Sesc was kind enough to provide a number of snapshots throughout him writing a scene. I made a gif to show the general progress...



You probably can't make it out particularly well in the animated image, but the story basically starts off with a bunch of fragmented lines and strange notes that would probably only make sense to Sesc.

Then the writing sort of flits between different segments and slowly fills in the blanks.

Here's the first iteration of the page that sesc showed me:



Here's the halfway point:



And the end of what sesc's got so far:



Sentence fragments seem to get added in; deliberated on; picked at; removed. It's fascinating to look at - definitely the most unique approach to writing I've seen. Thanks for sharing, Sesc.

 

I've tried writing scenes I already have in my head before the build-up, but what usually happens is that the build-up then, as I write it, evolves into something more/and or different, meaning that the scene I'd already written doesn't quite work, or gets cannibalized for parts and used elsewhere, in parts, in whole, or as a section of something bigger.

Generally, the story unfolds in my mind as I write it and even though I do have a skeleton plot in my head and several specific scenes that I want to include, those often change depending on where writing takes me.

This leads to the actual chapters varying wildly from my original notes where I plan them out. I do often write out specific scenes, but rather than use them as pillars and connect them with others, I wait until a proper place for them presents itself.

Sesc has explained his writing style before. I still get baffled by how he gets anything done like this. I understand that it takes very meticulous planning before he even begins writing and requires that he not deviate from that planning at all as he writes, which is something I can't do. My writing depends on spur of the moment deviations and ideas.

 

I'm only just getting back into writing after a 10 year hiatus, so only just discovering my habits, but I think I write similar to Sesc, though probably with more use of placeholder sentences rather than actual little snippets of sentences.

It's something I think I get from writing technical reports for work and university, and seems to work pretty well for me. Start with the important content. Get that down. Put down placeholders or dot points for any paragraphs you skip. Then go over several passes, just writing whatever comes easiest each time, until it's mostly done and you're just prettying up sentences and words.

With fictional writing, the "important content" are the scenes I really want to write, the dialogue and any paragraphs I have clearly worded in my head already. Then I'll go over again several times, filling in the gaps.

If I try to write it sequentially, I often get to sentences or paragraphs that I struggle to word. This isn't fun and really just kills my motivation. Especially when it's the first few paragraphs of the scene and I'm spending ages in front of a blank document. By getting the skeleton of the scene down and just writing whatever comes easiest to mind, I can keep productivity high, which also keeps motivation high. The placeholders notes generally keep the overall plan consistent.

Now that a skeleton of the scene exists, with the more fun bits fully fleshed out, the remaining stuff suddenly become more fun and easier to write. Not just because I have a better feel on how it fits within the whole scene, but because those little unfinished bits feel so much satisfying when you do complete them. With each pass I just write the bits that come easily, and eventually it just comes together. When I have 95% of the scene done, spending a bunch of time musing over some tricky sentences or words actually ends up pretty fun, as it feels like your putting the final touches on it as opposed to being stuck with mental blanks. And you get continuous feedback on how the scene is coming together as a whole.

 

That's really interesting - the Sesc screenshots.

I've been contemplating doing something similar, as a very niche Youtube channel. Brandon Sanderson now and again records his writing sessions. It's fascinating, for those of us who write.

 

So far, I really wrote sequentially and yeah, at times, it's hard to write when you get stuck on something. If I was in a writing mood and got stuck like this, I usually just jumped to another story I was working on.

However, the method Sesc and Jarik use is one I hadn't really considered before and am tempted to try it, to see if it works for me.

 

I'd watch that, Joe.

The Sesc Way looks too tough for a novice like me. I thought he was joking in his post.

My own process of writing relies on preparation. First, I hammer out the plot. Then subplots. Then I take a few weeks to plan out the beginning, middle and end. Then I divide those into chapters. Lastly, I divide chapters into scenes, with a brief synopsis of each scene.

Once I have this plan, I tend to stick to it for the most part, although it happens that an idea strikes me as I'm writing, at which point I consult the general plan to see if I can make it fit.

I write on paper first, putting sentences together in real time. Sometimes a page takes me 10 minutes, sometimes a day. I leave that first draft to stew over a small fire in the back of my mind for an indeterminate period of time, then I type it into the computer, excising or changing fragments I don't like as I go. Then a final edit and posting.

Though rarely, it happens that I think of a scene when I'm not writing, out of the blue, and I have to verbally go over the dialogue, if there is any, essentially muttering to myself. Then I keep that in memory until time comes for that scene to be written.

 

I'm writing later. Will see about some screen capture software. It won't be pretty - I may do some fanfic, to keep it on track - but it should be interesting, if writing is what interests you.

 

Drop a link if you end up posting on YT.

 

Do it, please! Sanderson's sessions on Youtube were illuminating, and having more professional authors do the same would be awesome.

As for writing: I throw every idea regarding a story into a .doc file, and then structure and connect them so that I get to write all the awesome scenes I want to write. Some fiddling with world building and characterization follows, and then it's off to the word mines, digging up that ore to a regular mining schedule (spreadsheet). Most of the time, the beginning and ending remain similar to what I envisioned during the planning stage, while the middle gets completely restructured.

 

I sit on a rickety wooden chair in front of a 32-inch TV screen repurposed for Interneting stuffs, and stew in contempt for my abject lack of free time save the weekend.

Then I realise that it is the weekend, and that if I don't have anything to show for it, then I have to get utterly gazebo-ed. But I don't have money for that, so a battle royale between drawing, writing and monging out ensues.

The mong usually wins, but he feels guilty... at which point I vomit all of the thoughts I had during the week onto the screen. This works out sort-of decently for writing because I usually think in prose, but not so much for completing a beautiful, not-sketch-peppered illustration...

... which I have yet to accomplish. T_T

 

More seriously, I'm a planner, one way or another. For my first few stories, I didn't start to write until I'd got a list and summary of all the key scenes I wanted to include, in the order I wanted. For Hallowed, partly owing to the competitive origin of it, I haven't had such a concrete idea about the story, which probably accounts for the glacial update rate. On the other hand, I spend an awful lot of time mulling it over, making notes on the next chapter, so that when I do come to write it I at least have a solid picture of the chapter, if not necessarily the bigger picture. Makes things slow, but it means that when it is ready it's generally pretty close to how I want it, without too much in the way of editing.

 

Okay, DLP, as promised. Here's a 27 minute clip of me writing some words. I get about 1,000, starting from scratch. It's available in 720p so should be pretty legible!

The story I'm writing is Vlad's Penelope Clearwater challenge.

Points in the video:

- You'll see at the start I set up my preferred font and sentence spacing, as well as save the document.

- I then start to make dot points about what's going to be in the scene, based on my rough 800 word outline a made a few days ago. That outline will grow and change and eventually be discarded as the story takes on it's own shape.

- I start properly writing around the 2:00-minute mark.

- Around the 11:00 mark I start highlighting the notes of things I've covered, or at least laid the groundwork for.

- I bold a few things here and there, mostly used as placeholders for something I have to research later on. I try not to break the flow, if I'm wording good. Easier to bold it, keep going, and sort it later.

- At 12:13, and this is important, I don't quite know where to go with the opening scene anymore, I'm a little bored of it, so to keep the words flowing I jump to a bit later on in the scene, nothing too far ahead, but something I'm keen to write.

- There are a few points, such as at 22:15, where I'm questioning the spelling or definition of a word, correct usage. I flip to Google and just define it there.

- I'm listening to music throughout this whole process. When I put the title and the quote at the beginning of the story, it's based on songs I just listened to.

[yt]cuLUlOs7PA0[/yt]

Can I embed? Is embedding allowed?

Edit: Embedding is somewhat beyond me on mobile. Heh.

 

Edit: Nope. Doesn't work any more.

 

God fucking dammit Joe.

I just scrapped a few thousand words because I used the same a similar basic premise as you did :/

 

Usually do burst of 1-2k words that flow and where I feel brilliant. Then I sit for days staring at Word Doc, getting maybe 100 words in a few hours.

Usually got mood music going or Asoftmurmur for background sound. Seriously awesome site.

 

Great, I really enjoyed that. Following words appearing on the page like this makes the flow far easier to appreciate.

 

Welcome to the fucking show.

Though it's more of a united front on this challenge, isn't it? Don't scrap. Re-weld.