MEME on Writing...snagged from nightbeast

[rabid1st]

Ideas. Where the hell do they come from? Can you make those little fuckers show up?

Actually, I get the writer's newsletter that comes out weekly with a list of good ideas for stories. Uhm...yes...I'm kidding. I get my ideas from the cosmic pool. They just come to me and I turn them over and over in my head until they becomes a story or fade away into nothing. I scribble notes and run through strands of dialog in my head and hopefully a story takes shape. Stories and characters I love inspire me. This is why I write close to canon...I use canon as an idea farm.

Wild horse-bunnies. When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?

Yes. Sometimes an idea will strike like a lightening bolt and I'll just see what it is I want to say and how I will say it. Suicide Blonde was that way. And Iced and back in the Buffy days...Ichnobate and Fall of Eagles and Coure Della Notte.

Writer's block. Have you been scourged?

I have virtually nothing but block. I am a block head. I am cursed by my own Adrian Monk-like obsession with getting things perfect and I seem to forever cringe over the blank page and worry that I will fill it with inadequate words. I do seem to have a marked difference in this department from my fellow writers. Most of them tell me they can't read things they wrote a long time ago. But I often enjoy my older work...once I've let go of the need to get it just right...I feel lots better about it. Sure, I find tons of errors in my older fic...but I also can't believe it...sort of...works. I tend to view whatever I'm toiling over as a trial....a boulder of useless crap I'm pushing uphill. Someone...Isaac Asimov maybe...said you shouldn't write if you don't enjoy it. And I thought, "Oh, good, Isaac (if it was Isaac) go ahead and give me another reason to be blocked. I shouldn't be a writer at all. Yes, I suspected as much. Thank you!" :grin: However, having confessed to my insecurities...I do actually enjoy writing...but I enjoy it when it works and I manage to communicate with someone...not the process.

Clean up duty. Do you like editing?

I can't say I like editing, either. I do a lot of it. And I will beta for others and a few people keep coming back for more. But I'm awfully persnickity if I'm not careful. I can get caught up in the idea that the written word will never convey what I see in my head. I've learned to avoid compromising another writer's voice with my edits...but I always feel my work can be tweaked just a little more. I edit as I go and get it to a point where I no longer see problems. After a time, I've overworked the fic and I need to get that distance on it that I mention above. Literally, I try to make it as precise as I can...and then I send it off to a beta. The betas then tell me I've missed the boat on reaching them...or I've spliced some comma fragments...but by the time I get the work back with their suggestions, I feel less blocked and ready to take on their new ideas.

The ending. Is it hard for you to find the ending?

I don't start until I find the end. When an idea strikes me...I take it to the ending. I write the first paragraph or so...and the end. So I write the ending upfront and work toward it. If I didn't know how it ended, I wouldn't know why I was going there...or what I was trying to say.

The title. Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?

Titles usually come to me out of the concept that I'm trying to convey. Disheveled for example...came out of a combination of the Doctor's usual disarray and the idea of Rose and the Doctor sort of throwing each other into turmoil. The extent of the turmoil grew out of my deciding to continue the story to a particular end. Ichnobate, in the BtVS fandom, was named for one of the hounds that Artemis set after the hunter, Actaeon, after he saw her bathing in a pool. Basically, I wanted to show the Slayer as that hound. Also the literal meaning of "Ichnobate" is "Fierce Tracker" and that also fit with the concept of an unstoppable hunter...that would run it's prey to ground. I tend to draw on mythology and poetry for my titles.

Plot. If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand.

*raises hand* I plot all the time and I plot in scenes. I tend to draw lines through those scenes to weave a story together. I get the beginning and end down and then major scenes. This is why I can't just post a fic even if I work on it for a long time...because it is in pieces all over the place.

POV. How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?

I naturally write in third person omniscient, which is rather rare. I think that's because all of the dialog and action happens in my head and I have choice to do it from my POV or from an all-seeing one. However, sometimes, that POV is too remote to work. In those cases, I find out where the camera is best situated for dramatic impact. In Wild Geese, I original started out in 3PO but I quickly ran into trouble when I found Rose and the Doctor refusing to get on with the PWP part of the story. Asking them what the trouble was. I found they felt funny with me watching. Okay, no...but it was rather hard to keep explaining why the Doctor was acting as he was. Then I went to Rose POV...but she didn't know what the Doctor was doing at all...and the story got even more mired. Finally, I decided to go with the more alien POV of the Doctor himself. Even though I knew it would mean centering the audience in the middle of his awkward reacitons.

Challenges. Do you like them? Do they inspire you?

I'm usually inspired by canon. Something happens to trigger my imagination and off I go. Plotting is not generally a problem for me...my friends will tell you I think too much about what comes next in any given scenario. However, I have had challenges set fire to my creativity, too. Mostly, I find I wander from the topic at hand. But, if I was ever sitting around with time on my hands...nothing to write...I suppose I would go read a few challenges for inspiration.

Sex. Do you like writing sex?

If you are reading this...you've probably read my work. Can you tell I enjoy the sex? Sex is beautiful and meaningful and emotionally revealing. Sex is action + emotion. I love writing sex scenes and they generally give me no trouble at all. Feel free to hate me. :grin:

Added question by soliloquy: What sort of atmosphere do you like to create around you when you write? What music do you listen to while you write, if any?

I like it quiet when I'm in the zone. But to get to the zone...I often use music. And the choice of music depends on what I'm trying to convey in the scene for the day. Happy scenes=Happy music. Sex Scenes=OMG or Macy Gray or something. I will also watch scenes from the show to set my voice and movement to character. Usually, a writing session goes like this...cuppa tea...snack...open document...reread what I've written...make corrections as I see the need...listen to some music...watch a little scene or two...feel the spark of synapsis firing...write....curse the block...erase...pace the room...act out scene (unless it is a sex scene, thank you very much...it is embarrassing enough to be caught talking to myself)...write some more...give up for the day.


ETA: Sorry, this is so big, folks! Does anyone know what the hell has gone wrong with LJ posting? I think it must have something to do with this HTML vs. Rich Text business. Or the change in my LJ layout...maybe. But my HTML tags are not working anymore. Goes to look in the FAQ and NEWS folders for more clues.

Comments

[wickedgillie.livejournal.com]

I think it's cool reading about your process. And neat to see that we do some things the same, and others differently. I do know my process for writing fic is a bit different than my process for writing poetry, or for making new art, although I do see some sameness for me in al of my acts of creation. (well, not the having kids part--and we won't talk about that process, lol)

I had some major issues with the rich vs html posting myself when I went to post Picking at Scabs. I've come to the conclusion that LJ just hates me.

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

Okay, officially hating you for having an easy time writing sex . . . :D LOL! Not really, just had to say it since you gave such a great opportunity. ;) Anyway, interesting answers -- writing is such an individual activity, it's fun to see how it works for others. :)

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Lots of people seem to have trouble with the sex scenes. I think it may be because they over invest in the process...or maybe they are worried about revealing something about themselves. Or it could be that lots of people have trouble with action sequences in general. A good action sequence is hard to come by in fanfic.

The action sequence is problematic because you have to put your characters in relationship to one another...and in motion. With sex...you add the extra element of emotional truth. I do sometimes feel when I'm reading a sketchy sex scenes by someone who freely admits to having trouble with them...that the problem lies in the emotional truth arena.

Often, I think, a writer wants characters X and Y to connect but is shy about getting to the emotional core of WHY they are connecting. Sex needs visceral connection between the participants. But often it is something that happens in a gauzy sort of haze of happy for writers. Stripping away the veil and watching every nuance like it was a sporting event isn't something they enjoy. They don't want to make the sex an action scene. So, I'm saying I imagine that the more idealistically-minded writers might have trouble writing sex scenes because they might not feel comfortable doing a play-by-play analysis of the beautiful moment.

At least those are my working theories on the subject. Go back to hating me...I don't mind. :grin:

Rae

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

Aaah, no, wouldn't be fair to go around hating someone for a natural talent. I'll just be ravingly jealous instead. ;)

My biggest problem is in simply finding the right words when writing sex; English has a pretty limited repertoire of descriptive words for the act, and most of them are pretty heavily weighted with various associations that might not fit the tone one wants for the scene. For me, anyway, writing sex takes a lot of thought, and a lot of rewriting and snarling and swearing as I try to hammer the words into shape. It's very hard not to go undesirably clinical, or crude, or too damn euphemistic and purple -- any of which can dump your reader out of the narrative flow.

However, as you noted, sex can be a very revealing interaction, and can make for great character work -- which is why I write sex at all past the "fade to black" point. In fact, if anything, I concentrate on the emotions rather than the mechanics.

It's just a pain to have a story that's practically writing itself, the words just rolling out of the keyboard . . . and then hit the sex scene and have it be like whacking into a brick wall because suddenly one has to *think* so much more about how one is saying things . . .

Anyway, my 2, or 10, or 25 cents' worth. ;)

[(Anonymous)]

My biggest problem is in simply finding the right words when writing sex; English has a pretty limited repertoire of descriptive words for the act, and most of them are pretty heavily weighted with various associations...

Ah, I completely understand this one. As a matter of fact, at the first Writercon I did a workshop on that exact topic, the weighted connotation of words. Whenever I was in groups of writers these little kerfuffles would come up where someone would declare certain words "off limits" and I would get up on my soap box about words being words and the tools of our trade and how no word is "off limits"...it is only a matter of weighing the impact of a particular word.

You would have been a good person to have in my workshop group. This is why when I set myself a challenge like making the Doctor's doctorhood an orchid or a Swiss Army member...I silently chortle to myself. Part of the fun is getting people to find something sexy that they wouldn't ordinarily find sexy. And as you say, part of the torment is the limited number of words we have for slick and the icky connotations of so many of them. Greasy and oily for example. It is definitely a challenge for me to avoid my personal cliches, too. The hunt for the proper word is part of the joy and torment of writing.

Rae

[nightbeast.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's the sleep/workload imbalance talking, but you should set a challenge where you have a random list of everyday objects. People blindly pick from the list, and they have to write the Doctor's member looking/functioning like the revealed prompt. And, of course, Rose's reaction to it. Or maybe Jack's reaction. *smirk*

Glad you felt inspired to take on the meme. I'm part of the rare writers that enjoys reading past work. I hope to be one of the rare writers that enjoys writing sex, too. It's good to know our approaches to writing are very similar in a lot of ways.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

I believe that would just be evil, Biscuit. But okay...let's say...it looks like...a toaster, an onion or the Eiffel Tower. There you go...have at it (I say in perfect imitation of David Tennant).

I think with practice and enough research you will definitely get the hang of the sex scene. It's only a matter of grappling with a few and they settle down to their business.

I have lots of trouble with the transition scenes...all the parts that come between the original money scenes that I get at the beginning of a story.

Rae
who also notice the things we have in common with our styles.

Looks and functionality

[nightbeast.livejournal.com]

So, toaster: Has to collect seed pouch from another part of his body, side or front loading. Gets very hot before ejaculating, kind of preparing the seed packet to make it fertile. True to all toasters, there's only one setting that actually works, otherwise too cold/short intercourse is undeveloped, too hot/long is overworked seed. The 'just right' seed packet is stored in the female and the outer heat-sealed sheath disintegrates releasing the nourishing seed. Also, goes down better with jam, and can fire blanks. *cough*

Onion: I suppose it's like an elaborate foreskin. Once you've peeled back the protective outerlayer, the inner layers peel back as arousal progresses. The female would be stimulated at many points on the inside by the tips of the peeled layers. The sensation would be quite filling. The seed is revealed at the core once all the layers have unfurled at full arousal. And I can't resist saying it makes you cry, in a good way. It probably stings a bit as well, to ensure the female is healthy and worthy/compatible of receiving the seed, making the conditions suitable for the seed to survive.

Eiffel Tower: Exoskeleton, but yielding like cartilage, and stimulating like ribbed condoms. Oh, and tapered. The central lift becomes the internal seed transfer from bottom to top, and the satifaction of all the people (seed) reaching the top. The slightest upset in the environment (e.g cross winds) means the 'lift' won't work.

I like my imagination. ;-D

Lisa
Who is having cereal for breakfast

I like your imagination, too

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

I especially like the onion. I can see that working. The Eiffel Tower also shows promise. I'm afraid you lost me a bit on the toaster but only because the though of having hot toast(seed) fired at me at toaster speeds is daunting. You have have to have him over explain that part until Rose (and the reader) climbs down off of the dresser.

Very good job though. And yes, this would make an excellent sex writing exercise. If I'm ever asked to do another workshop I'll set my mind to coming up with really wicked items...OR...I'll just browse the Sears catalog. Weedwacker...GO! No, really...don't. Because I believe you could easily do that one. :grin:

Rae

I must have a lame toaster

[nightbeast.livejournal.com]

My toaster only pings the toast about an inch out of the carriage. That's what I had in mind, but now I'm thinking of toaster adverts, the toast is easily lifted double its height. I imagine that kind of muscle contraction feels very good to males. Maybe the seed has to go a long way from the off in female Gallifreyans, like the cervix is gaping during intercourse and there are storage areas to aim for; that the female draws up the pouch and it has to survive so head starts are beneficial.

I feel compelled to do some research by holding my hand above a toasting toaster now, to gauge the impact. Not that a slice of bread being fired from a metal carriage compares to much smaller semi-solid pouches being forced along by flesh. I'm not picturing paintball here, otherwise I empathise why Looming was preferred over natural intercourse for females! Sore for completely the wrong reasons... Plus, it's terribly fiddly for the males to load the toaster-penis.

Whatever the toaster-penis looks like, it can't be worse than the Dick-Head that was hybrid Dalek Sec. Then again, if it's the Doctor we're talking about, at relaxed value it must appear human for all the contemporary Earth hospitals he's been in.

Weedwacker: I'm on the dresser with this. Besides the 'mowing the grass' phrase, it's painful to think of something literally carving a place for his seed to go. Or maybe lacerating the egg pouches is what begins a female's fertility. *cringe*

Lisa
Having far too much fun with alien genitals, however bad that may sound

Though I have said this many times myself

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Then again, if it's the Doctor we're talking about, at relaxed value it must appear human for all the contemporary Earth hospitals he's been in.

There are only two real caveats on the Doctor's anatomy. This one and he must be able to breed with a human somehow (this leaves out some methods). We know that two Gallifreyans married humans and since there was no dire warning offered...we can assume they were having a reasonably normal life. We can't completely assume they are identical to humans because we know the Doctor is different inside.

But we, also, know that the Doctor told Joan he could do everything John Smith was capable of in the lover department. Since John was human and capable of interbreeding with humans...we can assume the Doctor is capable of that, too, even if we do pretend that Mrs. Saxon was unsatisfied.

But as far as how it looks...all we know is that it looks human enough to fool the casual observer when he's unconscious. You can't really judge from Smith & Jones as we don't know what sort of exams he'd had after checking in to hospital. I know they don't generally examine me without my underwear unless I have a particular problem there. He was complaining of his stomach and they might well have asked for tests but they wouldn't look at his doctorhood for that.

Rae

Re: Looks and functionality

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

I, also, must add that many times you seem to view him as having a single "seed" rather than "seed" in the plural in this. I believe the onion arrangement could work with a revealed shaft and "seed" in the multiples.

Rae
still wondering what the toaster-penis looks like. Also, thinking it sounds like a new snack item..."Now in your Freezer Case--Toaster-Penis."

[auntiesuze.livejournal.com]

Lovely peek inside your head! I always love hearing more about the creative process of writers, artists, etc. I feel somewhat reassured that such a fantabulous writer as yourself has as difficult a time with the process as I do (though you have far more creative ideas than I ever will!). I know way too many writers who are like, "Oh, I just sit down and it pours out onto the keyboard..." *stabbity*

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Oh...absolutely stabbity stab stab!

This is what I mean about Isaac Asimov (I could be blaming him just because he's such a prolific writer and that bugs me, too) annoying me. I don't find the process of writing a joy. It is rather like labor, worth it because you get something valuable out of it. And also...sort of compulsory.

I don't really have much choice about creating stories in my head. It's like a woman in labor saying she'd rather not push. I sort of have to push. I could avoid writing stories, I suppose, but they continue to haunt me until someone does them justice. This is why I am particularly insistent about RTD sending the Doctor to Rose...it must be done. And if he doesn't do it...I'll have to move to England and work my way up through the BBC. Exhausting, that!

I write because I am. When the birth pangs hit...I just take my drugs and go through the hard part to get to the good stuff. But really, those people who are all LALALA...writing is so much fun...are mad I tell you. MAD!

Rae

Best Meme Ever!

[ladymcclellan.livejournal.com]

I love that this sounds like you're interviewing yourself. Also, I have to add my applause for your sex scenes. When I got to your description of his 'doctorhood' (heh, nice!) I thought, oh no, I can't read this, I'm going to be squicked and damn I was really enjoying this story...oh wait, that's kind of - hot. So yeah, not only can you do a great sex scene you can do a great ALIEN sex scene!

My first comment to your LJ and I've been reading your story for months now. Very few people manage to capture both Rose and the Doctor's characters so well. More, soon, please?

Re: Best Meme Ever!

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Oh...see...you make my day with this comment. I so love to hear that I convinced someone to read on and get over the squick (or giggle) of the initial description. And as you may have noticed poor Rose had the same general reaction to his moving parts. It's just not natural for humans...and part of the joy I had in writing Disheveled was getting to that place we got to when he's totally alien and she's okay with it. And I let Jackie give us the OMG reaction to underscore that it really was completely unnatural for Rose to find this sort of thing sexually appealing.

There's nothing that romantic about Disheveled sex from the get go in my opinion...he darts her with lots of needles and sends her into a waking dream. Drugs and pain...not exactly romantic in my book...but I set out to make it sexy and it worked because...well...I think the Doctor and Rose love one another. So it's always about that.

Rae
glad to finally hear from you after months of reading.

Funny quote

[(Anonymous)]

To see a need and wait to be asked, is to already refuse.


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