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| Keisu's Guidelines I have a pretty strict form of writing, which I follow fairly religously. It consists of a fairly detailed outline, plot and character summaries, and any other tools I need to write my fic successfully. For some of my fics, I have a whole binder full of information, outlines, and data that I use. I'll break my style down into a step-by-step basis so its easier to follow, although I usually do all the steps at the same time. This style also helps if you want to write a good research paper, but we're not here to write those, now are we? ~_^ 1. Brainstorm Unlike Karo, who writes a story when she gets an idea, I brainstorm for ideas when I want/have to write a story. Just think about things you want to write about, what inspires you, and what you're least likely to get bored with and drop cold. Write them all down, and think very hard about which idea you like best. Sometimes, in the brainstorming procees, an inspiration will hit you, and you will usually end up using that idea. 2. Summarize My next step is always to summarize the plot line, so I can have a general idea what I'm writing. I don't write teasers, which never give away the end of a story, only summaries, which tell the basic plotline of the story in several paragraphs. This gives me a better feel and shows me where my end product will be. The summary, along with the outline, is one of the most often edited peices of the whole process. 3. Characters Next I come up with interesting characters, give a full background bio, and sometimes even assign stats. such as bloodtype, birthday, and favorite color. I try to give as much information on the character as I can in a story, so they don't become "cardboard" or unrealistic. If the character has been created already (such as the Sailor Moon characters) I try to gather as much information as possible so I can GIVE as much information as possible. 4. Outline This is very much a formal outline. I often outline the Beginning, Conflict, Climax, and Resolution/End as the main topics, and then split those up into various sections. I like to do complete outlines so I can see exactly where my story goes and how it will end up. The outline also helps you notice if there is any unnessecary information. This is undeniably usefull if what was going to be a short fic ends up as a ten page long essay. If you plan on keeping it that long, it also helps you see where to divide into chapters/parts. 5.Overview Now I overview all my prep work before writing. I make sure that everything adds up, especially that my character personalities fit to the plotline. Its very hard to write a fic about a happy bubbly magical girl in a sci-fi horror/drama. This is a very cruicial part, as it allows me to finalize my feel for the story, and any editing needed to the characters/plotline is usually finalized here. 6. Write I like to write linearly. That is, from beginning to end. I tend to follow my outline point for point, proceeding chronologically through the story until I reach the conclusion. Very rarely, I'll get an idea, write it down, and add it in later when it is more appropriate. That technique is much more common to Karo's spontaneous style than it is mine. It is hard to say whose style is more efficient, but we are not trying for efficiency here at all. We want you to find a writing style thats true to you so that you can write at your best potential. |