Writing Process

Sitting in a bar wont help much.

I spent 4 years in the military, worked for the phone company, worked in the construction industry, did 8 years of college, and spent 20 years in the mental health/legal industry, plus gigs at WALMART and QUICKIE MART.

A lot of things just won't stop playing out in my head until I get them written down. First story I did was so clear in my head that I didn't do a lot of prep work on it, although as I was writing I went back to earlier parts several times for a rewrite. Everything after that I kept a file full of notes of the ideas. Some of the stuff starts out kind of half formed, and as time goes on and you continue to mull it over, better connections appear until it all makes sense. If there's any particular structure you are trying to create, or if the ideas are disjointed, sometimes putting it down in a list or table is the only way to figure out which bits go where and how things fit together.

1. Spew
2. Rearrange
3. Cut
4. Check (takes longer than spew)
5. Whatever

Ardent1 said:

1. Spew
2. Rearrange
3. Cut
4. Check (takes longer than spew)
5. Whatever

Click to expand...

^^ this ^^

One model of storytelling is sculpting. One takes a basic framework, slaps all sorts of shit into it, then pares away at it and slops on some more crap. Pinch here, scrape there, and voila! A masterpiece!