You down with MeDD

[valis2]

So. I've decided I need a Mental Dictation Device.

The way I write is pretty straightforward. I have the kernel of an idea. I begin to think about the idea, and where it could go. This daydream state is just as important as the actual writing portion.

As I grow obsessed with the idea, I begin to write it in my head. I narrate it exactly as I would narrate it on a piece of paper, only because it's my mind, I jump ahead to other sections and combine some daydreaming with it.

Then I begin to actually write it physically. At this point, whenever I am not at the computer actively writing it, I am narrating large sections. Like, when I'm in the bathtub, or in bed, or driving, or at work. I start at the beginning of a scene, and I simply start mentally writing the text. The words appear exactly as they would for the page. If any of it is particularly interesting, I make a note of it somewhere.

The writing starts at the beginning. I don't skip ahead. If I've already thought of a section in my head, especially if I've thought of it multiple times, that section will be written fairly quickly. The connecting sequences might be a little clunky, but they'll be better after a bit of polish. As I write, I reread everything that came before first, unless the story is too big for that (I stop doing that around 15-20k, I'd say). In that case, I just read the section I'm working on.

If I had a MeDD, this would be so much easier. As I sat at work, writing a story in my head, it could be transferred via wireless connection to my MeDD, which would faithfully spool it all to the hard drive of my computer. Because I narrate texturally, as opposed to with images, I think that it would work out well. There are some days where I would estimate I've generated 5 or 6k of material. And then I have to go home and write it "again," in a way. The MeDD would be so useful, because sometimes I lose some of the better turns of phrase--I have a terrible memory. Though, as the flip side of the coin, I might lose some better phrases by only writing it once.

I'd just have to remember to turn it off when I start daydreaming about my Mary Sue characters. lol.

How about you? Any thoughts on writing processes? Would you welcome or curse a MeDD?

Comments

[gmth.livejournal.com]

I actually have one. Well, sort of. I use a digital voice recorder like this one to record my miscellaneous thoughts and then just play the stuff back to myself. It's helped a LOT, because I tend to do my best thinking in bed just before I fall asleep, and before I got this thing I would always forget everything before I woke up. I love it. :-)

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Damn. I've always wished I could do that, but I'm the biggest flibbertigibbet you've ever met, seriously, and every time I've tried, the sound of my own voice completely messes me up. I'm so easily distracted it's ludicrous.

Also, the pace is not the same. I narrate in my head faster than I can type or speak. So it's a mess, I'm afraid.

I'm so glad it works for you, though, that totally rocks! *hugs*

[seraphina_snape]

God, I would love to have one of these things. I always get the best ideas right before I fall asleep or when I'm in the car or some other place where you can't just whip out a pen and some paper and write stuff down. Usually I forget whatever brilliant sentence I've just composed because I'm in the middle of something that requires most of my attention. And then, thirty minutes later when I try to re-capture my idea and write it down, all I remember is that it was awesome and that it's all gone now. It sucks.

~ sera

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I've tried having a pen and paper next to the bed, but that just doesn't seem to work. I mean, some of the stuff--I can't seem to transcribe it properly, or it turns out I was half-asleep and it's really insane stuff that would never work anywhere, lol.

But other times, there's a great phrase, and I'm in my car, grrr! I hate that.

And then, thirty minutes later when I try to re-capture my idea and write it down, all I remember is that it was awesome and that it's all gone now. It sucks.

YES. THIS. That makes me crazy, I tell you! I hate it when that happens.

[drusillas-rain.livejournal.com]

Yes, a thousand times yes. Usually my stories write themselves in my head just as I'm trying to get to sleep. If I try to get up to write, I'm disturbing DH and he asks me what's wrong and by the time I dismiss him the story is gone. Or if I try to remember it for the next morning, it's gone too.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Gah. That is so frustrating.

I swear, if I had a MeDD, I would be flooding fandom with so many stories...

Heh. Maybe it's good that I don't have one.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Oh, the great ideas and phrases I have lost for lack of a MEDD! I'd get one straight away. Mind you, a lot of horrible junk would be recorded too, which is sort of embarrassing :P.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

hahaha!! Yes, we would absolutely need an on/off switch! I would hate for my epic Mary Sue stories to be recorded. Totally embarrassing.

But lots of other things...grocery lists, to-do lists...oh, this would be so wonderful!

[seraphina_snape]

I've tried having a pen and paper next to the bed, but that just doesn't seem to work.
I tried that, too, but I hated having to turn on the light. Somehow the brightness of it made it harder to get those middle-of-the-night ideas onto paper.

YES. THIS. That makes me crazy, I tell you! I hate it when that happens.

Me too. I tried repeating a phrase over and over in my mind to help me remember it, but there's always something that distracts me and wham! it's gone again. Seriously annoying.

~ sera

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I tried that, too, but I hated having to turn on the light. Somehow the brightness of it made it harder to get those middle-of-the-night ideas onto paper.

heh. I did it with the light off. Um. You use a lot of paper that way.

Me too. I tried repeating a phrase over and over in my mind to help me remember it, but there's always something that distracts me and wham! it's gone again. Seriously annoying.

Exactly. And I can't hold more than three things in my head at any one time, so once something else comes along--blammo! Gone.

[seraphina_snape]

heh. I did it with the light off. Um. You use a lot of paper that way.

I can see where that wouldn't work. *g* Writing in the dark is hard.

~ sera

[julian-black.livejournal.com]

So. I've decided I need a Mental Dictation Device.

This is so weird. I had a dream last night in which I had a chip implanted in my brain so I could download all of my daydreams and carefully-thought-out-in-advance fiction onto my hard drive. Because seriously? The whole keyboard/fingers interface is full of suck and fail.

And in the dream, everybody was appalled that I'd chosen to have the chip implanted, and was treating me like some sort of monster. But then I ended up in an elevator with the Dalai Lama, and it turned out he had one too, so we went for tea and had a long conversation about how cool it was, and the possibilities for other neural interfaces, and I've forgotten all the details but I woke up with my head buzzing.

So there you have it.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

This is so weird. I had a dream last night in which I had a chip implanted in my brain so I could download all of my daydreams and carefully-thought-out-in-advance fiction onto my hard drive. Because seriously? The whole keyboard/fingers interface is full of suck and fail.

Braintwin! wow. Yeah, the interface works--but only to a point. It can't keep up with the insanity that speeds along in my brain, lol.

And in the dream, everybody was appalled that I'd chosen to have the chip implanted, and was treating me like some sort of monster. But then I ended up in an elevator with the Dalai Lama, and it turned out he had one too, so we went for tea and had a long conversation about how cool it was, and the possibilities for other neural interfaces, and I've forgotten all the details but I woke up with my head buzzing.

*nodnod* You see? Even the Dalai Lama wants one. It has to happen sometime, then.

And, dude, I would so be in line for that implant. SO. I would be camping out. Because it would be so friggin' useful.

[blackletter]

Oh yes, I'd love a MeDD! Mine would need to have video capability, though. My story creation brain varies from composing sentences in my mind, to visualizing scenes (like watching a movie), to sensory immersion (where I feel the sensations of the story as if I were the character in it).

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Oooh! That would be a nice upgrade. I have lots of crazy music videos I've constructed in my head, after all. You're right--that's just what we need.

Still, even if I could just get my hands on the text version, I'd be deliriously happy. *nodnod*

to sensory immersion (where I feel the sensations of the story as if I were the character in it).

Oooh, that sounds fascinating! Is it almost like you're looking out through the character's eyes? I'm very interested.

[blackletter]

Oooh, that sounds fascinating! Is it almost like you're looking out through the character's eyes? I'm very interested.

Yes, although it's not just visual. It's like I get ghost sensations of smells and touches and tastes and everything. Including emotional sensations. It's like I become split in two. Most of me is sitting at the computer (or lying in bed, or taking a shower or whatever) and the other part of me has become the character entirely. And echoes of that second part resonate down into the first, physical part of me.

It's a bit like a dream in terms of real but not-real, except I'm awake and have all the real-life sensory goings-on in competition with the dream sensations.

It's the least frequent of the story-creation states I get into (the other two are practically my default state) and it only happens when I'm doing some hard-core imagining. When in that state, I usually end up muttering to myself and making twitching little gestures and expressions as imaginary actions bleed over. My mother has said that it looks very odd.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

It's a bit like a dream in terms of real but not-real, except I'm awake and have all the real-life sensory goings-on in competition with the dream sensations.

Wow, this is fascinating. I sometimes do try to put myself in the character's shoes, but my imagination is quite fuzzy, and it's very difficult to maintain any sort of image for long.

In fact, I've tried to meditate before, but the whole concept of holding an image of a rose in one's mind is alien to me. It lasts only a split second, and then turns into something else. Hell, it's pretty fuzzy to begin with. Text, though, burns right along my neural paths, and seems to have no problem.

It's the least frequent of the story-creation states I get into (the other two are practically my default state) and it only happens when I'm doing some hard-core imagining. When in that state, I usually end up muttering to myself and making twitching little gestures and expressions as imaginary actions bleed over. My mother has said that it looks very odd.

Totally interesting. When I'm really deep into a h/c scenario, it can get super intense, but generally it still stays only partially visual, mostly textual. There are some feelings involved, some emotions, but it doesn't sound quite the same.

Though if I do get super super into something, I sometimes will accidentally say things aloud. *grins*

[mariannelee.livejournal.com]

I had a voice recorder for a while. It was useful for remembering those little AHA! things that slip away.

I think very visually, and I think it comes out in my writing, because more than one reviewer has commented on it. It makes things slow, though. Everything has to be translated.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I'm terrible with a recorder. I completely distract myself. It's rather hilarious to watch, I'm certain. And I can't speak fast enough for my brain. *snorts*

You think visually? Ooh, that's really interesting. I have a really hard time with visuals. I can't seem to hold them for very long, and they're always a bit blurry.

[mariannelee.livejournal.com]

Let me amend that. I also think in dialog. I think my dialog is the easiest for me to write than anything because I hear it so strongly in my head. I think in prose, too, a lot of the time. But I also am able to envision things very vividly, and I do it a lot, but that part is hard to put into words.