Such a curious thing...

[AwkwardlySet]

I am in the process of editing my old stories and fixing some grammar errors but also some crude constructions I used in my older stories. I must say I am finding the whole process quite fun. One moment I am cringing at some glaring grammar mistake or a weird sentence construction, and the next, I am whistling "Sheeesh, did I really write this...?" Most of these chapters I haven't read since I wrote them, basically. But here is the most peculiar thing about this experience. For example, I run into a big block of inner thoughts or a large line from one of the characters and I decide to split it before I've even read the whole block. So I insert: "..." she said, running her fingers through her beautiful, red hair. Then I start reading the other half of the block and I find that it ends with: she said, running her fingers through her beautiful, red hair. What the fuck?! This exact thing happened to me two or three times in just as many chapters.
Is it possible that a certain situation and dialogue provoked the exact same image in my mind, the image of my character doing something while saying her line, and even worded exactly the same, now, same as a year ago? I am 100% sure I didn't read ahead and forgot it, I literally wrote it from my mind. Weird stuff. Anyone has similar experiences?

 

[Djmac1031]

I tend to repeat words, phrases and descriptions all the time while writing.

I find repeated passages like you describe all the time during editing.

It's not as bad, but I know I've repeated myself with phrases like you describe in several different stories.

I think we all probably have those particular favorite "Go to" words or phrases that pop up from time to time.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

The weird thing is I can't remember using that phrase anywhere else. Yet at the exact same spot, I get the same exact inspiration.

 

[Djmac1031]

The weird thing is I can't remember using that phrase anywhere else. Yet at the exact same spot, I get the same exact inspiration.

Memory is a weird thing.

You wrote the line, forgot you wrote it, but it was still in your brain.

So you wrote it again, thinking it was "new," then discovered it wasn't.

Is there such a thing as "muscle memory" but with writing?

 

[Altissimus]

I am in the process of editing my old stories and fixing some grammar errors but also some crude constructions I used in my older stories. I must say I am finding the whole process quite fun. One moment I am cringing at some glaring grammar mistake or a weird sentence construction, and the next, I am whistling "Sheeesh, did I really write this...?" Most of these chapters I haven't read since I wrote them, basically. But here is the most peculiar thing about this experience. For example, I run into a big block of inner thoughts or a large line from one of the characters and I decide to split it before I've even read the whole block. So I insert: "..." she said, running her fingers through her beautiful, red hair. Then I start reading the other half of the block and I find that it ends with: she said, running her fingers through her beautiful, red hair. What the fuck?! This exact thing happened to me two or three times in just as many chapters.
Is it possible that a certain situation and dialogue provoked the exact same image in my mind, the image of my character doing something while saying her line, and even worded exactly the same, now, same as a year ago? I am 100% sure I didn't read ahead and forgot it, I literally wrote it from my mind. Weird stuff. Anyone has similar experiences?

100%. I do this all the time when editing back on something I haven't touch in a while, and then I have to undo all my edits (or change it where it appears later if I now prefer the edit). I hadn't really considered it; I just assumed that it made sense to include it there the first time and it makes sense to include it there on subsequent times. But yep - happens all the time to me.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I literally wrote it from my mind. Weird stuff. Anyone has similar experiences?

Huh? Where else did it come from? That's a strange observation for a writer to make.

I think you're saying you found an image or trope that you've repeated subconsciously, word for word. I have a whole bunch of repeated ideas and tropes (aka, kinks), and when I read some of my older content, I'm surprised to find I was using some of them, early on. Happens all the time, but I usually know when I'm doing it.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Editing stories is boring. Editing stories is boring. I have no need to edit because I never repeat myself. I mean, I never ever repeat myself. Repeat myself, this is something I don't do.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

"Schlemiel, schlimazel, Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!" I've been trying to figure out how to work this into a story. I'm thinking I'll just say, "Two Yiddiesh words on luck and German Beer, were gonna do it."

Of course this has nothing to do with the thread, or maybe it does. It was just something rolling around in my head.

 

[jasperrocks51]

Those who study the process of how memory occurs, have discovered something interesting. Until recently, the prevailing view was that the brain stores complete units of information, like a DVD of a movie. The cutting-edge research shows that this is not at all how it works. Every memory is a reconstruction, and the remembering "process" pulls bits and pieces from different areas of the brain, in real time, and presents them for our "viewing". I'm not sure how this relates to your experience, just thought I'd throw it into the mix.