Questions for the writers out there

[SuzySteve]

How long did it take you to finally master the art of writing?
Do you find it easier to write your gender or the opposite sex?
Do you write in pieces or start from the beginning?
How long do you write at one sitting?

I ask these things because I have plenty of great ideas but I can't find a way to put them down to see them on paper at some point.

 

[Boota]

How long did it take you to finally master the art of writing? I haven't, and likely never will. I just tell stories.


Do you find it easier to write your gender or the opposite sex? Writing men is easier for me, but I have been mistaken for a woman because of my writing style before. That was a great compliment.


Do you write in pieces or start from the beginning? I always start from the beginning.


How long do you write at one sitting? I try to write 2000 words minimum, whether it takes 30 minutes or 8 hours.


The only thing you can do if you want to get your ideas down on paper is just to put them down on paper. There is no substitute for experience.

 

[elsol]

How long did it take you to finally master the art of writing?

You cannot master an art... you must be satisfied with knowing that what you put down is the best you could do at that time.

Do you find it easier to write your gender or the opposite sex?

I have other writers that argue with me about this... I'm not a female so I dislike writing from the female POV. Some people say 'Well, it's not that different!'

To me, it is THAT different.

Do you write in pieces or start from the beginning?

Different view here.... when a story comes in comes in total.

Beginning, middle, end... major plotpoints that must be hit.

So I start from the beginning and write towards the ending.

How long do you write at one sitting?

If it's sex... then a 17-20 page sex scene is not that difficult.

If it's a short story then I can do about 10 pages before my urge to edit overwhelms me.

In a serial... I can only do about chapter section with a max of 10 pages before I need to reassess.

ElSol

 

[cloudy]

How long did it take you to finally master the art of writing?
As the others have said, I don't think you ever "master" it. You grow, and improve, but no one ever achieves perfection.

Do you find it easier to write your gender or the opposite sex?
For most, I'd say it's easier to write from the POV of your gender, but if you're using third person, as most do, it doesn't really matter which gender you are.

Do you write in pieces or start from the beginning?
I start from the beginning, but I rarely get a story done in one sitting...it's happened, but it's rare.

How long do you write at one sitting?
It all depends. Sometimes my muse is on my shoulder and it flows for hours. Other times, I can barely put in fifteen minutes.

I ask these things because I have plenty of great ideas but I can't find a way to put them down to see them on paper at some point.
We are our own worst critics - you have to start somewhere. Write them down, play with the ideas you have, and don't listen to that horrible voice that tells you you can't do it, because you can.

 

[NoJo]

How long did it take you to finally master the art of writing?
Do you find it easier to write your gender or the opposite sex?
Do you write in pieces or start from the beginning?
How long do you write at one sitting?

I ask these things because I have plenty of great ideas but I can't find a way to put them down to see them on paper at some point.

Sometimes great ideas don't make great stories. Sometimes it may not even be possible to make a story at all out of them. If your idea has a strong implication of conflict, then you can probably eke a story out.

Occasionaly you can have a whole story pop up in your mind ex nihilo, but that's pretty rare.

It's hard to keep the memory of the creative magic that first made you want to develop a story, once you get down to the work of actually writing it.

You have to swap your critical and creative hats the whole time when you write.

 

[English Lady]

How long did it take you to finally master the art of writing?

*giggles* you're funny. It masters me most of the time. I am the art of writing's bungling slave girl who rarelygets it right.

Do you find it easier to write your gender or the opposite sex?

I like to do both and I don't really have a preference. One of my Valentine's pieces is from a guy's viewpoint ( Porn interrupted,link in sig) and I really enjoyed writing it.

Do you write in pieces or start from the beginning?

Nigh on always I start atthe beginning and carry on till the end, though I have skipped bits in a few stories and moved to a different scene because I've been inspired to write something closer to the end of my story than I actually am *L*

How long do you write at one sitting?
No idea. It can go from 10 minutes to 3 hours or so. When I was doing my NaNoWriMo novel I once sat for 3hours just writing and didn't notice I'd been writing so long till I looked up at the clock. I write for as long as I feel like writing

 

[Alex De Kok]

How long did it take you to finally master the art of writing?

If and when I do I'll let you know.

Do you find it easier to write your gender or the opposite sex?

I've done both, first and third person. Nobody complained, so it must at least have been reasonable.

Do you write in pieces or start from the beginning?

I usually have an idea of where a short story is going, so start at the beginning and work on through. For one story, I knew exactly what the last line was going to be before I started writing and everything in the story worked towards that line.

How long do you write at one sitting?

As long as the mood is on me, which recently has not been at all - too many other things demanding attention. The pressure is off temporarily, so maybe I'll get going again. For NaNo it was four or five hours a day, but not every day.

I ask these things because I have plenty of great ideas but I can't find a way to put them down to see them on paper at some point.

Just write. Get them down. Ask a trusted friend to read and comment, or try to find an editor. And keep writing, because that's the best way to learn to write.

Alex

 

[Guest]

How long did it take you to finally master the art of writing?
no, never will. but i like writing and though it will never be more than a hobby for me, i will continue.

Do you find it easier to write your gender or the opposite sex?
had to think about it. most all my stories, minus one in the works are all told in female voice. so... my own gender it is then.

Do you write in pieces or start from the beginning?
I cluster write. so, in effect, i can write the entire story in one sitting but then i have to go back and flesh it out.

How long do you write at one sitting?
as life dictates. currently jobless so, whenever the mood strikes.



Gook luck to you!

 

[M J Lindsay]

I must agree with the other writers: nobody ever "masters" writing. I've been a published (they actually paid me!) author since I was 17 years old, which is quite a few years ago now, and I still feel like I'm just getting a glimmer of how to do it.
It's easier to write as my own gender, but more fun to write as the other. Oddly enough I get the most ardent fan mail from the opposite sex, who believe I'm one of them. It touches me deeply.
In a short story I always start from the beginning, but when I wrote novels I wrote down pivotal scenes as they came to me, built an outline around them, and then fleshed out the book from the outline. My original scenes might change some from the way I first wrote them, but they usually appeared in the final product more or less intact.
I write as long as I feel inspired and the words are flowing. I learned years ago that if I dry up I'll stay dry until I do something else for awhile.
I used to be president of a writers' group and I always told our beginners that half the planet has good ideas for stories. Writers are the people who sit down and sweat until the ideas are on paper. So sit. Write. Enjoy.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Very few ever master writing. I am still hopefully learning and growing with each piece I wrtie. Technically, I may one day reach a point where I can't get any more sound, but on the creative end, I don't think you ever become fully proficient.

I can't write from a male stand point. Simply put, I don't understand how men think and could never produce something I felt was decent as I couldn't think for the character.

I usually write a whole story, but have, on occasion, merely written a scene or skipped large chuncks of plot/dialogue/and come back later to fill in.

I can write for hours, if the words and story are there. On average I spend about three hours at a clip writing.

 

[C's Button]

I have not mastered the "Ahrt of Wrahting" yet, either in English or my native languages. I just do the best I can and people seem to enjoy it.

I am going to say is easier to write as a female as I have not tried the opposite yet. I do know that 3rd person is easier for me than 1rst person.


I write in pieces, usually from the beginning, but some of them start from a flash of a scene. I mean, I see my characters in a certain scene and then I write them there. Like I see them making love under a christmas tree, but I have problems starting a story mid-fuck, so I go back to before and get them nekkid under the tree.


I set myself a goal of 10 pages in a sitting. If I am lucky, it will go further. If I am not lucky, I will spend 2 hours on those 10 pages. I did not get to finish my nano, but I learned to sit down and just write. It does not matter if you have 10 pages of dreck. If you get in the habit of sitting down and getting it on the page you can go back and revise later. Somedays I have tossed away pages and pages of work, but still, it was not wasted. Writing is a process, I think.