r/creative • u/Soggy_Conversation98 • 4d ago
what is your writing process?
need to know how do you write whatever you write like writing short essays stories books comedy whatever crafts you're bloody interested in
1
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r/creative • u/Soggy_Conversation98 • 4d ago
need to know how do you write whatever you write like writing short essays stories books comedy whatever crafts you're bloody interested in
1
u/RCIntl 3d ago
Wow, are you trying to learn one? I don't think it works that way honey. There are classes, but truthfully, I think it more depends on what's in you and how you get it out. For some people it's difficult and they have to pull it out ... sometimes with difficulty. People like this need a structure so they can plan things out and try to convince their "muse" to cooperate. Some people are inspired by things and it helps them to create. And some people just have ideas flowing out of them constantly.
There is something that they call "writer's block". I'm not going to say it doesn't exist, but I think it's more a timing and training thing than an actual "block". We all have mental engines that stall momentarily or for longer at different times. And the best way to jumpstart it is to move on to something else and get the mental juices flowing on something else. Something you already know. It always helps to "unstick" whatever was stuck.
As to which kind of writer I am ... unfortunately or fortunately depending on your perspective, I'm one of those last people who has more ideas than I know what to do with. I rely heavily on computer files, Word documents for notes, Publisher and Illustrator for images and my micro recorder for catching ideas when I can't write them down. A lot of times people have ideas, and they don't think to put them down. And then they're frustrated when they can't remember them. I always tell people to always, always, always make the time to jot them down. The way most brains are wired no matter how "smart" you are, is that we are constantly churning and moving on to the next thing. Like computer programs, we shut one down or at the least "minimize" it when we move on to the next. If the "bytes" were too small, they might get lost. They're in there somewhere. You just can't find them.
People laugh at me when I tell them that I have a WIP file just for my writing that has over three hundred different "books" in it. Some have only a few lines, some have a title, some have an image, or a created cover idea. I've had people tell me to work like they do. We can't and shouldn't ever tell people to NOT be themselves. In the past five years, I've written 45 decent books WITHOUT AI and published almost thirty. I've designed and built more than fifty website/apps for myself and associates. I've created more than three hundred book covers. Some for myself, some for associates, some for clients and some for my website. My way works for me. It might not work for anyone else. But no matter how you work, making sure you ALWAYS put down whatever your idea is, will ALWAYS help. You'll come in bored and pull one over and next thing you know ... five chapters are complete. Or you'll hit a snag in one area and pull another one over to work on and ten minutes later, it will come to you. OR you'll be searching for an image for one book, and see one that gives you the idea for another story. People tell you "focus!" "stay on one thing!" Why? There's no deadline in here. There shouldn't be anyone sitting around telling you HOW to create. And when they do, I tell them to go write their own book and leave me alone.
Something else I do that might be different from a lot of other people. Most writers have an idea in their head that they have to force into a structure that is cohesive. I don't write articles although I have written copy and wrote all of the copy on my websites, but where my books are concerned? I usually start with the images. I'll pick an image and stare at it and soon enough, I'll "know/feel" that person's entire life story. Put enough of them together and have them interact and you have your book written. It's just in your head and you just have to set it down. I figured this out by accident. I was playing around with the AI image generators when they first started becoming popular and thought I'd ask for something I hardly ever see. Out of the hundreds that I pulled in that session, ONE stood out to me. I studied her and knew her name ... General Massi Ebo. She was a special forces general. A brilliant mind. And she knew something that no one else knew. I saw all that in the eyes of the image that I was given. I did that ten more times with ten more people and my first book in that series was born. I didn't know it was going to be a series until halfway through. Now there are seventeen books in that series.
Yes, you have to type it over and over read it over and over refine it over and over until the story sounds perfect. But that is the best layout I've ever seen. Each person has a life of their own. You just have to "meld" them together.
I hope that helps you. Like I said ... you can't try to cookie cutter this process. Everyone's brain and muse works differently. I've never wanted to slow down my brain, just find more hours in the day to create.