AlbinoBlackSheep wrote:Why don't we start off with the genres we like to write?
Well, you probably all know about my SF work. In addition to all the fanfiction, I've been working on a short SF novel of my own creation lately, which will be part of a longer series. Draft 1 is about 90% complete, and I'm very happy with it.
What you might not know (but could probably guess) is that I've been writing fantasy since I was 15. I started work on a long novel back then and completed two drafts of it in the last 6 years - both of which I have destroyed. I've done some smaller scale work, too, but nothing that I've ultimately been happy with. I think I hold my fantasy to a higher standard than my SF. With SO much bad fantasy out there (and I think you know who I'm talking about), I want to write the kind of story that'll stand up there with the greats. Tolkien, Eddings, Martin, Jordan... It's a very special genre to me, so I'm fine with taking years and years to work on the story.
Current wrote:The longest I've written (and finished) is about 5,000 words.
I've got trouble doing shorter stories, for some reason. When I create a universe, I automatically want to see more of it. No matter what the story I'm writing is about, it always feels like there should be more to it. If I've got an interesting world, I want to play with it, explore it. When I have characters I like, I want to keep seeing them interact with their world. I just can't seem to leave them alone. My shortest completed work is probably going to be my SF story (Let's call it Colonists), which will be a little book around 100,000 words. My longest is probably the second draft of my fantasy novel, which was about 250,000. I expect this latest draft to be at leas 300,000, though it will probably be more.
AlbinoBlackSheep wrote:What do you think your weakest point is?
Honestly? Characters. I worry about making them consistent, making their actions logical, making them likeable, making them understandable...they're the part I worry about most when writing a story, probably because I feel that they're the most complicated part. When anything happens, you have to keep in mind all of the important details of everyone present and figure out how they'd react. There are so many factors that go into characters that it gets overwhelming at times. I'm never fully confident in any of mine.
I actually tend to cheat with my characters. Whenever I'm at a loss for an interesting character, I crack open a copy of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. There's such a variety of people in there, all of whom are so very unique and different. It gives me a great starting point, a sort of template to build characters around. And since they're all historical figures, I don't have to worry too much about stepping on the toes of some other author.
AlbinoBlackSheep wrote:What's your approach in writing a story
I just start with a general idea. Something interesting comes to mind. Sometimes it's character related (What would Sima Yi do if he was in space?), sometimes it's related to something interesting I've read, like a historical event. Sometimes, I just think of something interesting for the universe that I want to play with. Once I've got the general idea, I build a very vague story around it. I try to keep details vague, since I'm always adding, expanding, adapting, and so on. Once I get a few solid plot points down, I get to work.
I've actually found that if I do a detailed outline, I lose interest in the story. I feel like I've already told it. So I do surprisingly little of my thinking ahead of time, with the exception of characters and the universe. Those are the core of my stories. Once I've got the world of the story, and the people in it, the plot seems to come naturally as the result of the characters interacting with the world.
I like to think of it like chemistry. I've got my world (let's call it powdered aluminum) and I've got my characters (let's call them iron oxide). Add a nice magnesium ribbon for ignition (an inciting event) and the result is one nice, glowing pile of thermite (the story).