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The three phases of writing…and some brainstorming
Phase 1: Coming up with ideas
This is fun. Inspiration. Lots of notes. Making little drawings and maps. Checking details and doing research online. Figuring out how the ideas fit together and feeling clever when the big picture starts to form.
I need to know the ending before I can go on to phase 2: if I don't I will frequently end up with an unfinished WIP. Which is annoying: some of my best work never gets finished because I start writing too early.
Phase 2: Writing
This starts out fun. I'm on a roll with all that inspiration. Even when I don't have a pen or keyboard, I'm still writing. A character will walk beside me when I'm out, letting me know how a scene is going to play out. Sometimes we'll try three or four ways before the character is happy, but that's cool. Okay, from the outside I'm that crazy person who talks to themselves, but what the hell. I'm enjoying it.
Getting words down. Watching the page count go up. Going back and fixing stuff when I get a better idea. More notes - X is stupid, fix later. N would never let that happen - find a way to make it work.
Then at some point, the inspiration is tapped out and I'm left with the part that's hard work. The bits I still haven't written or that I know are crap and need fixing. The best thing to do at this point is to step away for a while and come back. Sometimes a character will pop back in and let me know I'm ready to get stuck in again. Eventually I have a complete story.
Phase 3: Editing
Mostly, I enjoy editing. Doing everything electronically now means I can fix the grammar and spelling issues on the fly, so editing is more about flow. Does it make sense to go from A to be to C in that order. Is this scene from the right POV? Does the story need all that detail or am I just showing off my research? Does this make sense?
I have, once or twice, scrapped huge chunks of a story and gone back to re-write, but mostly the editing phase is reding and tweaking what I've written, over and over until I'm happy. Then deciding whether it's the kind of fic that needs a beta and whether I can find one. It's not that I think I don't "need" a beta, more that by the time I'm happy with it, the thought of making more changes is just too much. But some stories need that fresh eye.
Where I am...
I have so many ideas for a Phoenix sequel/continuation. Phoenix is long, but it's a complete story. I knew the end almost from the beginning, although a lot of how we got there changed because Phoenix was a collab and Gharedsu did not work like me! My problem right now is I don't have an overall story for my sequel, just lots of good ideas for stuff I can do in that 'verse.
I could forget about trying to write another long story and do a series of shorter pieces, for each idea I have. That's tempting...
But I actually do have an ending. A really awesome, emotional ending. And I really want to get there. Trouble is not all of the ideas I have fit in with that end point.
Has anyone here read Phoenix?
So, at the end of Phoenix,
Daniel is a Tok'Ra and no longer lives on Earth.
Jack has been running an off-world base but is about to take over the SGC.
Sam leads SG-1.
Teal'c is still with SG-1 but is also a leader of the Jaffa rebellion.
Anubis has suffered a major defeat (but is not gone for good)
Osiris is dead; Daniel has brought Sarah back to Earth
The Stargate Program is about to be revealed to the public on Earth.
What I don't want to do is pick up right as the original story ends. I have in my head what is happening there - but it's just not interesting stuff.
But there are a couple of ideas I do want to include.
What I need is a way to integrate 3 and 4 and point them both to the ending I want. 3 sort of works with the ending but I’m not sure 4 does. And 4 is the part I really don’t want to cut ‘cause Team!
Not really after solutions…just musing on where my head’s at with the writing.
This is fun. Inspiration. Lots of notes. Making little drawings and maps. Checking details and doing research online. Figuring out how the ideas fit together and feeling clever when the big picture starts to form.
I need to know the ending before I can go on to phase 2: if I don't I will frequently end up with an unfinished WIP. Which is annoying: some of my best work never gets finished because I start writing too early.
Phase 2: Writing
This starts out fun. I'm on a roll with all that inspiration. Even when I don't have a pen or keyboard, I'm still writing. A character will walk beside me when I'm out, letting me know how a scene is going to play out. Sometimes we'll try three or four ways before the character is happy, but that's cool. Okay, from the outside I'm that crazy person who talks to themselves, but what the hell. I'm enjoying it.
Getting words down. Watching the page count go up. Going back and fixing stuff when I get a better idea. More notes - X is stupid, fix later. N would never let that happen - find a way to make it work.
Then at some point, the inspiration is tapped out and I'm left with the part that's hard work. The bits I still haven't written or that I know are crap and need fixing. The best thing to do at this point is to step away for a while and come back. Sometimes a character will pop back in and let me know I'm ready to get stuck in again. Eventually I have a complete story.
Phase 3: Editing
Mostly, I enjoy editing. Doing everything electronically now means I can fix the grammar and spelling issues on the fly, so editing is more about flow. Does it make sense to go from A to be to C in that order. Is this scene from the right POV? Does the story need all that detail or am I just showing off my research? Does this make sense?
I have, once or twice, scrapped huge chunks of a story and gone back to re-write, but mostly the editing phase is reding and tweaking what I've written, over and over until I'm happy. Then deciding whether it's the kind of fic that needs a beta and whether I can find one. It's not that I think I don't "need" a beta, more that by the time I'm happy with it, the thought of making more changes is just too much. But some stories need that fresh eye.
Where I am...
I have so many ideas for a Phoenix sequel/continuation. Phoenix is long, but it's a complete story. I knew the end almost from the beginning, although a lot of how we got there changed because Phoenix was a collab and Gharedsu did not work like me! My problem right now is I don't have an overall story for my sequel, just lots of good ideas for stuff I can do in that 'verse.
I could forget about trying to write another long story and do a series of shorter pieces, for each idea I have. That's tempting...
But I actually do have an ending. A really awesome, emotional ending. And I really want to get there. Trouble is not all of the ideas I have fit in with that end point.
Has anyone here read Phoenix?
So, at the end of Phoenix,
Daniel is a Tok'Ra and no longer lives on Earth.
Jack has been running an off-world base but is about to take over the SGC.
Sam leads SG-1.
Teal'c is still with SG-1 but is also a leader of the Jaffa rebellion.
Anubis has suffered a major defeat (but is not gone for good)
Osiris is dead; Daniel has brought Sarah back to Earth
The Stargate Program is about to be revealed to the public on Earth.
What I don't want to do is pick up right as the original story ends. I have in my head what is happening there - but it's just not interesting stuff.
But there are a couple of ideas I do want to include.
- One is a "missing" chapter from Phoenix - Sam's POV on uncovering the traitors at the beginning of Phoenix. This is one I can drop or post separately, but I really love this story.
- I also have some ideas to follow up Sarah's story; I don't want to just drop her as a character because Phoenix leaves her story in an interesting place. AND she can play an important role in the ending I want.
- I want to spend more time on the Jaffa rebellion but right now I have no idea what to do with that.
- I have a fun idea for the return of an old enemy that will let me bring the four main characters together again - Phoenix explicitly ends with everyone going in separate directions, but Stargate is about Jack, Daniel, Sam and Teal'c. Got to have the team together.
- And I want to explore my OC Entar's past more - I've got a few thousand years to work with. And that will let me bring a dead character back into it, which is always fun.
What I need is a way to integrate 3 and 4 and point them both to the ending I want. 3 sort of works with the ending but I’m not sure 4 does. And 4 is the part I really don’t want to cut ‘cause Team!
Not really after solutions…just musing on where my head’s at with the writing.