What are the 'behind the scenes' aspects of your fiction writing that are interesting?

[Eldoria]

What are the 'behind the scenes' aspects of your fiction writing that are interesting?

 

[Corty]

I tend to share that with my readers, but honestly, without actively reading my stories and knowing the plot, it would not make much sense if I tell you what has changed how I switched out plot points behind the scenes while writing.

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

Not a lot of people know this, but all my stories start off as empty word documents. The stories are actually an alchemical reaction you get when you combine certain letters in the English language together that, when directly observed, can cause mild hallucinations in the human brain.

 

[Rhaps]

Copius amount of dice on a matrix only I understand

 

[ArchlordZero]

All my side characters are based from the people I met in real life.
My female MCs are based from my fantasies.
My male MCs are my mood swings given personality and form.

 

[Golden_Hyde]

sharing it with my long-time fellow fanfiction author at Discord

 

[LevJrtheWriter]

In my story, powers don’t awaken through training but through emotion. A Niche first flickers alive when someone’s deepest fear or flaw is pushed like the terror of losing a friend or the sting of abandonment. To grow stronger, they have to face that wound and accept it.

Check out my Webnovel

 

[Hoshino]

I write the first chapter, scrap it, rewrite it, plan the whole novel, and then write a first chapter that completely drifts off from the planning so, I have to create a new outline just to remember the character names and plot points so I don't forget them and make stupid mistakes. When I write the first chapter, I have to proofread it, but I'm too lazy to do that, so it stays like that for a while. Then, suddenly, I remember that I'm supposedly an author, fix the grammar, and upload it, completely forgetting about it.

 

[sbdrag]

I do a lot of research into how things work irl when I include them in my fantasy. I love Rule of Cool, but I have a need for a level of accuracy in my own work, even if I tweak it to fit more with the world. This includes everything from building a constructed language (and learning more linguistics/etymology in the process), to studying how wood scarcity effects irl societies when it comes to fuel and building materials, or the kinds of books people had available in a certain time period and region. Blacksmithing techniques, where/how/why specific types of gemstones form, weapons of specific regions, cuisine - there's a lot I look into that only gets maybe a single sentence in the story if I don't cut it ? and not even directly, half the time!

And sometimes I manage to be real world accurate by accident ha ha - in example, I stated the Demon Realm in my story is rich in metals and also that the soil there is primarily red before researching that red soil is high in iron (causing the color). Which later allowed me to explain my vague demonic poisoning as more specifically heavy metal poisoning.

 

[Little-Moon]

I have conversations with my characters inside my head, or I talk about stuff with my dog while on a walk.
Probably looking like a mandman.

Thinking out loud, and moving helps me get my stuff in order since it's usually just all tangled up images in my head. Whatever questions come I later put in my info and reasearch files docs.
Actually that is the only reason I learned how to use word properly.

 

[Joyager2]

I wouldn't really call it interesting, but I write in two columns on Google Docs rather than just centering the text across the page. I think it helps psychologically for me to fill the page from top-to-bottom first, even if it's not full from left to right just yet.

 

[DJ_Rhaposdy]

My brain is always working on my stories in the background. So, when I get stuck, I leave one story alone and try to work on the other while I process the first. At random moments, things will just click and I get an idea of how to proceed; no trigger, no clear inspiration. I think I get it from an outside source, I just have no idea where.

 

[VenerableOne]

I spend copious amount of time researching and studying Chinese literature to make my use of language seem more authentic and make my mythology not just copied from a translated webnovel. Its really hard to sift through all the AI generated information.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

There is absolutely nothing interesting about me whatsoever. Just ask my wife.

 

[DireBadger]

I spend copious amounts of time reading literature in other languages that I can understand (Spanish, Chinese, Russian) in order to reassure myself that their fiction SUCKS. English FTW baby! (Russian is a close second, but Spanish and Chinese lit is garbage. Creative garbage, but self-indulgent garbage nonetheless. And French, which I sort of speak, is absolutely crap writing, always.)

 

[Xam_I_Am]

This fantastic thing happens whenever I'm editing. I will start to randomly dose off(doesn't matter how much sleep i've had) and I'll have visions of some of the most random and just pointless things. I'll snap back after a few seconds, but it drives me crazy and I hate it!

 

[NJ3]

The behind the scenes of my writing? Oh, it mostly involves me talking to myself, arguing with my characters, and getting way too emotionally invested in their fictional drama. My wife has caught me more than once acting out fight scenes in our bedroom just to make sure they’d make sense to readers. She just shakes her head and accepts it... Good soul, that one. ?
Also, I am pretty sure half of my plot twists come from “Wait, what if this happens?” moments that spiral out of control.
Honestly, sometimes I do feel like writing is 10% inspiration and 90% convincing myself that my made-up world actually makes sense. ?

 

[MajorKerina]

Mostly the fact that my Muse is a separate person who I can't rush and I have to talk to her. I've actually kind of played her as a separate character and included aspects of her in the story itself. I had so many imaginary friends growing up that it's a natural process.

 

[DireBadger]

Mostly the fact that my Muse is a separate person who I can't rush and I have to talk to her. I've actually kind of played her as a separate character and included aspects of her in the story itself. I had so many imaginary friends growing up that it's a natural process.

As long as she doesn't start you driving around schools in a windowless van....

 

[Tacit]

Probably just the sheer volume of research in small details that probably aren't all that important for the story but matter a lot to me for the sake of accuracy. Things like "What were the typical street foods in the medieval era?" or "What medieval diseases were death sentences but entirely treatable with the technology of the time if given modern medical understanding?"