What does your pre-posting process look/feel like?

[Plume]

Chaos & Posts

So I was sitting around, imagination running rampant with possible scenarios in response to a delicious thread, when my brain decided to sum up the whole process in a completely rational, relevant manner:

Responding to a partner's post = trying to organize an elementary school play at the very last tick. The cast members, a.k.a. my random ass imagination, seven to eight year old divas. The lone teacher trying to maintain order and prevent full fledged disaster, me. Everyone's whining for parts and pitching ideas and generally acting deranged, all at the same time, with little to no investment in the overall success of the play. I've got the basic script in my hand but every child and their mom wants to color up their part. Cause sharing spotlight is for losers.

Somehow after 3 hours of yelling, more yelling, and the smacking of a ruler here and there (sneakily, of course, cause it is the 21st century), I manage to get everyone into their roles, costumes, and positions through sheer will and determination. But then I look back and Jimmy, Tree #3, has his bark on backwards, Suzy's left her 'magic' shoes somewhere in the black hole of backstage crevices, Neville is repeating his only line in the play backwards again, and Brad has started a sword fight with Jane because there was some confusion over who was to play the brigand due to some mix-up in the script.

Translation: proofreading is a must to avoid sounding like a retrad.

By the time I have this all sorted out my bun is coming out in 12 different places and I've lost my only pair of glasses. I'm perspiring profusely, having survived multiple aneurysms along the way, but praise be to the gods everyone's ready. And when the curtain finally parts while the audience ooh's and aah's encouragingly, I sink to the ground and pass out in some nondescript corner.

Sincerely,
My Brain

I don't even wear glasses, and I've never directed a play of any kind. But RP Brain don't give a f--.

So, in conclusion, that is kind of what trying to respond to a post is like for me! Very soothe, much relax. Maybe a wee bit exaggerated since not all posts are as intense. But what about the rest of you, Mizahar? I'm sure some form of this question has been asked before, but hopefully it has a bit of a different spin to it this time. Does your posting process have a similar kind of scene? Or something completely the opposite?

Either way, spill it! Writing processes be fascinatin'.

[Keene Ward]

Well, I won't sit around and let you be the only one to share your relative insanity when it comes to the creative process!

"It all begins with a spotlight: the art that my partner has presented to me displayed like a Bernini deliciously settled in the perfect cast of light and shadow or a flawless Monet drifting in the amazing depiction of light and even lighter light. I stare, I appreciate, I devour.

Then it is my turn.

I stand before a blank canvas, my pallet in hand and every tool I need available to me. They're neatly lined out: brushes, knife, water, paints, medium, and all other plethora of artistic goods. Shall I mix my mediums? Shall I craft a masterpiece of my own to hang beside the art I have been gifted?

I pause, I stare, I ponder.

There is a single moment of a peace, of clarity.

It shatters into a million pieces as I pick up my paints and just start chuckin' them where ever the heck I feel like it. Maybe I eat some of them because purple looks especially delicious. Chances are, I'm probably not using a brush. In fact, if I do use a brush you can bet it's because I'm chewing on it as I roll my body over the canvas.

When it's done, in all of its whatever, I stare at it. Maybe add a finger print here or chew on a corner there, then I very calmly, very quietly hang it up next to the Monet and walk away.

Also, I poop colors for a couple days afterwards from all that excess paint I shoved into my system."

Some people have told me that I write well. To those of you who think so, thank you! To those of you who don't think so: At least now you know why! I love art, and I love getting awesome replies, but most times it feels like I just go wild and pump out something that may or may not be great. But... I just post it up anyway and see what people think. Editing is hard.

[Elias Caldera]

My pre and post process are locked in a vicious, perhaps overly dramatic, cycle that I've never been able to quite kick, and if I had to put words to my inner dialogue during it all, I think it would be a little something like this:

(It sounds more accurate if you read it to yourself in an old timey, shakespearean voice.)


"Ah finally, it is complete. Behold, my pinnacle of literary perfection, my thousand word magnum opus. Hours of work, days of mental toil, all of it culminating into this one beautiful moment of realization. Truly, am I not the most magnificent writer the world has ever had the honor of witnessing, for surely no other could match what I have just put to text this day. The histories will write of this, the poets will sing of my skill. I merely have to click "Submit" and the world is made a brighter place. You are welcome, dear reader.

You are so very welcome."


Coming back a few hours later just to, you know, reread things and make sure all is well...


"Sweet Christ on the cross, What. Is. This! What is this... this thing I see in place of my once magnificent post? Surely this must be a jest! Surely some cruel joker is toying with me, for this cannot be the same thing I so diligently gave life to with my own two hands. This tangled monstrosity of jumbled thoughts and run on sentences is an offence to my very sensibilities. Tear it down! Tear it down I say! I cannot bare to look at it, it must be undone and then burned for good measure! What? No, I don't care if they've already replied to it, I have to destroy it before anyone else can behold its vile, mangled form and attest its creation to the fool who typed it and thought his madness was gold!

Oh, woe is me."


...


So basically, constant, constant editing to the point that it feels like I've rewritten each post I've ever made at least three different times.

I'm sure I'll get it right one day...

[Fallon]

I have voices, note only way to explain it - all niggling, pointing and in some cases being patronising as I work through things. I also have my own voice, occasionally blurting out some exceptionally random thing while also talking and have, for the most part, taken to the process of simply sitting back and watching what happens. Which often goes as so;


I am tapping along, nicely and calmly. I have two screens - one with the thread that I'm responding to open, with the previous pages to it also open to allow easy flick access back and forth. Chat is also flickering in some background tab - but that doesn't currently matter, I'm focusing and my fingers are writing. Words to me come in lumps, I generally throw them at the wall and see what does or does not stick. If it doesn't stick it gets thrown out and replaced. Simple, at least if there wasn't a constant nagging;

"You're doing it wrong," - says the first voice, deep sullen and generally a pain to contend with, "I before E, except after C. Dunce."
Good job, I have failed your basic spelling check. Any other errors that leap out at you?
"Lots and lots of red lines on there,"
- chimes in voice number two, chirpier than number one, almost sickly sweet, "I like red. So pretty!"

I groan a little bit, back space to get to it, fix it and carry on. I then proceed to work out the original poster's word count, chewing at my lip, staring and glaring - does it match up, does it equal the same amount, is it suitable content, will they like it.
"They better like it"
enters voice 1 again, still sullen sounding, "Though, knowing them they'll probably just be nice and say 'good job', or 'awesome'. Bet it's not that awe-"
"I bet it is. Oh! More red. Goody!"
voice two purrs rather loudly, forcing me into a frown as I glare. There is further tapping now, bit more furious and more aggressive. For those who have heard me this what is dubbed as the 'aggressive writing, furious typing' stage. Words form, there is a lot of sticking but no glitter, a gentle nudge from number two with "I think you might need a dictionary, they're using big words now. Do you know what the big words mean?"
"No, I..."
"You should perhaps look them up then,"
number two continues, which generally causes me to fumble for it.

It's at this point that voice three chimes in, "I really could do with some tea about now..."
"Tea!"
- comes the unison cheer of all three voices. By this point I'm generally groaning loudly and stealing long, forlorn looks at the kettle, occasionally fluttering my eyelids at it in the hopes it would just magically make a brew. I sigh, "Eh, f-- it," and then proceed to continue.
"But TEA!"
objects voice three.
"SHADDAP! Tea! Later! Not! Now!" comes the angered response from myself. For a moment there is little more than this morose silence, that faint background chattering noise of whispers. I click, and begin to focus on writing properly now. And it goes well.

Until my hand gets stuck. It's akin to that moment where you pour super glue over your hands - you freeze and focus on keeping your fingers as wide a part as possible while trying to avoid touching anything - a pain as you know if you just reach out that little bit more. But then you'll be stuck! Unable to ever move and free yourself. The moment slips, and falls away. But hey, the glue is dry right? You can start writing again now. Voice one bellows, "Fool! You'll never achieve it now! OH you're doing it wrong, again!"

"Mever aheive hit nuw," I mutter in response, and proceed to face dunk into a tea. This idle spatting generally continues for a while, finding a nice pace to work at until suddenly, this quite whisper of a noise speaks. It's voice three, "You can stop now you know... Don't intimidate them with the post length..."
"Oh, right," I sigh back in response, stop and proceed to edit back until the slow approving seeps out.


In simple terms, I have a constant nag machine going on in the back of my mind - mostly nitpicking and trying to lure me down the path of distraction, until I have it as perfect as I can get it - even if there is some malevolent laughter accompanying it.

[Ball]

Honestly it goes something like this: Oh gods I got a reply to write... Hmm, music? Yeah yeah... youtube -> Slipknot... Okay okay... Good. Coffee? Crap no coffee, screw it don't the time to do that. OKay okay... Music starting, good good... Re-read the post..

Hmmm...

By this time i forget I am actually suppose to write, read the whole thread a few times through, talk to people on chat, return to the thread reading, open up a word doc.. poke at my keyboard some, re-read thread again... Look at time. Groan that work is coming fast... Switch to another song, re-read thread one last time... Then go 'What is Ball going to do?'

That's when I just laugh and write a post of Ball punching someone... I sometimes wonder why I have issues writing his threads...

[Khara]

.
My Pre-Posting/Posting process can be a bit varied. Some days, when the stars all align and the moon is just in the right position and my cat is sitting just at the right angle it all just flows and everything is good and posts happen quickly and smoothly. Those days aren't often. I think like for many others most days it's like herding kittens.

Either way, when I start out the first post usually goes something like this:

"Okay time to write, let's see who I owe posts to. Only that many? Cool, I got this. Time to get into Khara headspace, We there? Good. Let's do this!

That's where we left off so… Hmm. Let's go reread the last few posts shall we? AH! Right. This should be good. Yeah, this is good! This is… I'm stuck. F-ck. I have no idea what to write here. Huh, wonder if there's been any newer posts to anything else…

Back to the post. Oh this is good. This is real- Did I just use the same word twice in one paragraph? OH THIS IS CRAP. It's all crap! Backspace to oblivion! We're doomed! ABANDON SHIP! Heyyy wait. Google, define this stupid word for me. Yay, synonyms. Now keep it simple, stupid. Don't use the big ones that sound too fancy. Seriously, do you even know what that word means? No not THAT one. That one, though, yeah that will work.

Hey, wait. When did we end up on tumblr? Oh man, that's hilarious. Hang on, I need to show this to someone. STOP STALLING AND POST.

Now let me just check to see if anyone else has posted in Wind Reach recently… nope. Damn. Wait, what were we doing? Oh right! This. This... is this too cheesy? It sounds cheesy. It's like sap overload and oh god am I actually conveying emotion here or is it just lame and eye roll worthy? It's total eye roll material. Oh this is crap… this is crap. How can I make this not sound like the leadup to some sort of… I'm writing Twilight. I'm writing Twilight style romance and it's all going to hell. I'm such a hack. Why am I STILL going?? Oh… Okay, that may not be too bad. Yes, that's… acceptable. I need to really write more action threads to counterbalance these feelings.

Ugh, I'm out of coffee. Do I really want to get another cup? How many have I had already? No no, that's too many. I'll just stay here and… Should I throw in a god reference here? I feel like I should. I really need to get started on working towards gnosis stuff. But which to go for first? Does it matter? I guess not, it'll just happen naturally, stop trying to force it.

...Oh man this video is amazing. Waitadamnminute - When did we get to Facebook? Get back to the post! Write like the wind!

Damn, now I have that song stuck in my head.

Okay, alright, we can do this. Here we go, right. Yes! Wow, this post is getting long. Is it too long? Is this whole thread too long? Graders hate me. I'd hate me. I need to grade some threads. AFTER I finish this post. Ugh, this whole thing sounds like I'm trying too hard. Backspace backspace backspace.

Let's read what we have so far, shall we? Hey, this isn't half bad! I think this might actually be a good - why isn't this sentence finished? I think I know what I was saying there though so easy enough fix.

Right. Good. Okay. Annnndddd cringe and submit!

That's a typo isn't it? Damn it. Edit. F-ck there's another! Edit again.

Perfect! Wow, I actually really like how I worded that. Where the heck did that even come from?

Oh god, I hope this isn't total crap. Please don't let that have all been total crap. It's okay if you are the worst writer ever, it's just a hobby. Right? Right?

Just let it be. Stop picking at it and move on to the next. No. NO. Go. To. The. Next. Post."

And so on. Sometimes there's added "feedback" from my PC as I'm writing, correcting me on things they would never say or do or adding in their own two cents about things but yeah, that's generally the process. It gets better once I get into the swing of things. Sometimes.
.

[Pulren Marsh]

With me, I read the reply initially. I really just sort of skim it. Then it's one of three situations. 1. I'm at work, which is common. I have to keep the process internalized. 2. I'm at home with headphones. This is the best situation but rare. The process can be fully embraced. 3. I'm in a quickfire round with a writer in one of the other two situations. In this case, the process runs quickly and without stumbling.

The process? It's akin to reverse Projection. I, the writer am Pulren's projected body and I ease myself back into him, joint by joint, limb by limb. Once the assimilation is complete, I am breathing the salty air of Zeltiva, looking down at mud on his fancy boots, tasting the rancid mixture of kelp beer, hearing the flocks of terns and gulls around the pier, squinting at Syna's reflection on the water. My ability to visualize came from decades of visualization and meditation practices which are a part of my spirituality.

I suppose that is why I can write action well, as I am describing the fight that I am seeing. It is as if it is on a film and I can rewind it, change angles, etc. My musical choices are either classical for hours or Wu Tang Clan. WTC for love scenes, for socials, for investigations, and definitely for fights. As odd as it is, that's the music that works for me.

[Archailist]

I like to think my pre-post process is pretty relaxed. Granted, it always depends on the other person.. sometimes writing with one person in particular will have ideas just gushing out of the ear-lobes faster than I can type them up; then it's utterly hectic, trying to push aside one idea and write down a different one, only for another idea to branch off that and another and another until I'm frantically struggling to stay on just one path. But then it's like being served an all-you-can-eat buffet and trying to uphold your vegan diet. You just end up sitting in the corner, quietly munching on a piece of broccoli and watching everyone else help themselves to the triple-stuffed meat feast pizzas.

You tell yourself that you're going to go back and make some more later, you'll use those plans another time, it's fine.. but then you come back to that lovely big buffet and all the food is cold, some flies are buzzing around.. suddenly none of the ideas look as appealing and interesting as they did earlier. You've gone from a million ideas to absolutely none.

Other times, nothing appears. You wrack your brain and you do all those other things you've seen other big-name authors do in their blogs. Go out for a walk. Play some games, watch a film, talk with friends, leave it a day and just try not to think about it, then do the exact opposite and spend the day after that completely busting your brain over everything you can think of; still nothing. Do another thread, sit down, words flow out like rainbow vomit onto the screen and you don't even need to double-check it. Come back to the original thread you've now been struggling for three weeks to write up a response. Nope. Not a word. "He...." He what? What? Come on, you knew you were going somewhere with that. No? Nothing? Pathetic.

Most days, though, it's just a matter of turning up some fast-paced music and pumping up the volume so that it's loud enough to drown away those little critics in your head that tell you that you should make it more engaging, more this, more that.. nope. Just slam it all down onto the page and try to keep your fingers working to the beat until you've either horked up a load of shyke that you immediately purge in the hellfire of backspace spam or submit without so much as a spellcheck for fear that the nagging little voices will pull out the megaphone and start screaming that "No, you can't blink quietly, you buffoon."

[Plume]

These are all fantastically hilarious. And so relatable, every last one

[Roderick]

I get distracted. A lot. I'll start trying to type out a reply to someone and then find myself going away and doing something else. Initially it's all for a good cause - I'll be trying to come up with some ideas, something springs to mind which was fun, exciting or enjoyable and I go off to look at that to gain some inspiration. An hour later I've been reading about Game of Thrones and don't have anything to show for it. Word is opened and is promptly forgotten about as I set a song to play on youtube and surely I can just take a second to appreciate the music? Still nothing is coming to me - jump into chat to ask some random question that's been bugging me. Tea and biscuits with Fallon - violent running hugs with Treachery/M'wanii/Eleazar - crap twenty minutes are gone now what the f----? Running away from the lulz in chat I try to get back into the zone of writing by reading over what's happened so far. Self doubt creeps in and starts hissing poison in my ear, making me feel like everything I've been doing in this thread has been a total waste of time, or really weird or random - that was a plot point linking in to him having a Kelvic bondmate/friend which I brought up and then never made use of. Why is Rod so f---ing bipolar? That one thread I did that time where he was a dirty coward and I wasn't paying attention to what the other guy was posting and its just terrible overall and I've completely retconned it since then - but it's still there people can read it and see how terrible it was! By this point self doubt has walked up to self esteem, ripped his heart out and purred "Was that as good for you as it was for me?" before she proceeds to beat him bloody with his own arms. Right, its time to get some work done. Characterization, make something interesting happen - god damn it my cat's lying over my keyboard. Move O'Malley. Moooove. Mooooooove! Great now I'm a cow. He gets off the keyboard - but now hes lying his head on my hand while I'm trying to use the mouse. Typing one handed is hard. Shove him out of the way to get some more room to maneuver - he actually moves in even closer every time. Fine, have it your way, I'll just keep writing. Okay, so I'll reveal some random tidbit of information that's supposed to start revealing his backstory - of course that won't fricking happen; I'll forget about it and never expand on that information, or realize it was a stupid idea and just pretend it totally doesn't exist. Damn it I've made another fighting thread - I make too many of these, but they usually go pretty good and threads that just have talking in them always feel really awkward and I have trouble filling the space - because after you've said they're walking outside there's not really much else you can say without it feeling like pointless exposition. Oh and hey you haven't really read up on this area very well and did you know that forest your describing is half a mile away and this entire region is open fields. Yeah you're a prat. Right, so I've got a fair bit written down here, but I need to make it bigger - X wrote quite a bit so I need to get about the same amount as- *Game of Thrones music on the TV* Dragons! Random naked lady who has no effect on the plot! Naked lady who has dragons - ouch that guys face got melted. Why does Sean Bean always have to die? Fuck yeah Arya. If Tyrion ever died I'd cry. And his bromance with Bronn Who's that guy? That's Gregor Clegane? B-but he looks completely different now! Isn't this like the second time his face has changed? Is he a faceless man or something? And Tommen and Myrcella were little kids at the start of this and suddenly they're teens and Robb and Jon have only had time to grow beards. And wasn't the guy that plays Tommen also that one Lannister kid that got shivved by the old dude - the one Robb killed even though everyone told him it was a really bad idea, kinda like how he married that one bird even though he told Argus Filch he'd marry a Frey girl? I knew about Walder's hosting skills from the books but I literally want to cry like a little bitch right now. Joffrey's just a dickhead. Enjoy your wine dipshit. Crap, three hours are gone! I could keep writing more but I feel like I've got this - yay, submit! No wait! Maybe I still have time to maybe add some more, 'cause now it feels like maybe there wasn't enough detail in there. Better make sure I covered everything and didn't make a mistake at some point; I'll read over it aga - aaaand its junk. Why did I make him say that? That bit there doesn't do anything worthwhile and what he did there makes him seem like a bit of a f---tard. It's almost two o'clock in the morning. Why am I still awake?