(REPOSTING because I made a lot of errors) WRITING PROCESS THING, if anyone's interested! cc @yifauns //

So Sheryl conned me into doing this writing process outline thing. Haha! I've been asked by a few people before, actually, how I write, if there's a process that I follow, and I'll be completely honest when I say that there is no set process at all. I stare at the monitor, wonder why I took on the writing assignment, drink coffee, then cry. Then write. That's it.

Kidding aside, here's how I do things! Sort of. I'll be using exchange fics for this since those are all that I've been writing recently. The process also applies for non-exchange fics, except I'm more… laid back with those.


Okay! So I do all of my writing in Google Docs. (http://i.imgur.com/BGHEZku.jpg) Everything's in one folder, and I follow this nomenclature because I can't work unless everything's in order (OC, I know). The nomenclature also helps me remember when I should panic (when I see the label for the exchange I'm writing) and when I should cry (when I'm writing a fic for a pair I'm trying out for the first time). So lalala, I get the exchange assignment, stare at it for a few minutes and try to picture scenes in my head. I think in movie format (training from school), so I replay the mental image in my head a couple of times until it sticks and I can't get it out of my head. Then I start writing.

The thing about my style is that I rarely ever stick to the first draft. It's mostly written to… sort of get the ball rolling. It's when I start doing the second draft that I start mapping things out. I handwrite my outline -- it's usually just pivotal plot points since I rarely ever follow my outlines to the last detail. (http://i.imgur.com/DunwVG2.jpg) Handwriting the outline actually helps me (not panic) flesh out the story!

It's not that obvious but I'm really particular with the technicalities of the stuff I write about. For the tennis fic, there were actually times when I wrote down the scores per game, per set. Plotting the match in detail actually helped me determine which parts to highlight and which parts to describe in detail. (http://i.imgur.com/2s7UOzx.jpg)

And yes, I like using purple ink and a pink highlighter.

In the outline, I use these symbols that only make sense to me to indicate where a scene gets cut off or if something I scribbled there is just supplementary to the scene. I also use sticky notes for when I think of something for parts I haven't outlined yet!! (http://i.imgur.com/ucW1fZw.jpg) Hence all these sticky notes. Haha. I also use stickies for reminders. There's one for the tennis fic that says "TSUN with decreasing levels of intolerance". I think I have three of those in one page. Haha.

One thing to note is that I write the fic /as I write the outline/. The outline's just a few steps ahead, but basically I write both at the same time. "Outlining" helps me think and refine screwed up plot points that I normally won't notice until the first read through.

So lalala, I write stuff and all, and I do my research at the same time (see? no linear process at all, haha). I keep my notes in a separate file (usually labelled "heading + notes" -- http://i.imgur.com/iSMzN0U.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/yZU5o1h.jpg) For The Voice KR fic, you'll see a note there that has the ages of the characters (ignore the bit on Baekhyun; he's supposed to be the same age as Jongdae there). All the important links -- songs that are used in the fic/mentioned in the fic, pictures of the characters, information on the places and events used -- are in this doc.

Aaaand then we have the most important thing to me when I write -- my map. (http://i.imgur.com/zdk1ptB.jpg)

My Google map is /everything/. I've only been to Korea once (planning to rectify this) and I spent most of my time there in Hongdae, so when I use other places (which is quite often) I have to keep track of where they are, discover how they look like, get reviews on the places, etc. I keep all these pieces of information in my Google map (as you can see in the picture above). There are also time calculations, with the point of reference being the place where the characters spend most of their time. In the case of the TVKR fic, it's the SM office (the TV icon just below the box). I keep track of these times because I love writing about people walking from one place to another and using cars.

Music is very important to me, and I actually have these mood-setting playlists that I turn to when I can't find the "theme song" of my fic yet. (http://i.imgur.com/DSQtsE3.jpg) "Classic hits" holds my staple writing songs -- Give Me Love, The Planets Bend Between Us, Everything, and a few more Ed Sheeran/Coldplay/Snow Patrol songs. "In the mood for" is the porn playlist (lol), while "Quit playing games" is the we're lovers but not quite playlist (UST!!).

Okay! So. Writing proper. Character development is far more important for me than relationship development, so I love dropping hints of the main's history here and there, then slowly ease him into a personality change of sorts, or at least character improvement. Keeping track of the characters' habits is really important as well -- does he scrunch his nose when he's uncomfortable, does he love biting his lower lips, does he loves touching thighs, etc. -- so I make sure those are mentioned regularly, and I make other characters react to those habits. Do they try to change it? Do the soon find themselves doing the same? Etc, etc.

I try to do an "action-reaction" sort of thing when I write, and Chelsea says I use the sense of touch a lot as emotion cues. When I delve into a section that requires introspection or lots of emotions, I ask myself, "how do I make the readers feel that he's confused?" So I use tiny actions -- furrowing of eyebrows, worrying of the bottom lip, light scrunching of the nose, clenching/unclenching of the fists. :)

One weird thing about me is that I /hate/ reading huge chunks of my fic unless I'm already done, so when I pick up from where I've left off, I just read the section where I ended instead of going through X number of sections to "feel" the fic again. I set a daily deadline for myself -- 2-3 scenes a day, more if I can manage, but if I'm working with tight timings then I set word count deadlines. 3-5k in 5 hours is my comfortable writing pace, but I can write 1.5k to 2k/hour if I have to. If I get stuck, I re-read what I've written, then basically force myself to write (because lbr, there's no other way to do it). I write and write until I hit the sweet spot of the ending. I run it by a word counter (http://www.wordcounter.net/ is a great tool for this; it doesn't count HTML tags). I buy coffee and celebrate then cry (I really don't). Then I edit.

I usually do two runs when I self-edit -- the first run is for smoothening the creases of the fic and adding "glue" to necessary parts, and the second is strictly for spelling and grammar check. When there's still time, I run my fic by Chelsea who is amazing and can pretty much find even the tiniest of typos, and once she's satisfied with it then I can finally send it off to mods!! Or post the fic if it's not for an exchange. I code my fics as I write because it's easier that way, so that's essentially a good chunk of saved time for me.

And then I retreat to my Pokeball and not read said fic for two weeks. Then get out of my Pokeball when it's time to write again.

For non-exchange fics, I'm a bit more laid-back when tackling a project. Basically, I have this spreadsheet where I keep track of my fic ideas, WIPs, and things I've actually already accomplished. (http://i.imgur.com/pl7zdrK.jpg) I'm really, really OC, so I want to keep things as organized as possible (note the tabs down there; yes, the fix commitments tab has a Gantt chart). The dates there help me… pace myself and remind me not to slack off. Yeah.

And that's it, I guess? Yeah. Basically I have a notebook where I keep my "outlines" and I use sticky notes and pink highlighters and purple ink to get things done. And Google Maps is everything. That's all. :))

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