the Rift


How do YOU write?

Whit Posts: 2
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Filly :: Other :: 5'7" :: 28
Whit
#1


How do you write?

What inspires you to write?

What is your 'muse'?

How do you go about writing? Do you have a 'method'? A particular way you set up your computer desktop?

Do you read books often? Listen to music? Watch lots of different movies?




I've asked these questions because I get told often that I am a decent writer. Now, while I don't always agree with this [I generally feel I am quite an average writer who sometimes has the ability to make decent sentences amongst otherwise rambly crap], I do have a method of my own. Maybe I am just OCD, but I find that when I have some kind of routine and structure, I am able to consistently produce posts - maybe not always fantastic posts, but at least enough to keep my characters active and deserving of the titles they earn. I find that if I deviate from this method, I tend to lose 'muse' and motivation to write.

HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY WRITE?



This is a screenshot of my desktop, literally, as I am writing this. This is how I write every single one of my posts. It's also how I write my university assignments, except instead of a post that I am replying to open on the left side, I usually have scientific journals or my university's website open xP.

I use a program called Microsoft OneNote, I didn’t know it existed until last year, when I got my new computer for uni and experimented with using it for class. I love it to bits. It has virtual folders and note pages you can make, and 'books' you can store things in. I have a 'Personal' book and a 'Uni 2012' book and 'Uni 2013' book. It's pretty obvious what I keep where haha, but really all I use the Personal book for is as a notepad - I don't save copies of my posts or anything, but just having a place with a built in spell-checker is handy.

WHAT INSPIRES YOUR WRITING?

My inspiration comes from many places, but most notably, books. I read almost everything that I possibly can, and my favourite authors are Anne McCaffrey (unfortunately deceased), however her son Todd McCaffrey has picked up her series about the DragonRiders of Pern and created his own awesome world with them. Most of my muse for how companions interact with their bondmates come from these books. Christopher Paolini and his Inheritance Cycle books are also great - I often use his bond with Saphira to help me envision how close I want my characters to be with their companions. I also (unashamedly) read Lauren Kate with her Fallen Angel series, and Richelle Mead with her Vampire Academy and now Bloodlines series. Charlaine Harris and her Sookie Stackhouse books are fabulous too, though I only recommend them to mature audiences, lol. There are dozens more, but those are the main ones that I can see clearly from my bookshelf from where I am sitting right now lol.

Speaking of reading, I always read people's posts! I stalk almost everyone on here, revelling in the way they have described a scene so perfectly I can see it in my own mind, getting carried away with the emotions of their characters, getting inspired to have my character be as wonderful/angry/passionate/active as theirs. There is nothing wrong with digging through the archives to read over a favourite thread you participated in (or not!), especially if it inspires you to keep on writing more.

While I love music, I can write just as 'well' with it playing or without it. I often find that I will get inspiration for a particular post at random while listening to a song during the day, and that inspiration will linger with me until I have opportunity to sit down and write it - most of the time. I do often have movies playing as 'background noise' while I am writing, however I have also been known to be a little hermit, sitting in silence, tapping away at my keyboard, lol.

FILLING IN ALL THE DETAILS

My writing also depends on what I am replying to. How much has the other writer given me to work with? I always try to give people lots of things to work with, though I am guilty of overlooking things that I should have focussed more on, or having a huge rambly post talking about the internal battles of my character while having them not actually do very much for the other to respond to. I have a basic mental checklist that I go through to write, but it is not something strict that I do for every post, mostly just for posts that I might be short on muse for and struggling to get over the word count.
  • Have I mentioned what the other character is doing?
  • Have I interacted with this other character before? Can I make a history reference?
  • Have I mentioned what they look like, any notable features?
  • Do they have a companion I can include in my description?
  • How is my character feeling? Are they happy, sad, confused, serious, playful, depressed, angry, violent?
  • How will my character react to what is going on? Is something going on that reminds me of a point in my character's history?
  • What is my environment like? Is the weather changing? Is the sun/moon setting or rising? Are there insects around, annoying my character?
  • What is my character's companion doing?
  • Is this thread/post/interaction going to affect my character permanently?

    I find if I check even just a few of these things off I can easily get to the word count, and often enough, well beyond that. I actually hate writing long posts, I really do - I would rather a concise post that gives the information I need it to give in an articulate way then a long rambly post that takes forever to get to the point. However, it seems I get struck by 'muse' often enough and low and behold, long rambles just happen.

    PERSONAL STYLES

    We all have our personal style. I don't know how to describe mine, but as I said above it is generally quite rambly, long-winded, sometimes (but not always lol) descriptive of the scene, often lacking flow and riddled with little annoying grammatical errors that I always miss because I don't read over my posts before I post them [then I lose motivation to edit them later lol].

    One thing I have learned, however, is that no matter how hard you try, it is impossible to 'copy' someone's style. Be inspired by their writing, sure, but don't use the same terms they use ALL the time, or go so far as to copy what their characters might be doing elsewhere on the site, or otherwise try to change your own style so much that you lose what you have grown comfortable with.

    By 'style', I don't mean whether you are writing in 1st, 2nd or 3rd person, or experimenting with different point of views, those are things that no-one has claim to - I strongly encourage everyone to try a different person, a different tense, a different POV, to explore different aspects of your own characters.

    Your own style may effect which of these aspects you prefer to write from, however. I find 3rd person easiest of them all, but I love to challenge myself into writing 1st person, and feel accomplished if I manage to churn out a half-decent post that is consistent throughout. I find that by being diverse in my ability to write from multiple angles, my writing in general improves.

    CHARACTER DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

    Another thing I enjoy doing is giving my characters THEMES. Designing them so that they have a central, consistent theme/personality/habit that is constant. For example; Mirage, and her family, have always been associated with shadows, illusions, bad tempers hidden beneath impassive facades. I always describe her as 'little shadow mare', because that is what I used when RPing her mother, she has always been devious, always kept an indifferent expression upon her face no matter the circumstance she finds herself in. Cirrus is my little cloud, her passive magic was something I had wanted to create a character based on for a long time, she was born in my head many years before she made it here. She probably has a voice of her own more than any of my other characters, she is as unpredictable as the weather itself (haha), even to me.

    Whilst having a 'theme' is not a necessity by any means, if you can apply something constant to your character, whether it be an unusual design, a constant 'mood' that they are in, a 'mask' that they wear, magic that they rely on, you may just find your character 'easier' to get posts out of, to present to the little world we have created here as a community.

    Now, in saying that this theme is good to have, I find that sometimes, in order to development my characters, they also need to experience something that will help initiate a change within them. An example for Mirage would be all the experience she gained in being leader of an outcast group last year, as well as gaining her dragon transformation magic - these things have become fundamental for her character now, when before, she was a solitary, quiet little shadow child. Now she's a fire-breathing golden Queen lol. Cirrus recently experienced the loss of her father, which has given her a deep depression, but may evolve in the future to something more like an unpredictable personality - temperamental outbursts, etc. She is also a healer, which she is slowly accepting as something she might actually enjoy, despite her former want to be a warrior.

    CONCLUSION

    Anyway, I probably come across as someone who takes this game very seriously lol. I'm not so serious so much as, I like to do things well - creative writing is a hobby for me and if I can improve myself while I participate in it then all the more reason to do it. I also find that I [weirdly] do better in my assignments at university when I am writing at least a few posts a week. I think writing of any kind will bring about improvement elsewhere, even if it's just gaining a better grasp on being able to interpret many different styles and having to respond to them in your own style.



    I hope my (as usual) long rambles have some kind of useful information amongst them for everyone here, and strongly encourage everyone to add more/disagree/discuss whatever they like. C:


  • Ink Posts: 121
    Hidden Account
    Stallion :: Equine :: 16.2 hh :: 6 years
    Blu
    #2
    I'm gonna have to try out this One Note thing!


    Back in TPOTM days and very start of Original Isilme I would write every single post in word and save it. I'd do hr breaks any time there was a new post, and use large font for thread titles. I'd make a new document once it got to 25 pages or so, because then it would scroll forever or sometimes lag.
    I actually have basically all my old TPOTM posts saved in gmail <___< of course I only have my end, but sometimes it's fun to go back and read them, albeit I don't do it often.

    I wish I could get back into that style, because I like being able to keep them. I really wish I had all of Gunslinger and Oblivion's old posts now :( also if I go to post my post and the internet eats it, then I don't curse the world because word has it.

    I'm not sure why I stopped doing it...


    I have to have music playing when I post though. I CAN make a decent post without it, but I really feel I need it to get in the zone. I also generally prefer to be alone when I write, or at least not near people who know me and will interact with me. I often times catch myself making faces when I'm writing a post, trying to imagine what my character's face looks like or just channeling their emotion I suppose. I don't even realize I'm doing it until I'm like "why are my lips tired? Oh because at some point I lifted them up into a snarl o_o;"

    So also want to be alone because EMBARRASSING.

    Music though, really helps set my mood for a character, which is why making a playlist is one of my steps whenever I make a new character. Each one I've ever had has had a playlist, which I do adapt as I play them, and sometimes songs may repeat for characters by the mood and the whole of all the songs is never the same for each one. Well, except Ignatius' line that I played, his all had the same playlist lol. FIRE AND ASHES AND DEATH pretty much.


    I definitely agree with you on the theme idea. Any time I design a character they definitely have a core theme or defining feature that sorta becomes their core, and then through posting and experiences layers of personality get added around that core.

    I often time end up killing characters once I feel that their experiences had built up so much that their core changes. I am not against changing with my character, but the reason books end with 'they live happily ever after' is because happy sunshine life afterwards is dull. This is why it can be hard once a character achieves everything they want, so I always try to aim high, sometimes unrealistically so. Muse feeds on misery ;D

    In the opposite end sometimes if a character fails too much or just never became what I wanted them to be in an early age then it's better for me to let them go.

    I don't follow these rules necessarily. I never decide, okay this character needs to die because they're too happy. I base it on how my muse has been writing them lately, how much spare time I have for a character that is difficult to write (when meanwhile I have 475475 new ideas I wanna try), and how much sense it makes for the character.

    I dunno, I just think it can be fun for the site for characters to die too. The hardest part for me is not that I don't get to play them again, but that all their pretty tables can no longer be used, lol. Of course abyss and adoption are options as well, but sometimes they need to die, it often makes good plots for other still living characters too and just realistically to me more would be dying often anyway.

    IDK HOW I GOT ON THIS TANGENT.


    As far as the actual writing goes, I really have no set method, I just sit down and start.

    I'm pretty much the bane to all english teachers who in school always wanted outlines and rough drafts, and definitely it comes off in my posts, as sometimes I forget things I meant to mention or should have mentioned or the post just wanders around like my mind, but editing it too much is not only time consuming but muse eating. Spars are the only time where I really pick through my post, but even then I don't really plan things out. I just generally let the character take it where it goes and it's worked so far - it's difficult to explain honestly, I know if I sat down to the same post with each of my characters every reply would be largely different, both in what happens in the post and how it is written.

    I will sometimes have a different new/weird style for a character, but for the most part I just do the normal third person, past tense, narrative style and just let the character's personality and traits make it their own.

    I personally know I have some trends.
    -- I like to start a post with dialogue a lot -shrugs-
    -- I like dashes and semi-colons a bit too much, especially once I figured out how to use a damn semi-colon (although I probably still do it wrong sometimes.)
    -- I can definitely be rambly and I'm sure I've hand run on sentences.
    -- Typos? Oh definitely with me :P
    -- ALL OF THE SIMILIES

    Among others I'm sure.

    A fun game I've always thought is to have people write without you knowing the player or character and see if you can figure out who the writer is just off the style of their writing and not their character.

    Another fun game to play to help you get in the groove is to ask the same question to each character and figure out how they would respond.
    "What would you do if your home was being invaded?"
    "What would you do if you found a companion egg?"
    etc.

    The best are of course absurd ones like,
    "What would you do if Mauja sat next to you on the bus to school?"

    I use to like making those up and responding to them but haven't had much time recently. Good for luls.




    Anyway, I must go to work!
    However I can say the most important thing for me to post, is just to sit down and start it. Everything else is just a bonus, and doesn't even always help. But in my time I have found just starting to write it is the best way to start making it, even if that sometimes means forcing yourself over the first minutes of feeling like you don't want to post or what have you.
    Tag me only if starting a new thread.
    Magic or force permitted any time, aside from death.

    Snö Posts: 155
    Deceased atk: 4 | def: 8 | dam: 6.5
    Mare :: Unicorn :: 16.2 hh :: 4 HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
    ali
    #3
    When I write a post, I try to begin by picking one idea for each paragraph, and elaborate on that idea. I find this strongest with my oldest characters- Tor for example- because they have the most history. It can be super way to connect memories and knit together information. Sometimes I find myself drifting away with her from the post entirely, instead writing these long pieces of her history, before I delete most of it, considering the timeline. Normally my posts are super short to begin with, hardly more than a skeleton, and then I add. I'm always trying to connect it and get a good flow, and figure out where to put in dialogue. I can never seem to transition into and out of dialogue quite right. Argetlam I very much enjoy for this reason as I have plenty of time for him to go flailing about with his awkwardness, so I find there's lots to put in between. If I have a lot of muse for a character, I can on occasion squeeze out 700-word posts, but these definitely take time, probably an hour? I'm forever trying not to rush my posts. I always want to get a big post count and it can be very difficult to control myself and restrict thread counts.

    My inspiration to write comes from a lot of different sources. The "big", more active writers on this site always make me think and wonder. I often find myself admiring these people. Books especially help me. The Beka Cooper series gave me the idea of how I want to write out Jasiri, for example, with a unique format and interesting pieces of languages you wouldn't hear elsewhere! Actually, Jasiri's entire personality was modeled after a few characters- Princess Cassandra from Ranger's apprentice, Rebakah Cooper from Beka Cooper, one or two songs, and of course parts incorporated from Mommy and Daddy!

    My muse does NOT ever come from music. I find it a bit distracting to me, honestly. Guess I've never been big into it. My muse comes from the characters I've been fiddling around with- I love foals because they inherently have a lot of room to grow and are very impressionable. For example, I read a lot of Mauja and Psyche posts, not just Snö's original posts, to get a feel on her. Mostly, she's raised herself- the times she has spent around Mum and Dad, she doesn't think the highest of them. Psyche she hardly loves for abandoning her, and Mauja she admires, but she's independent. She does not like to feel like she needs someone! *derps* getting off topic here... what was I saying? Hmm. Muse I struggle to find if I just roleplay with one character. I like to have a few (no more than five, no less than three) because I can consistently have new relationships and never just... um... be stuck with the same personality, I suppose.

    On the flip side, I struggle with not taking on too many characters!

    My posts are, basically:
    - a little sketchy with transitioning
    - always feel too short to me
    - don't spend enough time or too much time
    - need to work on what to describe and what not to
    - pay more attention to certain tidbits
    - muse depends on character interactions
    - go off topic awkwardly

    Zikar-Sin Posts: 78
    Hidden Account
    Stallion :: Unicorn :: 16hh :: 8
    M.E.
    #4
    I *definitely* need to find a happy place before I sit down and squeeze a post. Sometimes, if it's a good vibe I can write INFINITY posts-- others, it's a chore to get one out. I've found it's all about circumstance. There was a gap of about 2-3 years where I completely stopped rping, and in retrospect it was one of the hardest times of my life. It didn't feel like it then, but my mental well-being was pretty messed up; I was always stressed/depressed/lonely/insecure for many different reasons, and that not only effected my rping ability, but it also screwed with my art as well. It isn't until now, when my family situation is stable, I'm not on the street, I have my own bed to sleep in, and my horses aren't destroying fence and escaping every night, and I wasn't worried about social/romantic relationships that I can look deep inside and find creative inspirations.

    I'm addicted to character creation, but I also believe in well-rounded individuals. I try to put a little of everything into the characters I create; I try not to be redundant with personality and appearance, and I always try to give my characters some sort of "purpose" to them. This purpose could be a plot, or sometimes I just want to prove a point or add some spice in the mix (IE Calvariam, an older character). Asking the hypothetical questions is a helpful tool-- you ask the same question for every character and determine how they would react. The goal is for every character to react differently.

    Setting could also be a muse-stroker or a complete buzz kill. I lost TONS of muse for my character Safenger after he sat inactive and the Helovian setting shifted around him; the Veins became silent, and Catillatio started stalking the land, which was a role I was originally planning for Saf himself. I started channeling his personality through other characters as well, so he became pretty redundant. Maybe I can find a use for him later, but in terms of inspiration he has died in my mind.

    Music is a big big BIG plus when it comes to writing posts. Assigning different songs/artists for different characters is also a good way to get into the mind of that individual. So far, I've broken it down to these categories:

    ZIKAR-SIN is inspired by BEN FOLDS and TYCHO

    CIRCE is inspired by COLDPLAY

    LAILA is inspired by J-POP, K-POP, and anything bouncy/bubbly

    BERNADETTE is inspired by JOE HISAISHI (composer for many Miyazaki films)

    And so on :3 I also mix and match when the setting calls for different emotions.

    Before I even start a post, I simmer over it in my head during the day, while I work or when I'm taking notes in class/doodling. I contemplate the general plot or the events in the thread, and I try to create a reaction that flows seamlessly with the goings-on. The longer I stop thinking about a thread, the worse the flowing is-- although if I don't immediately respond to one, it doesn't mean I'm not contemplating it. I try to take my time when I reply, as I've found impulsive ideas tend to be unfinished things that fizzle out in the end.

    Once I figure out the appropriate way to respond to a thread, I break my "hypothetical" response into sections, giving the classic sequence of literary plot (introduction, rising action, climax, denoument). I place labels there for general idea, and when I finally sit down to write the post, I go back to those original ideas and flesh them out as I type. Sometimes truly epic quotes come to mind as I'm doing this-- other times, I find some sort of parallel in literature I've read before, and I either quote that particular lit or funnel inspiration from it.

    So...read, kids :D

    Finally, the most important thing I try to emphasize is that this is not the most important thing in the world to me. I have other things to do, and this is a surprisingly refreshing way to keep creative juices flowing and keep me occupied and happy. Channeling passion INTO something is different than being IMPASSIONED by it; when I start getting too 'into' it, I know I need to step back and take a breather. I'm not too bothered with word count, either; I feel that a 250 word post is just as good as a 800 word post, as long as the general point comes across and there's enough material to respond to. I also try not to be intimidated by other, inevitably better writers than myself; instead of thinking "WOW, I wish I can write like that!" I try to think "WOW, let me try to write like that!". It doesn't show, however, because I *obviously* have a problem with being long-winded. ^^;

    You're awesome if you took the time to read all this XD I didn't mean to type all this but there it is! I guess the main points I want to emphasize is that I like to KNOW my character, HAVE FUN writing, DON'T STRESS it, and just DO IT :3

    Torasin Posts: 132
    Deceased
    Stallion :: Equine :: 16.1 :: 8
    imi
    #5
    ROFL I use the exact same method of replying as you Whit XDD
    except I use Word.
    I also used to do this for college work too. -great minds think alike-

    OMG M.E Joe Hisaishi music <33 the best

    ---------------------------------------
    What inspires you to write?
    -- Books. I think all my characters (apart from the two adopted ones) are inspired by book characters. For example d'Artagnan is based off Master Elodin from the King Killer Chronicles. I really loved his random outbursts, his quirky character and how unreliable he is, though he's a much kinder character than d'Artagnan.

    -- Manga/Anime. Especially for magic ;-; I get most of my magic ideas from manga. I also based d'Artagnan's colder nature off of Byakuya from Bleach and his time magic from Minato's in Naruto. -nods- and Torasin's personality is based off of Tamaki from Ouran High School Host Club. I watch/read too much of this stuff *geek*

    -- History. I graduated college with a qualification in Classical Civilization. I've always loved this area of history, so I like to think I have a pretty good educated grip on ancient Greece and Rome. Hector is my trojan-esque character on here ^^

    -- Themes! I completely agree with the themes too. ^^ I find it helps stop me from flailing around trying to grip the character, if they have a theme then you already have something to grip. (does that make sense? XD) herk like d'Art is French, Torasin is a Victorian Gentleman, Hector is Greek/Roman and Locket's supposed to be based around Asia (hence panda).

    What is your 'muse'?
    -- I cannot write to music. >.> I don't know why but I can't listen and concentrate on writing at the same time. I can listen to the music and think of a character, but I don't know music has never really inspired me to write. It might be because I've used it for so long as inspiration for film projects that it has become all I associate it with. *shrugs*

    -- People! I get loooads of muse when I'm at work, because I work in a hotel I see lots of different kinds of people and they inspire me with their different personalities. xD It's a boring job but I do like that aspect of it.

    -- Films. I always have lots of muse after watching a film. ^^ Seriously if I want Torasin muse all I have to do is watch a period drama. XD

    ---------------------------------------------------

    But most of the time my muse is sporadic and does what it wants and I get distracted easily by art or anime or tumblr. >.>

    EDIT; huurr have a picture
    Ascended Helovian

    Mauja the Frozen Light Posts: 1,392
    Outcast atk: 6.5 | def: 10.5 | dam: 7.5
    Stallion :: Unicorn :: 17.2 :: 14 HP: 79.5 | Buff: HUNTER
    Irma :: Snowy Owl :: Terrorize & Diego :: Eurasian Eagle-Owl :: Rage Neo
    #6
    Quote:The best are of course absurd ones like,
    "What would you do if Mauja sat next to you on the bus to school?"
    LMFAO

    Anyway. I write.. very organically? These days I sometimes do not read my posting partner's response until it is time for me to reply, simply because I often get a "spark" of muse when I read it, and I do not want that to fade while I do other things (like derp around). At other times, I do read the reply, and often I get a clear idea of what Mauja will do, and then I just hope it won't fade before I have the time to respond. I never plot, I never structure, I just.. write. Even if I do not know what will happen I just start with a few lines, and Mauja pretty much.. writes himself. Sometimes I have a notion what he'll do, but in like half of the cases it turns out that when I write, he does something else entirely. I typically respond quite fast to threads, though depending on my general mood/other activities it sometimes takes longer, sometimes shorter. Okay, ugh, this is going to suck, I need to use headers or it will be a long wall of ramble text!

    HOW DOES THE NEO WRITE?

    Like this.


    I usually keep my fingers in check and don't accidentally lose my posts, but it's happened once or twice but I'm too much of a moron to change my ways. :B Anyway, it's got a bit of routine to it - I copy my table into the reply area and start writing. Because I hate formatting speech with font colors after I have written the post. DOES IT WHILE WRITING.

    And if you think my text looks large, you're right. I've got Helovia zoomed in about two clicks on my scroll wheel, as I find it much nicer to read this large text. XD You can also see my tabs, I've got the Art tracker up, and a YouTube song (Mauja has recently discovered Breaking Benjamin, and quite likes them!). I typically re-read my latest post in the thread and the posts since then before replying, and sometimes I check exactly what actions were made/what was said, but sometimes I just trust my memory.
    Which doesn't always work. xD

    HOW DOES THE NEO WRITE, 2.0? (and why does she always ramble?)

    Like I said, I write very.. well... I just WRITE. I never structure my posts, I just start writing, and I've got somewhat of a "standard length" for a paragraph, but I usually just "feel" when a new one starts, and then I do a break. Basically I just.. I just go where the words take me, and some of my more.. emotional/thought process posts end up with several shorter paragraphs, instead of my fairly-standard-Neo-post-three-paragraphs type. Dialogue and action and descriptions just happen.

    What I know is that, sometimes I am quite selfish in the way that I mull over Mauja's thoughts and motives and fears and whatever. Sometimes I am secretive and do not, sometimes I and he are not ready to plunge into it, but frequently I do and I always wonder if people like or dislike having to read it? Because, all the thoughts going through his head are not things you can respond to, as he's just staring blankly at you. :P So sometimes I am guilty of not giving my partner much to respond to, but at the same time, I write for myself, and.. I enjoy exploring Mauja's mind. But, yeah. Neo style is to just start writing, and the average time it takes for me to write a post is 20 minutes. Sometimes I proof-read before posting, most of the time I don't (so sometimes there's some he/she mix-ups, or dropped words, and the one that baffles me the most is when I wrote "fire" instead of "blue" here: ".. and the sky slowly took on a shimmer, in vague, distant shades of green and fire."). I always proof-read and edit my Fight posts, they're pretty much the only posts I really "work" at.

    WHAT INSPIRES NEO?

    I don't know. I usually sink into a pit of depression when reading good books, in some twisted, masochistic way.. but music can either kill or make a post for me. Usually I just listen to songs the character likes at the moment, but sometimes if the "wrong" song is playing it's like being stuck, then I switch song and wham the words just flow! Otherwise, I think my main fuel is my emotions, and Mauja's independent presence in my mind, and the story he is living out. It is interesting for me because he is not so much ruled by me, as comes to life from my fingers - he is his own, he does his own things, and if I mess with that, bad things happen. I enjoy watching his story unfold, because I do not know where it is going, and that motivates me a lot - his relationships, his trials and his successes... Mer. /sounds insane

    SOMETIMES SHE GETS STUCK.

    Sometimes writing a post is like trying to shove my mind through a meat grinder. Either I give up, try again later, or save what I have as a draft and come back to it.. or I keep going. Some of my posts are really hard to start, so I just start jotting down some of my usual poetic crap about the landscape or Mauja and then it just gradually gets easier and a post flows out. Sometimes I do not find my flow/connection at all, and after a while I just post something longer than 250 words, hoping for more muse for the next round or an end to the thread. XD I have a hard time getting back into old threads if they've been unanswered for a few weeks, and usually find myself prematurely ending them to get them of my back.

    CONCLUSION

    Neo just writes. End of story. xD
    angels, they fell first, but I'm still here

    Psyche the DarkEmpress Posts: 380
    Deceased
    Mare :: Unicorn :: 15.3 hh :: 8 (ages in Orangemoon) Buff: ENDURE
    RayoDeSoleil
    #7
    Sure, let's jump on the bandwagon. xD

    I don't really think I have any specific 'structure' to how I write. For shorter threads, I write like Neo - I read back over the posts before my reply and trust my memory to get me through it. But for longer threads, like, say, an invasion, I write like Whit/others that have Word/OneNote open and Helovia in a different window. It's really dependent on what's going on in a given thread and how complex it is.

    Muse

    If I don't have muse, I can't write. It's really quite literally that simple. It makes things a bit difficult for those in threads with me when I don't have muse, because they're stuck waiting on me. ;_; But I can't write if I feel rushed, so it's really better for everyone involved if I just take my time with it. xD

    So, what are some things that boost my muse? A lot of times, reading other people's posts will spark muse. Sometimes just playing over different scenarios in my mind will make me want to post. Sometimes music helps me to get in a certain mindset. Most of the time, it's some combination of these things. All of my characters have a clear voice in my head, so sometimes I find myself thinking about their plots and which direction they want to go. Sometimes I even go as far as to write out a post in my head before I actually get to a computer to respond. In those cases, I just hope that it will stay long enough for me to get it out!

    Things that kill my muse: stress. When I get super stressed, I get a little ADD and I start to find it very hard to focus on any one thing. (This also translates to college and school work and whatnot. -.-)

    Something else that kind of has an effect on my chars is my mood. For example, if I'm in an angry/angsty mood, it's super easy to post Psyche. But if I'm in a happy, cheery mood, I find it much easier to post Soh or Tamira. Oh, and one more thing before I end this ramble about muse - the people I thread with have a huge effect on my muse. Psyche x Mauja posts are the easiest ones for me to write because they are such a dynamic pair and I feel like a lot of times I feed off Neo's writing. Soh x Phaedra posts were always brilliant, for the same reason - their friendship just simply 'clicked' in a way that made it very easy to respond to. Tam x Thor, Quil x Res - they're all the same that way. In my head, my characters tend to make friendships and be a part of 'cliques' that they function better in than any other situation, so that can be a huge boost to my muse as well.

    Content

    So what goes into my posts? A lot of the time, the main content of my posts are thoughts or emotions that my character is feeling. I think it really helps to set the tone of the thread, but then again it might be super hard if I don't give the other person a whole lot to work with. Oops. xD If I find myself getting stuck, I start going into description - the landscape, the weather, a random flower, the other character(s). A lot of the time, I find myself playing off the other person's post.

    For example, say that I'm threading Psyche with Mauja. I'll look at the first paragraph of Mau's post, and summarize it into my head, give it a theme. (For example, in our most recent thread, I summarized the first paragraph or two into the concepts of strength and weakness.) It's not necessarily the main point that Neo is writing, though, it's just... important concepts that I perceive written within the post. And I'll take those and go through my character's thought process on them. So, Psyche would then have 2 or 3 paragraphs about weakness - what it is, how she thinks about it, how her views have changed, etc - and a lot of times this is enough to start off a post. From there, it kind of chooses its own direction. I'm very like Neo in that I rarely plan out how a thread is going to go, but rather just let my characters write themselves. Perhaps its odd, but they really do have their own voices in my head, and they are very real to me.

    Conclusion

    I may well be crazy, but basically my characters are all very real in my mind, and so I tend to act as a 'channel' for their voices. If I have no muse, I don't try to force it, I just wait it out. And above all, I write for fun. :)
    [Image: psycheicon.png]

    Please feel free to tag me in all replies!
    Use of force and/or magic (with the exception of death) is allowed at all times.


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