Writer's Toolkit

[Carnal_Flower]

The only "tool" I may use are images from tumblr. I can get a lot of inspiration from a single hot image. I'll look at it to keep the focus, ie that's the effect I'm going for. Porn videos do nothing for me, but still images or little gifs are awesome.

 

[Alice_Rosaleen]

Porn videos do nothing for me, but still images or little gifs are awesome.

So I'm not the only one! Unless it's homemade and feels more intimate, like I'm watching.
But not while I write, lest my hands start to stray from the keyboard...

 

[ElectricBlue]

So I'm not the only one! Unless it's homemade and feels more intimate, like I'm watching.
But not while I write, lest my hands start to stray from the keyboard...

Nope, not the only one. Porn vid bores me to tears, a photo or a drawing is a hundred times more erotic for me. But like you, not when I write - then, it's all streaming in my head and I don't need an external image.

When I'm not writing, it's called "research" .

 

[Hypoxia]

Never forget, cats are apex predators; the hunters, not the hunted. That's basic.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

Yes, homemade is good! And some vintage where the "actors" seem somewhat real.

My Tumblr "research" folder is great.

So I'm not the only one! Unless it's homemade and feels more intimate, like I'm watching.
But not while I write, lest my hands start to stray from the keyboard...

Nope, not the only one. Porn vid bores me to tears, a photo or a drawing is a hundred times more erotic for me. But like you, not when I write - then, it's all streaming in my head and I don't need an external image.

When I'm not writing, it's called "research" .

 

[NotWise]

Never forget, cats are apex predators; the hunters, not the hunted. That's basic.

This is totally not true of house cats. They're food for dogs, coyotes, wolves, large hawks and owls, bobcats, and probably any number of other predators that could kill and eat a house cat, but for which I don't know of specific reports.

Being in the middle of the food chain explains a lot of their bizarre behavior.

 

[Alice_Rosaleen]

This is totally not true of house cats. They're food for dogs, coyotes, wolves, large hawks and owls, bobcats, and probably any number of other predators that could kill and eat a house cat, but for which I don't know of specific reports.

Like ALF? Never trust an alien that eats cats. Or is scared of cats like those weird Sleepwalkers of Stephen King lore.
Cats would be in my toolkit too, but they'd probably knock all the tools out of it and then hide them under the bed.
There's a line from a Cake song about 'cats' that I'd like to incorporate into a story one day- "Well the more you try to shave the cat, the more the thing will bite and scratch. It's best I think to leave its fur and to listen to its silky purr."

 

[NotWise]

There's a line from a Cake song about 'cats' that I'd like to incorporate into a story one day- "Well the more you try to shave the cat, the more the thing will bite and scratch. It's best I think to leave its fur and to listen to its silky purr."

Replace 'cat' with 'pussy' and you have erotica.

 

[SamScribble]

* Voices in my head directing me.

Oh, yeah. I forgot about 'the voices'. (How could I?) The voices dictate the story; I just type it and sort out their punctuation.

 

[Bebop3]

My process is pretty simple. I have a Word document with story ideas. Usually two or three paragraphs for each.

Before I start on the story, I write a few sentences for each character. Name, age, interests, physical description, etc.

When I start the story I write the stuff that immediately captures my interest. Maybe it's an argument or a dramatic scene or a memory. I figure out where that goes and write around it. I'll write the first sentence or paragraph for most of the chapters and then flesh them out as I go along.

I use Critique Circle for feedback, so that keeps me motivated and moving along, forcing me to submit a few thousand words every Tuesday.

I also usually have 4 or so stories in progress at once. If I get stymied, I jump over to a different story and let my subconscious work out the difficulties in the first.

This has been an interesting thread!

 

[Alice_Rosaleen]

When I start the story I write the stuff that immediately captures my interest. Maybe it's an argument or a dramatic scene or a memory. I figure out where that goes and write around it. I'll write the first sentence or paragraph for most of the chapters and then flesh them out as I go along.

I use Critique Circle for feedback, so that keeps me motivated and moving along, forcing me to submit a few thousand words every Tuesday.

I've been trying to do that more often- jump into writing the juicy or dramatic scenes as soon as I feel inspired instead of trying to be totally linear. Or write out the dialog and fill in the narrative later. Get it while it's hot.
Critique Circle sounds interesting. Sometimes I want an outside perspective on part of a story in progress so I know whether I'm entertaining the readers and not just myself. Writing is entertaining for me and all, but I'd rather be making love than masturbating, if that makes sense.

 

[Alice_Rosaleen]

Replace 'cat' with 'pussy' and you have erotica.

Meow

 

[Hypoxia]

I've been trying to do that more often- jump into writing the juicy or dramatic scenes as soon as I feel inspired instead of trying to be totally linear. Or write out the dialog and fill in the narrative later. Get it while it's hot.

When my voices drive me to write, I may sketch an overview first. I have hints of where the juicy bits will be and may include at least skeletal voicing in the text. I leave the sketch embedded / bracketed in the story as I write and delete blocks after they're fully written. Then I go back and see if other juicy or mandatory bits remain to be added.

Hot writing demands cold editing.

Another writing tool: Regular absences from the keyboard. Get the fuck up and pace about, muttering, trying lines, imagining what's new or scanning what's nearby. Every object has a story. Every footstep is a new path.

Yes, motion works. Before LIT, I wrote sardonic essays and songs and game ideas. I often dictated them into a small Sony reporter's cassette recorder as I hiked, biked, or drove. The pieces reflected the rhythms of my movement. I haven't dictated stories but I haven't been so mobile lately either. Ratz.