On a scale from 'Rarely' to 'Every damn time'...

[Deleted member 63478]

How often do you just endlessly write, because you know good stuff is in there, but you can't quantify it unless it becomes words?

How often do you realize who your characters are, and what they would do, AS the scene is being painted in the mind?

Because I'm firmly in the 'Every damn time' camp. It's great and terrible.

Needed to vent, thanks y'all!

 

[BenJepheneT]

Strangely enough, I don't really know how my characters act on paper, even as I'm writing them.

The only way I manage to comprehend my character's personality is to, quite literally, ACT as them.

Yes, I roleplay in my locked bedroom whenever I get stumped in a scene, or during character creation. I'm not a great actor, but I try until something clicks and I write them down in a notebook as rough drafts before transporting it to the digital screen.

I range from fight scenes to conversations to simple actions like "how he picks up his coffee" or "how she sits when she's deep in thought". I even acted out a confession, which I only needed to do once, and once was enough.

I pray to God everyday my door lock holds because if it doesn't the next thing I'm wearing will be a straitjacket.

 

[Kitsura]

Lol I wish, writing feels like squeezing water out of riverstones to me. It’s a wonder I can update daily

 

[Anon_Y_Mousse]

Idk, most of my characters(at least their personalities) take them from what happened to real life people. For example, one of the reincarnated people in ROTGC takes a page from my middle school days and a guy I talked out of suicide.

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

I don't know ya'all but I always make a mindscape and vision what my characters do everytime I wanted to reenact a scene from a chapter as I mostly try to memorize them to the best I can before writing them into the novel in a rough sketch rather than a complete scene.

As for the wording, I rarely care about how many words I write until some readers get salty due to how short I write and since I am bad at infodumping, I instead reenact another mind scene but longer interactions which cuts down the time to write but make a better quality than the previous scene.

 

[Deleted member 63478]

Already this is such a colorful, and amusing, spray of answers.

All valid answers too - glad I'm not entirely alone in my weird writing habits.

Good luck with your stones Newfy! XD

I don't know ya'all but I always make a mindscape and vision what my characters do everytime I wanted to reenact a scene from a chapter as I mostly try to memorize them to the best I can before writing them into the novel in a rough sketch rather than a complete scene.

As for the wording, I rarely care about how many words I write until some readers get salty due to how short I write and since I am bad at infodumping, I instead reenact another mind scene but longer interactions which cuts down the time to write but make a better quality than the previous scene.

'Until some readers get mad at how short I write'
I relate so hard. Like I enjoy writing, but when the chapter is done I stop, so what if it was 'shorter then X amount of words' >_>

 

[skillet]

How often do you realize who your characters are, and what they would do, AS the scene is being painted in the mind?

This happens to me with my minor characters especially, and sometimes my best (personal favorite) chapters come from winging a scene without planning it, because the characters really do organically move the way they want, lol.

But yes, I think I might understand what you mean by the rest of your post. In my case, it's like your fingers just itch to keep writing because there's something inside you that wants to be said but you don't know what, and only after you write a bit does it quiet down for a time. And then it comes back, inevitably, always, and you're back to toiling away on paper or on computer, pouring it out so that you can get some rest for a little while longer.

Also, the more I write, the more I realize I have very little control over my characters. They all have a mind of their own now, lol, and the best I can do is throw them into situations and see how they'll react.

 

[Deleted member 63478]

This happens to me with my minor characters especially, and sometimes my best (personal favorite) chapters come from winging a scene without planning it, because the characters really do organically move the way they want, lol.

But yes, I think I might understand what you mean by the rest of your post. In my case, it's like your fingers just itch to keep writing because there's something inside you that wants to be said but you don't know what, and only after you write a bit does it quiet down for a time. And then it comes back, inevitably, always, and you're back to toiling away on paper or on computer, pouring it out so that you can get some rest for a little while longer.

Also, the more I write, the more I realize I have very little control over my characters. They all have a mind of their own now, lol, and the best I can do is throw them into situations and see how they'll react.

Facts.

 

[Biggest-Kusa-Out-There]

I have small notes on my pc with things like:
Character A never says a certain word.
Character B has a speech tick.
Character C has a body tick.
Character A refers to B as "X", and C as "Y".
Character D never does "W", and instead does "Z".
Character E responds "this way" to "these events".
This way, characters feel more centralized while giving freedom outside of those restrictions. It helps me avoid OOC moments, and have a clear idea of what they would do regardless of what happened.
Outlining characters is crucial imo.

 

[Irl_Rat]

Strangely enough, I don't really know how my characters act on paper, even as I'm writing them.

The only way I manage to comprehend my character's personality is to, quite literally, ACT as them.

Yes, I roleplay in my locked bedroom whenever I get stumped in a scene, or during character creation. I'm not a great actor, but I try until something clicks and I write them down in a notebook as rough drafts before transporting it to the digital screen.

I range from fight scenes to conversations to simple actions like "how he picks up his coffee" or "how she sits when she's deep in thought". I even acted out a confession, which I only needed to do once, and once was enough.

I pray to God everyday my door lock holds because if it doesn't the next thing I'm wearing will be a straitjacket.

What forgetting to take prescriptions does to a mf.

So you ever have someone walk in on you or witness you acting? If so, how tf do explain to them your shenanigans without being recommended to a mental facility? And if you've been recommended to a mental facility, which one do you think is the best option?

 

[Underload]

I talk to my dog sometimes. It gets funny when he talks back.

 

[ThrillingHuman]

I know the important parts of my characters: beliefs, motivations, fears and such. When the characters don't act how I planned, it's usually with something that isn't that important to their character profiles or when I wrote myself into a corner and need to a cop out
Oh, and their way of speaking. I don't know how to make a way of speaking "belong" to a character apart from adding obvious ticks so they all either speak the same or don't speak at all.
Interestingly enough, I usually am completely in control of the minor characters as they rarely get more than a single scene when they act and I can completely adjust whatever I need about them.

 

[BenJepheneT]

What forgetting to take prescriptions does to a mf.

So you ever have someone walk in on you or witness you acting? If so, how tf do explain to them your shenanigans without being recommended to a mental facility? And if you've been recommended to a mental facility, which one do you think is the best option?

Prescriptions made this mf. Any ADHD patient a doctor receives they just throw depressants at them until they either work or they get sent to a medical facility as a "basket case".

Nah I'm just playing, I'm just ordinarily retarded.

As of now, no. Nobody has known, and nobody has asked before. I sometimes make quite a sound too. My parents know I wank semi-regularly so they're probably tossing the sounds to that reason. I'd rather they stick to that explanation than to know the truth. And if I do get sent to a mental facility, I wouldn't. I'd take myself and everyone else in the ambulance with me.

 

[skillet]

I have small notes on my pc with things like:
Character A never says a certain word.
Character B has a speech tick.
Character C has a body tick.
Character A refers to B as "X", and C as "Y".
Character D never does "W", and instead does "Z".
Character E responds "this way" to "these events".
This way, characters feel more centralized while giving freedom outside of those restrictions. It helps me avoid OOC moments, and have a clear idea of what they would do regardless of what happened.
Outlining characters is crucial imo.

I really need to start doing this... I probably make up a good hundred of my views weekly going back to read what I wrote because I forget everything I did before especially stuff like 'hmm, what did that character call that other character?' or 'have I already explained what this character did?'

 

[GreenHexagon]

How often do you just endlessly write, because you know good stuff is in there, but you can't quantify it unless it becomes words?

How often do you realize who your characters are, and what they would do, AS the scene is being painted in the mind?

Because I'm firmly in the 'Every damn time' camp. It's great and terrible.

Needed to vent, thanks y'all!

This happens to me with my minor characters especially, and sometimes my best (personal favorite) chapters come from winging a scene without planning it, because the characters really do organically move the way they want, lol.

But yes, I think I might understand what you mean by the rest of your post. In my case, it's like your fingers just itch to keep writing because there's something inside you that wants to be said but you don't know what, and only after you write a bit does it quiet down for a time. And then it comes back, inevitably, always, and you're back to toiling away on paper or on computer, pouring it out so that you can get some rest for a little while longer.

Also, the more I write, the more I realize I have very little control over my characters. They all have a mind of their own now, lol, and the best I can do is throw them into situations and see how they'll react.

Yes.
I usually have an outline ready but as soon as I start writing the outline starts becoming more of a suggestion than a guideline.

 

[BlindSerpent]

I do method acting with characters, spend a few weeks with the MC especially in my mind, figuring them out and really trying to flesh out their personality. I did notice how the characters then drive certain scenes and it makes me almost feel as though i'm just recording the events as they really play out in that world.

 

[dvelasquez]

I play the scenes in my mind? I mean, normally when I write a chapter, arc, scene, etc. I just play it out in my mind. I let the "characters" do their thing as if it was a movie I had nothing to do about. If I like how it turned out, I try to write the scene, if I don't, I start with the "What if..." and start imagining the scenes with small differences. I honestly don't know if this explains it, but it's like a general view of the process I go through before writing a chapter, scene, etc.