Cauldron writers! What method do you use?

The Cauldron's server is expensive and requires monthly payments. Please become a Bronze, Silver or Gold Donor if you can. Donations are needed every month. Without member support, we can't afford the server.

Or donate directly via Paypal

This message board is The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum's SMF Archive Board. It is closed to new memberships and to posting, but there are over 250,000 messages here that you can still search and read -- many full of interesting and useful information. (This board was open from February 2007 through June 2011).

Our new vBulletin discussion board is located at http://www.ecauldron.com/forum/ -- if you would like to participate in discussions like those you see here, please visit our new vBulletin message board, register an account and join in our discussions. We hope you will find the information in this message archive useful and will consider joining us on our new board.

[Tirah]

So, for those of you who write here,  what is your preferred method when inspiration strikes? Computer? Laptop  or desktop? Paper? Pencil? Pen? Mechanical pencil? What gets the creative juices flowing for you? What works best, and what just frustrates you? Or am I just a twisted, weird writer with compulsive tendencies? 

I gotta have a computer (my ideas flow too fast for longhand), but (to echo many here) I always carry a notebook with me incase something pops in my head.

As for what inspires me - anything could do it but mostly its music.  I can hear a song (any song be it Celtic music or something from Drowning Pool) and it can trigger a scene in my head.

Like Zahirah I tend to think in images like I'm watching a movie.  As a result I started treating my writing as such.  Now I tend to think "if this was made into a movie what do I see, what do I hear, who do I see playing this character?" and it builds from there.

I don't have a problem with anyone reading over my shoulder as long just as long as they are quiet.  Once my mind gets going I totally zone out and submerge myself into my subconscious.  The images flash through my mind like I'm in a dream and the words just flow onto the page.  (my husband says that I look like that painter guy on Heroes, my eyes are staring blankly at the screen, but my fingers are going a mile a minute.)  If someone is talking to me then I will lose my concentration and who knows what will happen.  One time I was writing a fight scene in one of my fantasy novels.  I was totally out of touch with the real world and my husband was trying to get my attention.  Finally he got me to snap out of it and pay attention to him.  When I went back and read what I wrote I discovered that I killed my main character!  Just as my husband was shouting my name to get my attention, a character shouted out my hero's name.  Distracted he mis-stepped and his opponent stabbed him through the chest.  I actually cried over his death!  Although I could have just rewritten the scene, I decided to leave it in.  After all if it surprised me and brought me to tears, it just might do the same for my reader.

[sefiru]

*nods*  Sounds like the situation with me too.  I used it when I was required to, and once they dropped the requirement, I went back to printing.

It's odd...  I used to say that myself.  I did horribly in the typing class they made us take in school, I hated it, I was faster if I could see my hands, etc.  After 10+ years of typing-heavy computer usage (what with the programming, the chatting, the Usenet there for a bit, the forums, the word processing, and just all the other miscellaneous typing), though, I was shocked to find that somewhere along the way I had started touch-typing automatically and actually was doing so pretty well and pretty quickly.  (Not sure exactly what my wpm actually is, since I haven't tested it lately and tend to freeze up in such tests anyway, but it's pretty decent.)  As long as I don't think about it I'm usually fine.    No idea how that happened.

The really funny thing, though, is that if the room is too dark, my typing suffers.  I can type while holding a conversation with someone else that requires me to be turned so that I can't see my keyboard or monitor, but I can't type in the dark.  It's bizzare.  (I've not tried typing with my keyboard covered, the way they made us do in school, but I suspect the result would be the same.)

I'll bet you still think you need to look.  I get the feeling I'm halfway to that point ... but when I type I'm usually transcribing and editing as I go, so I'm going slow anyway.

[Lorrie Indigo]

So, for those of you who write here,  what is your preferred method when inspiration strikes? Computer? Laptop  or desktop? Paper? Pencil? Pen? Mechanical pencil? What gets the creative juices flowing for you? What works best, and what just frustrates you? Or am I just a twisted, weird writer with compulsive tendencies? 

I use paper and always different colors of pens--different colors for different moods and expressions.

When I write, I use cursive, and I always naturally print in capital letters (from doing so many crossword puzzles as a kid I guess.)

[Nyktipolos]

I love writing my ideas out in a notebook or on lots and lots of paper. Writing it on a computer kills the ideas.

However, for some reason, when I actually am writing the story, writing on paper kills the story faster for me. I can really only type out a story because if I write it long-hand I feel my story going slower and slower and I just give up. Typing on the computer, for me, gets things done quick and gets my ideas out there before I lose them.

[Tags:]

Jump to: Please select a destination: ----------------------------- About The Cauldron ----------------------------- => Rules and Regulations => Cauldron Announcements ===> Volunteers Needed: Site Assistants and Projects => Introductions => Board Questions, Suggestions, and Feedback => Chat and CauldronMUX Support => Test Board ----------------------------- Religion and Philosophy ----------------------------- => Paganism For Beginners => Books and Other Resources => Pagan Religions => Pagan Spirituality => Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology => Worship and Ritual => Holidays and Festivals => History and Religion => Faith in Everyday Life => Philosophy and Metaphysics => Non-Pagan Religions and Interfaith Discussions => Miscellaneous Religious Discussions ----------------------------- Magic and the Occult ----------------------------- => Magic and the Occult for Beginners => Witchcraft, Hoodoo, and Folk Magic => The Western Magical Tradition => Chaos Magic => Lodges and Other Magic Organizations => Miscellaneous Magical Discussions ----------------------------- Special Interest Groups & Special Discussions ----------------------------- => Special Topic Discussions => Chavi Memorial Chronic Illness SIG => General SIGS ===> College Pagans SIG ===> Cooking SIG ===> Divination SIG ===> Home and Garden SIG ===> Pagan Parents SIG ===> Teen Pagans SIG => Religious SIGS ===> Asatru and Heathenry SIG ===> Cauldron Cill ===> FlameKeeping SIG ===> Hazel and Oak: A Celtic Polytheism SIG ===> Neo-Druidry SIG ===> Reformed Kemeticism SIG ===> Ta Hiera Hellenic Polytheism SIG => Book/Media Discussion Boards ===> Academic Book Discussions ===> Pagan Religion Book Discussions ===> Magick Book Discussions ===> Fiction Book Discussions ===> DVD/Video Discussions ----------------------------- Life, the Universe, and Everything Else ----------------------------- => Pagan Announcements => Prayer and Energy Requests => News and Politics ===> Religious News ===> Non-Religious News ===> Political Discussions => Social Discussion Boards ===> Art, Poetry and Writing ===> Books ===> Computers and the Internet ===> Crafts and Hobbies ===> Family Life ===> Gaming ===> Health and Medicine ===> Humor and Quizzes ===> Music, Television, and Film ===> Pets ===> Science and Technology ===> Sports and Recreation