Thoughts on My Fic Writing Process

[forestofglory]

For my current fic work in progress I've been trying to only writing when its enjoyable. This has led to me having lots of thoughts about my fic writing process.

The last fic project I was working on before this one was a space AU that's I ultimately decided to abandon. The problem was that I cared far more about the worldbuilding than the plot. Before giving up I spend about two weeks miserably bashing my head against a mental wall trying to figure out a plot that would be interesting enough to be worth writing. So I started this project determined not to repeat that.

The most enjoyable writing is probably when I get into to a flow state and words just keep coming. But I can't do that very often and there's not a lot I can do to make that happened. A lot fic writers talk about their fic being self indulgent and I honestly don't know what that looks like for me. The fics that feel the most self indulgent (and also had good flow) are the ones that have lots of people feeding each other and/or worldbuilding details. But I don't think that's what most people mean when they call a fic self indulgent.

Recently I've been reading a bunch of really good character meta. Which I very much enjoy, but it also makes me doubt my characterization in my fic. And like if I did get the characterization right does it actually come across one the page? Which I guess is the same thing really.

My current project is going very slowly. I work a bit on it most days, but I only write 200ish words a day. I know I can write faster than that! I'm feeling a bit frustrated with how slowly things are going, which is making the whole project less fun. Then of course I get annoyed at myself for making things less fun.

Still I'm mostly enjoying this project. I spent a whole morning reading about the introduction of Champa rice to China for some minor background bits that no one else will notice or care about. I've got a mix of epistolary sections and close third person narration and that's fun to play with. So overall my plan to have fun writing is working.

If you write fiction what are the most fun parts? What parts do you consider self indulgent?

Comments

[rekishi]

Honestly that already sounds like a lot of words for one day even if I did have spoons right now to do so.

But YMMV and some projects are easier than others?

[forestofglory]

Yeah, I guess I just wish I was better at telling in advance how difficult projects are going to be

[rekishi]

We never do!

I actually owe you my favourite part, although that's not actually writing at all: I love the part where I work out the general plot of something and ping it off my friend and she pings it back and we talk through plot and usually also dialogue snippets.

Sadly, she's not in my current fandom so I have to make do by myself and it is SO MUCH HARDER ugh. Also because no one tells me my plot has as many holes as a Swiss cheese until I send it off for beta.

[forestofglory]

Oh yes, figuring out the what is going to happen is always good feeling!

[shipperslist]

The most fun is when the words just come. The flow is awesome but sometimes I have to work for it and yeah, sometimes I even have to push it a bit.

On what's self-indulgent: In my mind, anything the author truly enjoys. If food and worldbuilding is what makes you tick, then writing a fic that's full of food and intricate wolrdbuilding is self-indulgent. For me, self-indulgence tends to vary, but it mostly falls into the (emotional) hurt/comfort category. That's what I enjoy the most.

[cinnamonandpancakes]

I feel most self indulgent in my writing when I'm writing things that I really enjoy reading, because that usually means I'm writing purely for myself and not thinking about 'audience' or 'stats' or whatever, just what makes me happy. I do also love worldbuilding and research and character creation. Making problems for later me to solve can be very fun xD

[forestofglory]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets really into the worldbuilding! It's just so fun to fix things together!

[x_los]

Weirdly I find like, focusing on whether given elements of writing are fun really stressful? A beta asked me to do a lot of that, &a great deal of person-focused stuff, &it felt for me like a therapy session rather than editing. I kinda decided we were too incompatible to be a productive team, because I don't know how to talk around that fundamental of a divide in approach/conceptualisation.

[forestofglory]

That space AU was making me pretty unhappy, and I really didn't want to repeat that, but I think maybe I've swung too far in the other direction with this project. I've been spending a lot of time thinking about process and fun and stuff, and I'm don't think its actauly been that useful for me.

[mific]

Is being self indulgent supposed to be a bad thing? I reckon writing fanfic's a hobby so that's a free pass right there to do whatever we like. As long as it's not an outright Mary Sue or author-insert fic (and those are fine for any writers who need/want to write them - they're just not my thing as a reader). For me, dialogue comes easiest, but I don't see dialogue-heavy fics as being self indulgent. I love worldbuilding too - it's why I like writing AUs and fusions.

[forestofglory]

I guess I sometimes see people shaming them shelves for writing self indulgent fics, but mostly it seems like something that my corner of fandom celebrates. But it feels like something that's really hard to pin down.

[theladyscribe]

The self-indulgent bits for me are the things that really tap into my id. And I'm not talking about the ~kinky things, but the things that I really care about and are recurring themes in my writing: a strong sense of time and place, people taking care of each other (usually through feeding each other), bittersweet love stories, the abject and mundane horror of war. You know, just id things.

These also tend to be the most fun for me, especially when I really get into the zone and can just sit and /write/ and not have other things on my mind.

[forestofglory]

I guess why "self indulgent" feels so hard to pin down is because everyone's id is a bit different!

[vorvayne]

Hm. Is writing fun? I don't know! Parts of it are certainly very satisfying and cathartic, but if I try to look too closely at WHICH parts, it sortof blurs and shifts.

I'm all for trying to make stuff more fun - but a lot of stuff people find "fun" doesn't work for me while I am certainly *happiest* when I'm in flow state. So it's most helpful for me to focus on how to make a project or process *easy*, by which I mean, how to reduce any barriers to entry. Then I'm more likely to be able to start. And if I start I can usually get somewhere.

[forestofglory]

oh. That is super helpful actually! Because figuring out what fun even is is pretty difficult actually. But thinking about what making writing easier seems like it would be way more productive. Thank you!

[elvenjaneite]

<3 <3 <3

I think everyone's version of "fun" is a little different when it comes to writing. For me, it's less about being in the zone, so to speak, and more about whether what I've written seems right for the story. I find it frustrating when I can't find my way into a scene or section.

In terms of self-indulgence, I tend to think of it as a story with a subject or image that I care a lot about, whether or not it's something anyone else will be interested in or get. Like all the library details in Every book, or the greenhouse in Fism. Something that makes me happy to think about and write about. But I've noticed that a number of readers seem to really like those aspects, so that also encourages me to lean into what I care about and really make it as rich as I can in any given story!

[forestofglory]

<3

I do feel that way about food in my fics, and do sometimes get comments about that but mostly I just put in details fore me. Very few of my readers are going to care about rice varies, but I spent a happy morning reading all about them for something that doesn't really matter.

[littledust]

Flow state writing is SO GREAT, and I too struggle with recreating that feeling when it just won't come. Often it's easy for me to get into a flow state in the first blush of an idea, but if the story takes more than a few days to write, I slip into it less and less easily. I try to add a few sentences to something 4-5 days a week to stay in the habit, but I don't try to force anything more. I've discovered that leads to misery and burnout.

I love writing character interactions, especially playful banter and/or characters eating a meal together. I often neglect my descriptions (two heads talking in empty spaaaace!), but I enjoy the ones that come to me vividly, especially if they involve water imagery or describing food. I also like outlining, because I can tell myself the story in as much shorthand and capslock as I feel like. For me, self-indulgence while writing is getting to write something in the outline I've been really looking forward to, like a couple's first kiss, or a family dinner, or a character getting to do something cool and heroic.

(Also, I so feel you on reading excellent character meta and immediately questioning whether every story you've ever written is OOC.)

[forestofglory]

I on the other hand find dialogue challenging! I know what ideas I want the characters to convey but having them actually say it always seems less interesting. And I'm not good an banter or other playful talking. (This one thing I like about writing epistolary fic -- it lets me skip over the dialogue and just give a sense of what was said)