*headdesks*

How did I not realize this before?

Nearly 92,800 words in, and I just now figure out that not!Harry uses sarcasm as a defense mechanism?

OmigodIamsostupid.

Of course, I'm not much for psychoanalyzing my characters, so maybe it's not surprising that I didn't know this sooner. But it sure would have helped had I realized this was going on.

Because now I have to go through the damb thing again and make sure it's consistent. Although maybe not, really, because I already did a not!Harry sarcasm check a few weeks ago, but it might be a good idea to check it over anyway.

*headdesks*

How did I not realize this before?

Nearly 92,800 words in, and I just now figure out that not!Harry uses sarcasm as a defense mechanism?

OmigodIamsostupid.

Of course, I'm not much for psychoanalyzing my characters, so maybe it's not surprising that I didn't know this sooner. But it sure would have helped had I realized this was going on.

Because now I have to go through the damb thing again and make sure it's consistent. Although maybe not, really, because I already did a not!Harry sarcasm check a few weeks ago, but it might be a good idea to check it over anyway.

*reminds self to breathe*

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a mild blood phobia. Which is odd coming from someone who writes characters bleeding as much as I do, but this is my genre, so...yeah.

Anyway, I was attempting to research where, exactly, they put the needle for a blood transfusion, because not!Harry undergoes one of these during the course of an operation after getting shot in the chest. I click on a couple of pages, there's nothing there, I'm getting frustrated because all I want to know is "do they stick it in the hand or the elbow, dammit" and all I'm actually finding is "they put a needle in your vein" without specifying which one.

And my palms are sweating and my heart rate is accelerating and my breathing is a little shallow and a little fast because I'm dwelling on this OMG and I finally find the answer on the third page of my google search (complete with helpful diagram) and have to quickly close that window so I can, yes, breathe again.

My issues, let me show you them.

All this, for, basically, one throwaway line. Because not!Harry is a big ol' bundle o' issues too. And isn't my vampire icon apropos for this entry?

*reminds self to breathe*

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a mild blood phobia. Which is odd coming from someone who writes characters bleeding as much as I do, but this is my genre, so...yeah.

Anyway, I was attempting to research where, exactly, they put the needle for a blood transfusion, because not!Harry undergoes one of these during the course of an operation after getting shot in the chest. I click on a couple of pages, there's nothing there, I'm getting frustrated because all I want to know is "do they stick it in the hand or the elbow, dammit" and all I'm actually finding is "they put a needle in your vein" without specifying which one.

And my palms are sweating and my heart rate is accelerating and my breathing is a little shallow and a little fast because I'm dwelling on this OMG and I finally find the answer on the third page of my google search (complete with helpful diagram) and have to quickly close that window so I can, yes, breathe again.

My issues, let me show you them.

All this, for, basically, one throwaway line. Because not!Harry is a big ol' bundle o' issues too. And isn't my vampire icon apropos for this entry?

Writerly Confession Time:

Not that this will be news to anyone who's followed this LJ for any length of time, but I have new friends, and I'm feeling introspective, so, here we go.

I don't outline.

Nope, not ever. Not even for this thing I'm working on.

This is not to say that I don't think about my plot and my structure and what I want to have happen down the line. Because, oh, Lord, I do. Probably more than I should, and more than is healthy. And I will write those thinky thoughts down in a little notebook lest I forget them. But I don't do formal outlining.

And there are Professional Writers out there who will tell me that I'm Doing It Wrong. That many of the problems I've been having with the thing are a result of not outlining and not having a firm enough foundation to build my structure on.

They may be right.

However.

I look at the time I'd spend outlining and think "I could spend that time, just as profitably, actually writing." Because I'm a very linear writer. I don't write my scenes out of order; one scene follows naturally from the next--and I'm not sure I'd even have the patience or the discipline to outline and then write to it. And I realize that an outline shouldn't be this rigid thing that you slavishly follow, and that the writer's brain is a funny old thing that will frequently come up with something even better than what's in the outline, and that I would be flexible enough to follow the plot bunny wherever it led me.

I've also seen people who try to outline lose complete interest in a story because they already know what's going to happen, so why bother? I mean, I was 70,000 words into this thing before I decided for sure if I was writing a romance or a tragedy. I had no earthly idea how, exactly, my climax was going to play out, or if a couple of characters were even going to make it out alive or not. This Lack of Knowing kept the story fresh for me, and I Had to Write It to Find Out What Happened. So...yeah.

I'm of the school that says Write How It Works For You. I'm also of the school that says If You Don't Outline, Then Your First Draft Is Your Outline. I've added nearly 8,000 words to this thing since I stuck an END at the bottom, and that number keeps creeping upward. I'm a pretty spare writer at the best of times, and so that first draft is bare bones, get-it-on-the-page, strictly plot and character stuff, usually. I worry about internal consistency and putting descriptive meat on the bones once I've got an END at the bottom--and so the First Draft As Outline model works pretty well for me.

And, as a bonus, that Outline is also Story.

So, how about you, flist? Do you outline? If so, how much? Do you think you'd be better if you did, or didn't? Have you tried writing with an outline, if you don't, or without one, if you do? What happened when you did that? Does it depend on the length of the work?

Writerly Confession Time:

Not that this will be news to anyone who's followed this LJ for any length of time, but I have new friends, and I'm feeling introspective, so, here we go.

I don't outline.

Nope, not ever. Not even for this thing I'm working on.

This is not to say that I don't think about my plot and my structure and what I want to have happen down the line. Because, oh, Lord, I do. Probably more than I should, and more than is healthy. And I will write those thinky thoughts down in a little notebook lest I forget them. But I don't do formal outlining.

And there are Professional Writers out there who will tell me that I'm Doing It Wrong. That many of the problems I've been having with the thing are a result of not outlining and not having a firm enough foundation to build my structure on.

They may be right.

However.

I look at the time I'd spend outlining and think "I could spend that time, just as profitably, actually writing." Because I'm a very linear writer. I don't write my scenes out of order; one scene follows naturally from the next--and I'm not sure I'd even have the patience or the discipline to outline and then write to it. And I realize that an outline shouldn't be this rigid thing that you slavishly follow, and that the writer's brain is a funny old thing that will frequently come up with something even better than what's in the outline, and that I would be flexible enough to follow the plot bunny wherever it led me.

I've also seen people who try to outline lose complete interest in a story because they already know what's going to happen, so why bother? I mean, I was 70,000 words into this thing before I decided for sure if I was writing a romance or a tragedy. I had no earthly idea how, exactly, my climax was going to play out, or if a couple of characters were even going to make it out alive or not. This Lack of Knowing kept the story fresh for me, and I Had to Write It to Find Out What Happened. So...yeah.

I'm of the school that says Write How It Works For You. I'm also of the school that says If You Don't Outline, Then Your First Draft Is Your Outline. I've added nearly 8,000 words to this thing since I stuck an END at the bottom, and that number keeps creeping upward. I'm a pretty spare writer at the best of times, and so that first draft is bare bones, get-it-on-the-page, strictly plot and character stuff, usually. I worry about internal consistency and putting descriptive meat on the bones once I've got an END at the bottom--and so the First Draft As Outline model works pretty well for me.

And, as a bonus, that Outline is also Story.

So, how about you, flist? Do you outline? If so, how much? Do you think you'd be better if you did, or didn't? Have you tried writing with an outline, if you don't, or without one, if you do? What happened when you did that? Does it depend on the length of the work?

The WIP meme.

Stolen from damn near everyone on my flist. Post one line from each of your WIPs. No context, no explanations. No more than one sentence!

Here we go...

"All I'm saying is that Mary getting turned into a cow is too fantastic for words, and you, my friend, are very very drunk."

NB: Oh, God, I love this story, why am I not working on it RIGHT NOW???

The voice sounded like a chipmunk would if it inhaled helium and spoke English.

It had a pair of horns on top of what would have been its head, and two red, glowing eyes glared at the Beagle and the cat.

The Divinations Professor, Gabriel thought, really should have seen it coming.

Something sandpapery scraped my arm.

"It's easier than you think, if the god wants to be lost."

I have no idea what that one is. I don't remember it at all.

Shit, he was dead.

Edited to: apparently you're not supposed to give any context for any of these things, so I've removed their "working titles" (if you can call them that)...

The WIP meme.

Stolen from damn near everyone on my flist. Post one line from each of your WIPs. No context, no explanations. No more than one sentence!

Here we go...

"All I'm saying is that Mary getting turned into a cow is too fantastic for words, and you, my friend, are very very drunk."

NB: Oh, God, I love this story, why am I not working on it RIGHT NOW???

The voice sounded like a chipmunk would if it inhaled helium and spoke English.

It had a pair of horns on top of what would have been its head, and two red, glowing eyes glared at the Beagle and the cat.

The Divinations Professor, Gabriel thought, really should have seen it coming.

Something sandpapery scraped my arm.

"It's easier than you think, if the god wants to be lost."

I have no idea what that one is. I don't remember it at all.

Shit, he was dead.

Edited to: apparently you're not supposed to give any context for any of these things, so I've removed their "working titles" (if you can call them that)...