WIP Challenge Check-in -- Day 13 (Monday)

[linaewen]

I'm really pleased at all the good responses to yesterday's discussion about reviews.  I'm happy to see that, for the most part, we are all committed to our writing no matter whether we get reviews or not.  That makes the reviews we do get all the more sweet, I'd say!

So, is today going well for everyone?  Let us know how your Monday has been going, is currently going, or is hopefully going!

What writing-related pursuit did you engage in today?

• Writing
• Editing
• Sent to beta
• Posted
• Procrastinating
• Planning/Researching
• Something else I will describe in comments

For those who got some writing in, what was your word count?

For discussion:

• What is your favorite way to write your story when you are in the process of creating?  Can you only write on the computer?  Do you write it out on paper first, then type it up in a document?  A combination of the two?
• How do you handle notes for your stories as ideas come to you?  Do you scribble notes on anything that comes to hand -- envelopes, napkins, church bulletins?  Do you wake up at night and have to get up to write down an idea so it's not lost forever?

Comments

[lexicalcrow]

Mostly revision, adding in things that needed to be rewritten or clarified. My genderqueer character actually comes across as genderqueer now. Woo. XD Still got more to do though. I got through to page 32 last night out of 73, so yes. :P There are relationships with secondary characters that need to come out more, so I've been adding scenes for that.

I don't really have a favourite way to write a story. It depends on when I get the idea. Sometimes I write emails to myself, or I scribble in my notebooks that I type up later. If I'm already on my computer at home, I just open a new document and start writing.

I use the Jarte word processor, which has tabbed documents, so I can easily have my main story and a notes file (and even a deleted scenes file if needed) all open and accessible at the same time. But I do sometimes scribble notes on paper. If I get an idea just as I'm going to bed, I prefer writing it down on some paper rather than run to my computer. Less disruptive and I can get back to it the next day.

I have plenty of emails with pages of notes I've written down as I've been working out plot progressions. It's interesting to see the change in things as I've gone back, done some proper writing, and things have changed again.

[linaewen]

I use the Jarte word processor, which has tabbed documents, so I can easily have my main story and a notes file (and even a deleted scenes file if needed) all open and accessible at the same time.

Thanks for the mention of Jarte -- I hadn't heard of it before, but the idea of tabbed documents really appeals to me, so I checked it out. Nice! I think it will be just what I need for easier navigating between all the different notes I usually have when working on a WIP. Thanks!

[lexicalcrow]

No problem! It's such an awesome program, and because you can have custom backgrounds, you can change it to suit whatever WIP your working on for inspiration. :P That's always quite fun. And yeah, it pretty much does everything I wished Wordpad did, and possibly a few things more. Enjoy! :D

[anyssia]

My genderqueer character actually comes across as genderqueer now.
\O/ ^^ it's taking form!

Wow, I'm impressed: if I did like you, e-mails and scenes and whatnot, I'd lose myself in about five minutes xD I know myself: if I begin to write a sentence here and a page there, I won't be able to re-read it/understand it afterward ^^;;

[lexicalcrow]

Yes! :D I've had to be inventive as I'm writing during the 50s and 60s and the vocab was a lot different. I can't just use the words I'd use now and have to find other ways of saying things. I think it comes across as authentic enough? But yes. Progress! :D

I think it works for me because I get obsessive about pulling all those disparate notes together into one place so I can see them all at once. If you don't organise your notes and such, you'll lose track of everything and forget wtf that three paragraph opening was supposed to be about. :P