Fic progress

[valis2]

As usual, time restraints sharpen my swords, and the ginormous bloated thing I wasn't certain about writing for Snupin has revealed itself to have a simple, tripartate structure at its core that is making me jump for joy. Huzzah!

The daydreaming stage (the longest part of me writing anything) is at its end.

My ratio seems to be 4 parts daydreaming, 1 part writing, for just about anything.

What about you guys? What's your daydream-to-writing ratio?

Comments

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Wow! That's really amazing! I can't even imagine sitting down to a blank screen without having a whole outlined thought process in my head if not on paper.

I usually don't do a huge amount of revising (thank goodness! though perhaps I need to, *grin*), so really, for me, the longest part of any fic is the gestation process. I really have to imagine it all out. In fact, the hardest part is the "Does this make sense?" part, because I will torture myself over every plot point just to make certain it all comes together properly. ;)

[bronze-ribbons.livejournal.com]

Oh, there's usually some start of an outline, and often lists of stray bon mots (especially if I'm in a meeting that doesn't require my full attention, or if I come across a cool phrase in a hymnal, or...). The problem is that once I start writing, the bunny inevitably hops somewhere I didn't expect it to go. (That said, it's also a significant part of the joy for me. "No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader" - Robert Frost -- which I do NOT believe to be true for everyone -- nothing about writing IS, in my opinion -- but there's a reason I often joke about my subconscious being smarter than me: once I start writing, it often kicks in stuff that has me going "where the HELL did that -- oh, yeah, okay!" *grin*)

I looked at my original notes for my Snupin Santa a couple of nights ago and cracked up laughing, because it bears almost NO resemblance to the draft I just finished a few minutes ago. (In fact, I may have to write another fic someday that *does* go with that outline-- some fun possibilities I'd completely forgotten about...)

(Forgive the rambliness: this is the equivalent of me doing a Snoopy dance of victory at 3:15 a.m. And good luck with yours!)

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Oh, there's usually some start of an outline, and often lists of stray bon mots

I write little bits of scenes on the teeny pieces of white paper I have in my cube at work. This, of course, means that I have a small stack of pieces of paper at my desk here at home, and it also means that once in a great while I have no idea what I meant. hee!

I looked at my original notes for my Snupin Santa a couple of nights ago and cracked up laughing, because it bears almost NO resemblance to the draft I just finished a few minutes ago.

Wow! For me, the outline is fairly inflexible, once I've jotted it down. I do give myself lots of leeway for the little details (and believe me, I come up with too many of those), but the main thrust of the story doesn't usually change. Very interesting!

I'm just working on the outline now, and I hope to actually be writing tonight. *crosses fingers*