Tips of the Trade

Uncertain of the what, where, why or how of a particular writing technique? Got a favourite tip to pass on to your fellow scribblers?

Then this is the thread you were looking for.

Let us know what you need - what your particular writing problem is and we'll attempt to find the answer for you. And don't worry if we don't actually know the answer to your problem, because we'll just make one up that sounds as if it might work.

After all, we are creative types...aren't we...

What do you think is the ideal time to jump from planning to writing on a scale of "I have pretty much no idea's I'll wing it" to "Will not write a word till I have it all planed out"

DarkerAndEdgier wrote:What do you think is the ideal time to jump from planning to writing on a scale of "I have pretty much no idea's I'll wing it" to "Will not write a word till I have it all planed out"

There really is no ideal time, D&E. There's just the right time for you.

You'll know when the time arrives.

Until then just write. Write, write, write...you'll eventually find what works best for you, winging it or heavy pre-planning.

DarkerAndEdgier wrote:What do you think is the ideal time to jump from planning to writing on a scale of "I have pretty much no idea's I'll wing it" to "Will not write a word till I have it all planed out"

The Professionals say various things about this.

Paul Cornell and Neil Gaiman have both said that the key to writing is to get the first draft on paper and get it done. Then you can re-write it until it's good. After all, you can always fix errors and mistakes. You can always add more stuff if it's too short, or take stuff away if it's too long.

Charles Dickens and Stephen King both advocate regular writing habits. King says you need to be in the same place every day so your muse can find you, which is a pretty way of saying that if you train your mind to be creative and writerish at the same time every day you'll find that ideas flow and you can solve plot problems as you work.

James Joyce would agonize and obsess over every word he wrote, to the point where getting more than a hundred words written on any given day was a victory. Franz Kafka was tortured by everything he wrote, to the point of not wanting people to read it because he thought it so awful.

The middle ground appears to be that you should have a direction to take the story and then you should write it until the first draft is done, preferably by writing often, and then see how it's turned out.