How Tall is Harry?

[physicssquid]

That is truly irritating, but it doesn't happen very often.

[Kitty279]

Jul 8, 2012 12:36:05 GMT -5 physicssquid said:

I find it really difficult to avoid in RtBs, but I try and write like this:-
"..." X said,
"..." Y muttered, blowing on a steaming mug of tea,
"..." X snorted, spooning sugar in his coffee,
"..." Y yelped leaping out of his seat.
Things like that.

Much better! Of course you can't avoid "said" now and then, but that example from the book overdid it way too much.

Another way to avoid it is doing it like this:
X shrugged. "..."
X frowned. "..."
That makes the word said and its synonyms unnecessary. With some effort, you can vary it reasonably well. I was really surprised that a professional editor let that many said in one place go.

[sherza]

Jul 8, 2012 7:10:44 GMT -5 Kitty279 said:

A (very good) fanfiction writer in another fandom told me repeatedly that he sat down to write a chapter knowing exactly what he wanted to write, and when he finished the chapter, it was something completely different from what he planned, but nearly always better than his initial plan.

This. So much this!

I hit a writing wall with Fate We Make because I was insisting that Harry still be the one to get a Blood Quill detention from Umbridge to really start the mayhem in that fic ... forgetting that the Harry I was writing by that point was smart enough to realize Umbridge was trouble and keep his yap shut. Wasn't until I relaxed and forgot about forcing Harry into the role that I was able to get 'round that issue.

This is also how things got the way they are in Friends and Families. Originally? Draco wasn't supposed to get attacked. Lucius was just supposed to be a straight-up evil asshole. But then Barty insisted on pulling what he pulled, and ... yeah. Things have gone and gotten ... interesting ... because I've all of a sudden got a VERY pissed off Black clan on my hands. *grins*

[Kitty279]

Oh, I can totally understand! Been there myself. Sometimes parts of a story just write themselves, and when you refuse to listen to your characters, they run away and sulk and won't come back. And when you try to force it, it gets so ... stiff? laboured? Not sure how to describe it. In any case, the chapter just won't flow properly.

Personally, I think that's where JKR made some mistakes, she should not have tried to force her initial ideas through at all costs. For I believe she did, seeing how she kept saying the end is already written.

[Dimcairien]

I try to have a vague idea for beginning, middle, and end, but I usually have no idea where I want it to go about. For example, in my Healing the Broken Hearts story, I knew where I wanted to start it, a few middle points, and part of the end. The majority of what has happened in it though have just come to me. That's one reason why my updates are sometimes sporadic, I don't want my writing to sound forced.

[Kitty279]

And I have a vague idea for at least parts of the story, though by no means a complete storyline. Then I tend to write scenes down that come to me randomly, and then I can try and see if I can work all that together and if these ideas even fit or not. That's why I haven't even started posting. It's so much easier to play with a scene that behaves than trying to get one done that is fighting tooth and nail against me.

[sherza]

Jul 8, 2012 14:49:50 GMT -5 Dimcairien said:

I try to have a vague idea for beginning, middle, and end, but I usually have no idea where I want it to go about.

And I have a vague idea for at least parts of the story, though by no means a complete storyline. Then I tend to write scenes down that come to me randomly, and then I can try and see if I can work all that together and if these ideas even fit or not.

I do a weird combination of these two.

I generally have a very firm grasp on certain ideas for any one fic (Hogwarts alive, Hedwig a familiar, for instance), and at least a vague idea of how it will start and end (though in the case of Fate We Make, the ending came first, almost verbatim, and forced me to work backwards from there).

Per chapter, though, I generally have a list of ideas/plot points I need to deal with soonest ... stuff left dangling from the last chapter alongside new stuff that needs to be brought in soon. These, I jot down at the start of the chapter, so I know what's most urgent, and then go from there. Sometimes, the stuff I think needs to be in that chapter makes it in. Other times, the characters run away from me and pull something out of their asses ala Barty and that stunt with Draco (where the hell that one came from I'll never know ... he just insisted, because he's evil and crazy like that).

[Dimcairien]

I know. With one of my stories that I haven't published yet, I'm already over 20,000 words and am still going back and editing bits and pieces in earlier chapters. Once I'm satisfied with parts of it (will I ever be?) I'll start updating it.

[kumainpink]

Is it just me, or do our topics keep spilling into each other? XD *laughs*

[physicssquid]

I do try and have at least a vague time-line worked out, with certain events that I know I want in the story, but sometimes the story goes in a slightly different direction, with the timing of the events ruined, so I alter the time-line a little to fit.

[Kitty279]

Well, I believe that a certain way of writing doesn't work for everyone. Besides the already mentioned things, I know some sit down and write by schedule, while others don't do anything for days or even weeks and then sit down and write nonstop. And again others do a mix of both. Then add the problem if you are a full-time writer or do it in your free time ...

[Dimcairien]

I do love how the topics drift, but if you have kept up with it the entire time, you can see how it got from on topic to a seemingly completely different one.

[Kitty279]

Jul 8, 2012 15:12:05 GMT -5 kumainpink said:

Is it just me, or do our topics keep spilling into each other? XD *laughs*

*snicker* They do, but I don't mind. In the end we always get back to topic - only to stray onto some side path again.

[kumainpink]

Exactly! teehee~! The joy of randomness~!

[sherza]

Jul 8, 2012 15:12:16 GMT -5 physicssquid said:

I do try and have at least a vague time-line worked out, with certain events that I know I want in the story, but sometimes the story goes in a slightly different direction, with the timing of the events ruined, so I alter the time-line a little to fit.

Yeah, I do rough outlines too. VERY rough. As in, the outline I have for Families and Familiars is less than a page long, covers four years, and only a handful of points are more than a line long. *snicker*

[Silvertongue]

Jul 8, 2012 15:21:24 GMT -5 Kitty279 said:

Jul 8, 2012 15:12:05 GMT -5 kumainpink said:

Is it just me, or do our topics keep spilling into each other? XD *laughs*

*snicker* They do, but I don't mind. In the end we always get back to topic - only to stray onto some side path again.

Indeed, and they usually spark up a new thread in the process and then that one splits off and creates another topic.

[viralic1]

I tend to have major scenes fleshed out, and then I just work with the in-between. The one exception to this was the scene where Hermione learns the history of the first Potter and Longbottom. That was the scene that spawned my entire universe, and storyline. I had no idea what I wanted to write, what pairing it would be, what the particular tags would be, etc.

[kumainpink]

That's pretty cool, Vira!

[viralic1]

I thought it was. I just kept thinking of that particular scene, and then I wrote it out, and then I wanted to figure why Hermione would be learning of this particular bit of history, and then I thought of how it would be cool if the politics was still important in present time, instead of just a bunch of useless fancy titles from centuries ago. From there came the general idea of my story, and I just kept writing chapters, chopping them down, and refining them. I seriously wrote the prologue and chapter one about 17 or so times before I got it to where I wanted.

[kumainpink]

That's awesome!

The one I'm editing now, A Better Understanding, started off as a Sirius adotps Harry and reads more about him idea. The one scene I first pictured was Sirius beating the crap out of Dumbledore.

[viralic1]

Lol, nice. I kind of love how I'm making him an idiot, instead of evil. It's really funny to write his reactions to when things don't go his way, especially during the part of my story where the "traps" around the Philosopher's stone just get destroyed in about ten minutes flat.

[Silvertongue]

Bwahaha! That would be hilarious to see.

[viralic1]

I just can't wait until I get to a discussion about the blood wards. I'm going to tear Dumbledore in half.

[Silvertongue]

*evil grins* Funtimes

[viralic1]

It's something I've wanted to do for a while. Every time a major crises comes up, I've looked at the actions Dumbledore took and wanted to facepalm.

[kumainpink]

Same here. *grins* I've already had Filius call Dumbledore out in Hogwarts United a little, but in a few chapters, he's going to ream the old man apart! *insane laugh*

[viralic1]

Lol, I'll want to remember that. I remember when I read a story that had Harry just destroy Dumbledore when they read about the Halloween Feast of 1st year, when he ordered everyone to return to their common rooms. It had me dying of laughter.

[Silvertongue]

I think might have read that fic, too, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was called or who wrote it!

[kumainpink]

I want to read that... *grins* Sounds like fun!

[viralic1]

Same, which kind of disappoints me cause I remember it was decently written.

Of course, it may have been horrible and I'm remembering a good scene.