dragonlady7

but not immediately, i've got like another 40k to post, of the ballooning wordcount bit, my writing, about the author

via https://ift.tt/3nAcygr

step 1: daydream the most exciting or emotionally-resonant part of the fic

step 2: write furiously for 10-20k words

step 3: realize that’s all garbage, start over, write methodically for about 50k, reach the emotionally resonant scene and rejoice, sometimes reuse some of that first 10-20k but often don’t, and then keep going

step 4: at some point you’ve daydreamed how the climax and resolution of the story are supposed to go but you eventually realize you’ve no idea how to get from the emotionally resonant scene to the climax and thence the resolution

step 5: watch helplessly as the wordcount balloons and you get no closer to finding the ending of the fucking thing

step 6: ???????????

step 7: write the climax and resolution of the fic and rejoice

Anyway I’ve been at step 5 in the Keira/Lambert/Aiden epic for a bit but I think I finally managed to daydream the actual transition bit which is the hardest part to daydream. (Yes, that’s genuinely how I plot things, by imaging them in my head. I do the voices too. A long commute helps sometimes. Mostly that’s what I do instead of sleeping regular hours.)

No, I know this is a stupid way of working, but I also know that’s the only way I work. I’m one of those people for whom outlining occupies the same part of the brain as doing, and so if I do an outline, my brain dismisses the thing as done and won’t give me any more hyperfocus. So if I ever want to not actually write a fic, I just outline it. Bingo!

The problem is that not outlining means you don’t know where the fuck you’re going, so I’ve been honing my ability to actually figure out where to go without planning too much over the last 20 years, and I think in the last 10 I’ve started to get the hang of it, and in the last 5 I’ve actually started finishing things, so.

Thanks, fanfiction, for letting me sort all this out the hard way, since that’s how my brain apparently works. (Your picture was not posted)