WIP Challenge Check-in, Day 19 -- Tuesday

[linaewen]

Hello on Tuesday!  Sorry I'm a bit late posting today -- I was traveling and just got back to a computer.

What kind of a writing day has it been today -- or if you haven't begun yet, what do you hope for today?

• I thought about my fic once or twice
• I wrote
• I did some planning and/or research
• I edited
• I've sent my fic off to my beta
• I posted today!
• I'm taking a break
• I did something else that I'll talk about in a comment

For Discussion: Do you write from an outline?  If so, how detailed is it?  If not, how do you go about organizing your thoughts for writing?

Comments

[linaewen]

Nothing new on the writing front as yet, but I have plans for some extensive research later today, and maybe even putting some words down. If nothing else, I'll put together an outline for my Yulefic.

I always work from an outline, which is usually fairly detailed. I usually organize it by plot point with bullet points for details underneath. The outline tends to be chronological as best as I can figure for how the chapter is going to proceed. My outlines for shorter pieces tend to be less specific and consist mostly of details I want to include in the piece. However, my longer multi-chapter WIPs require the more detailed outline, because of all the details and characters I am working with.

[lightbird]

I edited the two most recent fics for my bingo challenges and I'll be handing both off to be beta'd later today.

Two more fics to go. I'm currently doing research for the first one. The prompt is 'amnesia' and right now I'm completely stumped on it, on what fandom and characters to write, on a plot. I have a couple of vague ideas but nothing that's really turning into anything yet.

[the_rck]

I've written a bit. I've got two paragraphs of my Yuletide fic now. With a little luck, I'll write more today.

I can't outline. I don't tend to know enough about what's going to happen until I get to that part of the story. Outlining is too much like writing the story. Trying to do it removes the impetus for writing the actual story.

[rebecca2525]

I've worked a bit more on my Yuletide fic.

It depends on how long the fic is, or how complicated, but longer fics I outline. The more detailed the outline, the smoother the writing process, but alas, the temptation to handwave during the outline is big, which often comes back to bite me in the ass later.

[lea_hazel]

I wrote today and edited a tiny bit and I feel okay about it.

Typically I hold my outline in my head. That way I can nip and tuck at it and it keeps me preoccupied during empty hours like bus rides. I don't have to worry about having the right file or notebook, and usually the ideas I can't remember aren't as good as the ones that stick with me. Sometimes stories mutate this way, but I find that starting with a resolution in mind rarely works for me.

[merryghoul]

Some writing. Still stalling.

I don't usually write from an outline, and if I do, it's very sparse.

[lilly_c]

I finished my editing yesterday and am just about ready to post two prompt fills, one for cottoncandy_bingo and one for prompt_in_a_box. I still have three unused prompts from an earlier round are still proving to be too tricky, I'll add those to the list. I also did some planning for two fics that are likely to be multi-chaptered and rewatched the episodes from canon that I need for both.

I write my longer fics from an outline and the amount of details varies for each piece but for anything under 500 words I just write them because they're meant to quick and short.