WIP Challenge Check-in, Day 2 -- Wednesday

[linaewen]

Hello on Wednesday!  The week is half over already!  What kind of a writing day has it been today -- or yesterday, if today hasn't gotten going yet?

•     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

Discussion - When writing from a prompt, how do you go from the prompt to the story? Is it easier or harder to write from a provided prompt than writing from an idea that came out of your own head?

Comments

[linaewen]

When writing to prompts, I am usually able to come up with a couple of ideas straight away, either as soon as I see the prompt, or after a short time of mulling over various possibilities -- so it's really not that different from writing from an idea that originated with me. Once I have a list of ideas, I research them to see if they are viable -- whether they fit canon, the timeline, etc. and whether they answer the prompt properly. Once I feel comfortable with an idea, I firm up the research, then start thinking about it until the story is ready for an outline. I always write better from an outline, even if it's a vague one of ideas or concepts or snatches of conversation I want to include. I like the challenge of writing from a prompt, and it usually goes fairly smoothly, though the time involved between settling on an idea and starting to write it varies greatly!

[cpolk]

I wrote. I had a beta read what I wrote. I did a little research. I did a little editing.

It depends on the prompt. if it's a single word, that doesn't usually generate any ideas in my head. but too explicit a prompt and I'm just writing to order. sometimes I get a prompt that I object to, and I go out of my way to subvert it.

[rebecca2525]

I wrote a bit. Barely made my daily word count, but it's progress at least.

Prompts are just one of many ways that spark an idea, and once the idea it there the process is the same. Lot's of these one-word prompt are too vague for me to result in ideas though.

[samuraiter]

I wrote (and posted), and I'm planning the next foray. Got at least two stories I've got to do tomorrow, so I'm doing a little prep work to get a head start on that. So far, doing pretty well on my challenges.

Prompts! I love prompts! ... Hell, that's how I do most of my writing, any more. If I've selected a prompt, that means the kernel of a story is already there in my head, so I just roll with that. If I don't feel anything for it, I don't pick it up in the first place.

(Not that I don't write from my own ideas. I do. However, I take prompts far more often, since it means I'm writing something that I know has an audience of at least one. ... A bit selfish, perhaps, but at least it's still in a fandom I know and can write.)