How do you stay on track?
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- LoremasterTappa
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How do you stay on track?
― Greg Weisman
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- Apogea
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You would end up having millions of tiny files that would get lost easily on your computer, let alone being able to put everything together well.
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- CloudedRune
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I definitely also get distracted while writing a lot, my main problem is getting ideas for other stories and wanting to write them all down before I lose them - it's great when I have lots of ideas but it doesn't help me focus on the one that I'm trying to write at the present time! I'm still trying to work this out for myself so I can't offer a lot of advice that definitely works for me, but using programs like Evernote has helped me to organize and keep track of things a lot. Unfortunately I don't have Word on my new computer yet otherwise I'd probably be using that a lot too. :/
But yes, I'm sending you lots of positive vibes and encouragement with your writing endeavors! It's a long and difficult process to get certain ideas developed to the extent that one wants, but I think that it's really great that you have all of these ideas that you want to work on and expand!
- annareads
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- moderntimes
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I am a published author (2 novels, short stories, reviews, articles, etc) and I simply make side notes when I'm slightly off track with either a new character or a plot twist. If a sidebar idea comes to me, I open a new document "plot ideas" and write the divergent ideas there, then churn ahead with the main thrust of my story. Later, taking a break from the principal task, I go back to that temporary "ideas" doc and rearrange it, add comments, and save it for later. Some of those random thoughts later became new separate stories. But I don't get distracted. Otherwise I'd never get anything finished or if it were finished, it would be so muddled as to make little sense.
If I may ask a feedback question, why do you write fan fiction? Isn't it more interesting to write your own stories, unique and individual, and not a take-off of something that another person has written? I'd appreciate knowing what motivates someone to write fan fiction instead of a totally new story. Thanks.
- heathervalle3
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- RussetDivinity
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I can't speak to why everyone writes fanfiction, but I know that I write it because I see something in another story that I want to play around with. I may find a character or a plot arc that my fingers are just itching to write about, but I haven't explored it enough to make it my own. Fanfic for me is a way to work with a character or a setting and make it feel like something I can play with. Fanfic is something of a safe space, because I don't need to worry too much about building from the ground up; I have a structure to embellish.
- moderntimes
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When I created my modern private detective series, I deliberately chose a "new" character, not the old fashioned hardboiled but a smart, educated, and very modern PI, uses all the new electronics gear, etc.
I didn't want to borrow from anyone else.
Besides, with fanfic, the original characters being copyright, doesn't that severely limit your chance to sell that story? You'd have to get "persimmon" from the original publisher, right?
- RussetDivinity
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Judging by your reaction, my calling fanfic a safe space may not have been the right term. It's really more of a playground, a place where I can go to write and toy with characters and settings without having a great deal of pressured laid on me. I don't write my fanfics seriously (although they're not all fluff and fun; I've got several that have gotten very intense), and they give me a chance to relax a bit with my writing.
- moderntimes
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Thinking back, I've jotted down notes at times regarding characters that I've enjoyed in stories by other authors, such as "wouldn't it be fun if Elvis Cole met Spenser?" and so on. After all, one of the greatest (and most insane) fantasy novels ever, "A Feast Unknown" by Phil Farmer, tells of Tarzan meeting Doc Savage.
And don't get me wrong -- I enjoy my writing and wouldn't write if I didn't get personal satisfaction from it. But I still write with the objective to sell my stuff, and fanfic just isn't a market, mostly because of copyright infringement. So I turn my principal energies toward short stories and articles and now, my novels, all of which I've actually sold (as being paid real money for) -- except of course my newest novel which is still being shopped and I hope to have some good news on that front soon.
- kittyTM
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Sometimes it's hard not to get side tracked by these ideas, and it can slow down your creative process. However, it can be beneficial for a writer to have some side projects to help inspire new ideas or to help get you back into the writing mood, which is why I keep that ideas folder in Google Docs. Sometimes, those little idea sparks can become your favorite thing to write; they can even help you find your style and your favorite genre to write. They might even become your best seller!