story is finished and I do all the steps mentioned above. What about my hopper? I just completed a story using the method I describe and it is well received and I should be standing around high fiving Lexi. Instead I'm working on the next story on the list and it will be ready for Denny tonight. I will be looking at it right after I finish sending e mail and then off it goes. I will start on the next story tonight or tomorrow and probably will have that story ready in some days. The reason I'm pressing so hard is that I want to get started on a story further down the list but won't break my own rules and just start working on it. In this way the "better" stuff acts as an incentive for me to get the rest of the work out. My hopper is the four stories I consider in process and these others. Artist and Model. A key story in the Mary Kay series which I can't work out yet. I'm still in the thinking stage on this one and have been for a year or more. I'll Do Anything. I think we need a Pred around just to keep us on our toes. This is my idea of what Pred might write if he were still with us. Eventually I will finish this story and head for the fallout shelter when everyone gets a chance to read it. Hecate Does Texas. This is a collaboration possibility with Hecate. We have some general ideas but ran into technical problems and I lost interest for awhile and then I ended up in the hospital. Eventually we will do this story. Which Witch. This will be my Halloween story for next year. Sequel to Slut's Story. I think I'll be doing a Revenge of the Slut but haven't decided when it will get done. Sequel to Karen:School for Sluts. The first part is the story I'm getting ready for editing tonight. The sequel will have something to do with her after she graduates from college. Novel. I continue to plan on ending the Katie R series with a novel called Katie at 15. I don't feel like ending the series yet so this stays on the shelf. Novel. The Mary Kay stories are concept tests for a novel I plan on writing. I want to write a literate FF Rom story and just about have it worked out, but don't know when I can start it. Non-Fiction. I'm working up a proposal now for a non-fiction work and expect to write it sometime this year. This will be published in the regular press and not on assm. I suspect that much of what is described above will be done within 12 months and when we arrive in 2002 my hopper will be no bigger than it is now. I suspect this has something to do with my style of work and the discipline I use when I write. I would very much like to here from other people who would be willing to share their methods. And, I hope Rui Jorge could start a web page for the methods. We talked about this before when we had the discussion on categories and lost the opportunity to save some valuable material. I think this thread could provide a lot of useful information which authors could benefit from over time. Katie McN |
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