Planning

lpowell wrote, “I do plan the stories I write, but this planning is mostly internal; I write nothing down. I often sit on a story idea for a week or more before I begin writing, although occasionally I come up with an idea that I like so much that I write it immediately. Sometimes I will have narrated entire scenes in my head before I even open a text document. Even so, a lot of what I write comes spontaneously. Even after what may have been weeks of "planning," I generally have only a rough idea of where a story will head.”

“After I get an idea I can run with, then I start planning. I write out everything I think I'll need later in the story, like background on my characters, how they relate to each other, stuff like that. I map out all the major events that I want to take place in the story. While I put plenty of specifics in my outline, I also leave space for unexpected twists and turns. Like it's been said before, sometimes the story takes on a mind of its own!” by TygerGurl

“Most of my writings involve characters that already exist in some form. It makes it easier for me to formulate what I'm writing,” written by WaywardSaint

On poetry, Drunken-Splice wrote, “I generally have an idea of where I will head with the poem, but I don't plan much out. I might have a few lines thought out that I want to use that are central to expressing the main idea I started writing for in the first place, but that’s the most planning I do for poetry.”


Influences

Mitchell-Thompson wrote, “When writing prose, I usually come up with my ideas rather then taking an idea I want to get across and then writing a story around that. I'm a huge movie buff, a dreamer and I'm a bit random so I usually have a lot of ideas swirling around my head. Its usually in the finer details of my writing I add influences like Buddhism, Astrology, Ancient Greek Mythology and any idea of the like.”

“Whenever I write, I try to find some inspiration from articles I read, things that come into my mind, conversations, movies, and other stories I've read before,” by ArtemisBlue


Time Management

TygerGurl wrote, “I don't say 'I will finish this by this' because then I feel rushed and my thoughts and ideas can't be conveyed as well as I want them to be.”

“I don't set time limits when writing, I don't like any restrictions of any kind except the rules in the universe of the text or things that would give away the twist. I think writing in general takes a lot of patience and if you love writing and know the rewards of having written something great, you'd be willing to take the time to get everything right,” by Mitchell-Thompson


Characters

Hindered-mind wrote, “When I write I never know what's going to happen or how many characters are going to show up so I develop my characters from experiences that appear most vivid to me. Characters seem to come to me already named and those that are not, I need to build an imaginative relation with them before I decide what name fits their persona and what name sounds right with their situation.”

On the characters in poetry, tigerphoenixdragon said, “I rarely choose specific characters for my poems.  They tend to be more vague concepts than well developed characters, and usually not more than a handful are mentioned. My poetry pieces tend to not be long enough to fully develop a character for the reader, and thus "vague ideas" are more prevalent.”

“I don't believe there is such a thing as too many characters. This goes back to the three types of characters--main, supporting and minor. For a long story, all three of these types are likely to show up, and while some might be more important than others, all should add something to the story. Now, naming. This is probably one of the most important aspects of a character, in my opinion. It is also important that names are consistent. In a small rural American town you are unlikely to find a name like...Fleur, or something Eastern-European/Middle Eastern, etc. Unless there is something specifically different about that character that indicates why they have a certain name that stands out from the others in the story around them, they shouldn't,” by ForsakenProdigy


Plot Development

Orricane wrote, “When I introduce the plot it really depends on the story. If it focuses on a person, as apposed to a situation, I usually have a sort of introduction of the person first. I don't ever make a plot go too slow, if it's too anything it's too fast.”

“I like the start introducing the main plot pretty early, but I do it in bits and pieces so it's not too overwhelming. Likewise, I don't start the story off with a bang, I like to set the scene and gradually let people into the world If you're not careful you can have your plots make the story very complicated. The trick is to keep it to only one or two plots and make them very well known to the reader, so they are able to follow along better. Other than that I just say be creative and know that no idea is too crazy if you can make it work,” by TygerGurl

Mitchell-Thompson writes, “I prefer a beginning that gets straight to the point, not necessarily 'explosive' but perhaps with some action or describing the current setting and situation and then providing a recap on how the character/persona got there in the first place. I find beginnings and ends are always the most interesting parts of the book so I prefer to have the fast paced action in the middle so the reader is always entertained and engaging with the text.”


Endings

Braenuun wrote, “My ending's come about when I have exhausted all reasonable paths, tied up all my loose ends, left great emotion, and am able to put my pen down, which is hard. The ending is the last thing they'll hear and will stick in their head the most, so apart from a good start to suck people in, the ending should be the best.”

“The most important thing about endings is that they are satisfying to the reader. Reading a story with a badly-thought-out ending seems like a waste of time. Yes, they should draw all the different parts of the story together in one climax and resolution,” by Batpig-Sexgod

“The ending I think is very important because it's the last thing people read and one of the things that sticks around with them most after they're done. I don't like to end with the death of a character, I think it's too depressing, but I do like to end on somewhat of a cliffhanger, something that makes the reader go 'ah ha!' or something similar, I like the endings of my stories to be as memorable as the beginnings, by TygerGurl


Editing

My-Lucid-Dream wrote, “I would consider editing to be a very important part of the writing process but like most things, there's a time and a place for it. I know it's a difficult thing to do but I've heard that the best way to get your story down is to write a complete first draft without being tempted to go back and tweak little pieces of it here or there.”

“I try very hard to get as much in as possible before the editing step so there’s less work at the end. I edit using points in the story, not just grammar and spelling. I find myself filling in the holes that I left when I wrote the draft. If I have too much to edit, I take it a step at a time. Editing is extremely important, because you suddenly realize mistakes that you didn’t notice while the pencil was flowing. I recommend looking at a piece everyday and do just a little bit,” by BrotherhoodofSleep

ForsakenProdigy writes, “I don't always enjoy it and it is often a daunting task, especially when the necessary changes mean I have to revamp the whole story, but that isn't and shouldn't be an excuse not to do it. A first draft is unpolished and there is always room for improvement. I also like to have another person read it before I put it up anywhere. Different people pick up on things that the author might not notice, and can offer criticism that can be extremely helpful in improving the work.”